A visual data mining methodology to conduct seismic facies analysis: Part 2-Testing and comparison with other unsupervised clustering methods

A visual data-mining approach to unsupervised clustering analysis can be an effective tool for visualizing and understanding patterns inherent in seismic data (i.e., seismic facies). The unsupervised clustering analysis is completely data-driven, requiring no external information (e. g., well logs) to guide the seismic-trace classification. We demonstrate the application of the visual data-mining approach to seismic facies analysis on a real 3D seismic data volume. We select two stratigraphic intervals, the first including a Devonian pinnacle reef system and the second containing a Jurassic silici-clastic channel system. Both analyses show major stratigraphic features that can be defined in horizon slices or other types of visualization. However, the visual data-mining approach creates seismic facies maps with improved visual detail, distinguishing seismic trace-shape variability in the data. We also compare the facies maps with those obtained from a commercial package for seismic facies classification. Both approaches created similar facies maps, but the visual strategy better depicts subtle stratigraphic changes in the bodies being imaged, offering insight into the nature of these features.