Cross-validation of time-depth conversion and evaluation of different approaches in the Mesopotamian Basin, Iraq

The time-depth conversion process is a significant task in seismic interpretation to establish the link between geophysical information in the time domain and geological information in the depth domain at/away from well locations. Selecting the suitable velocity model for time-depth conversion to generate an accurate depth map is difficult if the accuracy of these models is unknown. In the current study, the cross-validation technique is used as a tool to diagnose and evaluate the performance of time-depth conversion at/away from well controls to predict the depth of Top Hartha and Zubair reservoirs using the dataset of East Baghdad Oil Field. To test this technique, four common velocity model approaches used for time-depth conversion with different scenarios of velocity parameters (initial velocity V 0 and depth gradient (K)) were applied to produce ten velocity models (1–10). According to the gradient variation of velocity with depth, check shot analysis, the velocity models (1–10) include three key velocities layer-cakes: Layer 1 (Middle Miocene-Upper Cretaceous), Layer 2 (Upper Cretaceous), and Layer 3 (Lower Cretaceous) with 18 horizons from Middle Miocene down to Lower Cretaceous. The cross-validation analysis reveals that the velocity model with a variable surface initial velocity and constant depth gradient (Model 9) was the most accurate with fewer mistie between actual and predicted depth. Consequently, this model is used to construct the depth map of the Hartha and Zubair reservoirs. Finally, this study progresses a workflow that can be applied to the region with any geological setting to investigate time-depth conversion uncertainty.