Second-order approximate reflection coefficients of vertical transversely isotropic thin beds

Due to the periodicity and rhythmicity of sedimentation, short-term cycles are commonly developed in sedimentary strata. Under the assumption of a long seismic wavelength, such strata can be regarded as a seismic single thin bed with vertical transversely isotropic (VTI) characteristics. A thin interbed can be formed by the stacking of a series of isotropic and VTI single thin beds. In seismic inversion, the interference of multiples and mode-converted waves generated within and between thin beds and transmission losses are ignored. These interferences are hardly addressed in seismic data processing due to being submerged in first arrivals. In this work, to thin interbeds of isotropic and VTI single thin beds, we propose second-order approximations of Kennett reflection coefficients for PP-, SP-, PS-, and SS-waves, which consider the internal and interlayer wave propagation effects. The numerical analyses show that the proposed approximations are of high accuracy when the P-wave impedance difference in the VTI single thin bed is from - 40 to 100% and of strong anisotropy. The proposed approximations can be used for the efficient and accurate simulation of the wavefields of media with thin interbedding, bringing great potential for the studies of the inversion methods for the internal property parameters of thin interbeds.