Abstract:
In exploration geophysics, seismic surveys and
their interpretations provide the most reliable information of
the subsurface structures. Extensive work on the determination
of the subsurface structure has been carried out in both
available satellite- gravity and magnetic data suggest that the
Lanka Basin may have the necessary sediment volume for the
occurrence of hydrocarbons. However, without seismic data,
this suggestion cannot be tested further. As an alternative to
acquiring additional seismic data in the region, this research
focused on digitising 50,000 km of vintage seismic lines from
the National Geophysical Data Centre (NGDC) data repository
and converting them into Seg-Y format. Key seismic horizons
on the digitised sections were interpreted to provide details of
the seabed and acoustic basement in the time domain. Regional
sedimentary thickness maps were compiled in the time domain
interpolating the interpreted horizons using ββ method.
The velocity data acquired in the region were used to convert
the maps from time to depth domain. The results indicate that
average thickness of sediments in the region varies around
5000 m to 6000 m, where the maximum thickness is around
8000 m in the North Eastern part of the Lanka basin. The
thickness maps can be used as a reference dataset to plan
commercial seismic surveys in the future for hydrocarbon
exploration in the Lanka Basin.
