Abstract

A potentially prolific petroleum system remains hidden under Deccan flood basalt off the west coast of India. The sedimentary sequence below the flood basalt is mainly characterized by Mesozoic strata with a varying thickness of 1000 m to 2500 m. It is considered that requisite heat generation due to Deccan Trap volcanism soon after the Cretaceous sedimentation may have acted as a catalyst in hydrocarbon potential in this area (Vardhan et al. 2008). Imaging hydrocarbon-bearing Mesozoic sediments hidden below the Deccan flood basalt is considered as a serious problem for hydrocarbon exploration because of poor penetration and significant loss of seismic energy due to scattering, attenuation, absorption, and mode conversion when the seismic energy encounters the strongly attenuating flood basalt with high and variable acoustic impedance.