Abstract:Fractures will exert great menace to the safe production of coal fields. The fracture detection of coalbed is an important problem in the development of many coalfields. Due to the overlying strata pressure, horizontal fractures and low-angle fractures of the stratum almost disappear. The characters of P-wave azimuthal anisotropy are mainly caused by high-angle fracture and vertical fracture of the stratum;and the azimuthal anisotropy of P-wave reflects the situation of fracture of underground medium. Especially,P-wave azimuthal amplitude variation with offset (AVO) is sensitive to fracture. Therefore, the analysis of P-wave azimuthal AVO can be used to delineate fracture patterns and investigate their properties. The theory and method based on P-wave azimuthal AVO analysis are applied to the P-wave seismic data in some mining area of Huainan coalfield. The fracture distributions of some coa beds in this area are achieved. The results of predicted fracture agree well with the in-situ data;and the proposed method is proven to be successful.