Inversion of Scattered Waves for Material Properties in Fractured Rock

The authors apply a recently developed low-frequency, non-linear inversion method which includes near and far field terms to a crosshole data set to determine the bulk and shear modulus, as well as the density for a fractured zone in a granitic rock mass. The method uses the scattered elastic wavefield which is extracted from the recorded data before the inversion is performed. The inversion result is appraised by investigating the resolution and standard deviation of the model estimates. The sensitivity of the three parameters to different features of the medium is revealed. While the bulk modulus appears to be sensitive to voids and welded contacts, the density is mostly affected by fractured zones. The shear modulus is least constrained due to the absence of S wave anisotropy information. It is shown that the three medium parameters are generally sensitive to other medium features than those determined by velocity inversions. Thus this method is viewed as a complimentary approach to travel time tomography which provides more insight into the material properties of inhomogeneous media.