Characterization of microseismic source mechanism in the Marcellus shale through analysis in the spectral domain

Author(s): Nava, MJ; Rector, JW; Zhang, Z | Abstract: © 2015 SEG. In this paper, we investigate the use of analysis in the spectral domain to overcome the limitations imposed by limited aperture, a common disadvantage to typical monitoring geometry in hydraulic fracturing processes. A typical microseismic monitoring configuration contains two horizontally drilled boreholes - one treatment well and one observation well. This configuration, while cost-effective, leads to an inability to execute moment tensor inversion through traditional means. However, through careful analysis in the spectral domain, parameters like center frequency and bandwidth can be used in tandem with knowledge of process parameters to better understand microseismic source characteristics.