Abstract: Shale gas is the focal point of the new energy strategy in China. China’s shale gas exploration and development are just starting, and little research on such a reservoir’s geophysical features and prospecting methods is available. The shale gas reservoir is normally of features of high gamma ray, low sonic velocity, low density and high resistivity, etc., by which the reservoir can be identified. However, because of its low porosity, and gas accumulation is mainly controlled by the degree of fractures, the geophysical prospecting of shale gas is based on detecting the development level and direction of shale fractures to determine the favorable zones of shale reservoirs. This article presents the fracture-detecting and identifying methods, such as anisotropy, shear wave splitting, curvature and coherent attribute, frequencydependent AVO, etc., so that they can be as guidelines for geophysical prospecting of shale gas.

Key words: shale gas, geophysics, reservoir, identification, fracture