A method, a map and an article of manufacture for the exploration of hydrocarbons. In one embodiment of the invention, the method comprises the steps of: accessing 3D seismic data; dividing the data into an array of relatively small three-dimensional cells; determining in each
cell the semblance / similarity, the dip and dip
azimuth of the seismic traces contained therein; and displaying dip, dip
azimuth and the semblance / similarity of each
cell in the form a two-dimensional map. In one embodiment, semblance / similarity is a function of time, the number of seismic traces within the
cell, and the apparent dip and apparent dip
azimuth of the traces within the cell; the semblance / similarity of a cell is determined by making a plurality of measurements of the semblance / similarity of the traces within the cell and selecting the largest of the measurements. In addition, the apparent dip and apparent dip azimuth, corresponding to the largest measurement of semblance / similarity in the cell, are deemed to be estimates of the true dip and true dip azimuth of the traces therein. A
color map, characterized by
hue, saturation and
lightness, is used to depict semblance / similarity, true dip azimuth and true dip of each cell; true dip azimuth is mapped onto the
hue scale, true dip is mapped onto the saturation scale, and the largest measurement of semblance / similarity is mapped onto the
lightness scale of the
color map.