Detecting the gob area of coal mines based on 4D seismic interpretation

The subsidence of the gob area is an important geological problem in coal mines. It can not only bring potential security risks, but also seriously damage the subsequent mining of coal mines. Therefore, the detection of the gob subsidence area is an important task to ensure the sustainable mining of coal mines. Due to the complexity of seismic and geological conditions in the gob subsidence area, it is difficult to accurately identify the location of the gob by traditional 3D seismic exploration methods. Therefore, we propose a method for detecting the gob area of coal mines based on four-dimensional (4D) seismic data. First, we establish the geological models before and after the coal seam mining, and generate synthetic data of different models through the forward modeling, respectively. Then, use the prestack migrated sections of synthetic data to retrospectively analyze the seismic characteristics of the gob area of coal mines, and identify the gob area on the seismic migrated sections according to the seismic characteristic differences caused by the gob area. And then, utilizing the seismic characteristics of gob areas in synthetic data guides the identification of the gob area in the real 4D seismic data, including ascertaining the scope of the caving zone and the height of the subsidence in the gob area. Finally, Using the proposed three-dimensional stratum stripping strategy finely depicts the shape of the gob area and delineates the range and boundary of the gob area. Tests on the synthetic and real data show the effectiveness of the proposed method.