High-resolution seismic reflection survey near SPR surface collapse feature at Weeks Island, Louisiana

Shallow high resolution 2-D and 3-D seismic reflection techniques are assisting in the subsurface delineation of a surface collapsc feature (sinkhole) at Weeks Island. Louisiana. Seismic reflection surveys were conducted in March 1994. Data from walkaway noise tests were used to assist selection of field recording parameters. The top of the salt dome is about 180 ft below ground surface at the sinkhole. The water table is an estimated 90 ft below the ground surface. A single coherent reflection was consistently recorded across the entire area of the survey, although stacking velocity and spectral content of the event varied. On the basis of observed travel times and stacking velocties, the coherent reflection event appears to originate above the op of the salt, possibly at or near the water table. Identification of his reflector will bc made from borehole investigations currently planned for the sinkhole site. A depression or time sag in this reflection event is clearly evident in both the 2-D and 3-D seismic data in the immediate vicinity of the sinkhole. The time sag appears to be related to the subsurface structure of the reflector and not to fear surface topography or velocity effects. Elsewhere in the survey area, observed changes in reflection travel times and wavelet character appear to be related to subsurface geologic structure. These seismic observations may assist in predicting where future sinkholes will develop after they have been tied to borehole data collected at the site.