*Article* **Application of Iterative Virtual Events Internal Multiple Suppression Technique: A Case of Southwest Depression Area of Tarim, China**

**Mingtu Xiao 1, Junfa Xie 1, Weihong Wang 2,3,4,\*, Wenqing Liu 1, Jiaqing Sun 1, Baozhong Jin 1, Tao Zhang 1, Yuhe Zhao <sup>1</sup> and Yihui Wang <sup>1</sup>**


**Abstract:** The seismic records in the Cambrian southwest depression of the Tarim Basin exhibit discrepancies when compared to the actual geological setting, which is caused by the presence of multiples. Despite the application of the Radon transform, multiple interferences persist beneath the Cambrian salt in the pre-stack data, with significant variations in energy and frequency across the horizontal direction. In addition, other multiple suppression methods are also difficult to handle this problem. To address this issue, we have developed an iterative virtual event internal multiple suppression method for post-stack data. This novel algorithm extends the traditional virtual event internal multiple suppression approach, eliminating the need for data regularization and avoiding the problem of the traditional virtual events method requiring sequential extraction of primaries from relevant layers, which greatly improves computational efficiency and simplifies the implementation steps of the traditional method. Numerical experiments demonstrate the efficacy of our method in suppressing internal multiples in both synthetic and field data while preserving primary signals. When applied to real seismic data profiles, the iterative method yields structural characteristics that align more closely with sedimentary laws and reduces disparities in energy and frequency of multiples along the horizontal axis. Consequently, our method provides a robust foundation for subsequent hydrocarbon source rock prediction.

**Keywords:** internal multiple suppression; virtual events; iterative; post-stack data; field data
