To investigate seismic resolution of deep mantle plumes as well as the robustness of the anti-correlation between bulk sound speed and S wave speed imaged in the lowermost mantle, we use a Spectral Element Method (SEM) to simulate global seismic wave propagation in 3-D wavespeed models and measure frequency-dependent P-, S-, Pdiff- and Sdiff-wave traveltime anomalies caused by plume structures in the lowermost mantle. We compare SEM time delay measurements with calculations based on ray theory and show that an anti-correlation between bulk sound speed and S-wave speed could be produced as an artifact. This is caused by different wavefront healing effects between P waves and S waves in thermal plume models. The bulk sound speed structure remains poorly resolved when P-wave and S-wave measurements are at different periods with similar wavelength. The differences in wave diffraction between the two types of waves depend on epicentral distance and wave frequency. The artifact in anti-correlation is also confirmed in tomographic inversions based on ray theory using Pdiff and Sdiff time delay measurements made on the SEM synthetics. This indicates a chemical origin of "superplumes" in the lowermost mantle may not be necessary to explain observed seismic traveltimes. The same set of Pdiff and Sdiff measurements are inverted using finite-frequency tomography based on Born sensitivity kernels. We show that wavefront healing effects can be accounted for in finite-frequency tomography to recover the true velocity model. / Master of Science

Continental rifting ultimately creates a deep accommodation space for sediment. When a major river flows into a late-stage rift, thick deltaic sediment can change the thermal regime and alter the mechanisms of extension and continental breakup. The Salton Trough, the northernmost rift segment of the Gulf of California plate boundary, has experienced the same extension as the rest of the Gulf, but is filled to sea level by sediment from the Colorado River. Unlike the southern Gulf, seafloor spreading has not initiated. Instead, seismicity, high heat flow, and minor volcanoes attest to ongoing rifting of thin, transitional crust. Recently acquired controlled-source seismic refraction and wide-angle reflection data in the Salton Trough provide constraints upon crustal architecture and active rift processes. The crust in the central Salton Trough is only 17-18 km thick, with a strongly layered but relatively one-dimensional structure for ~100 km in the direction of plate motion. The upper crust includes 2-3 km of Colorado River sediment. The basement below the sediment is interpreted to be similar sediment metamorphosed by the high heat flow and geothermal activity. Meta-sedimentary rock extends to at least 7-8 km depth. A 4-5 km thick layer in the middle crust is either additional meta-sedimentary rock or stretched pre-existing continental crust. The lowermost 4-5 km of the crust is rift-related mafic magmatic material underplated from partial melting in the hot upper mantle. North American lithosphere in the Salton Trough has been almost or completely rifted apart. The gap has been filled by ~100 km of new transitional crust created by magmatism from below and sedimentation from above. These processes create strong lithologic, thermal, and rheologic layering. Brittle extension occurs within new meta-sedimentary rock. The lower crust, in comparison, stretches by ductile flow and magmatism is not localized. This seismic interpretation is also supported by 1D thermal and rheological modeling. In this passive rift driven by far-field extensional stresses, rapid sedimentation keeps the crust thick and ductile, which delays final breakup of the crust and the initiation of seafloor spreading. / Ph. D.

Near surface measurements of seismic velocity and Q are useful in a number of situations, for example for when carrying out re-datuming and migration for depth images, or when analysing ground conditions for building. This thesis concentrates on the estimation of surface wave group and phase velocity as well as Q structure through the use of cross correlations of ambient noise recordings. Linearised tomography estimates are made for the British Isles, the Permain Basin of Texas and New Mexico, the Ekofisk Life of Field Seismic (LoFS) array and the Aquistore CO2 storage site. The results correspond well with the known geological structure and/or structure observed in velocity maps by other researchers. For the Ekofisk array a non-linearised non-linear method was also applied and the results estimated by these two methods for the Ekofisk LoFS array are compared. By non-linearised non-linear it is meant that the inversion method is fully non-linear and no linearisation has taken place in the method, this term will be used throughout this thesis for all methods which fall into this category. The tomography results from the two methods had similarities in their general structure but differences in the finer details, and so suggest that the substantial increase in time required for the non-linearised non-linear method is not justified. Linearised tomographic inversion of the Aquistore array was used to determine the potential of using ambient noise tomography for monitoring of CO2 storage sites. It was found that the repeatability of the tomography at the Aquistore site was not good enough to allow ambient noise tomography to be used for monitoring; however, it may be possible to apply the method at other sites. A Q and phase velocity inversion of the Ekofisk array is also presented, with results mostly showing excellent correlation with known geological features. It is shown that the higher frequencies are more sensitive to the effects of sea floor subsidence at the site, while lower frequencies are more sensitive to the effects of faulting. A final near surface method called ambient noise gradiometry was applied, this concentrates on estimating locations of sources of seismic energy within receiver arrays. Ambient noise gradiometry is applied to synthetic and real data for this purpose. It was found that using ambient noise gradiometry allows internal sources of energy to be identified but they produce a bias in the phase velocity tomography result. Two methods of reducing this bias are presented, both of which also provide an estimate of the source term for different sections of time of the recording.

Black shales are sedimentary rocks with a high content of organic carbon, which leads to a dark grayish to black color. Due to their potential to contain oil or gas, black shales are of great interest for the support of the worldwide energy supply. An integrated seismic investigation of the Lower Palaeozoic black shales was carried out at the Danish island Bornholm to locate the shallow-lying Alum Shale layer and its surrounding formations and to characterize its potential as a source rock. Therefore, two seismic experiments at a total of three crossing profiles were carried out in October 2010 and in June 2012 in the southern part of the island. Two different active measurements were conducted with either a weight drop source or a minivibrator. Additionally, the ambient noise field was recorded at the study location over a time interval of about one day, and also a laboratory analysis of borehole samples was carried out. The seismic profiles were positioned as close as possible to two scientific boreholes which were used for comparative purposes. The seismic field data was analyzed with traveltime tomography, surface wave inversion and seismic interferometry to obtain the P-wave and S-wave velocity models of the subsurface. The P-wave velocity models which were determined for all three profiles clearly locate the Alum Shale layer between the Komstad Limestone layer on top and the Læså Sandstone Formation at the base of the models. The black shale layer has P-wave velocities around 3 km/s which are lower compared to the adjacent formations. Due to a very good agreement of the sonic log and the vertical velocity profiles of the two seismic lines, which are directly crossing the borehole where the sonic log was conducted, the reliability of the traveltime tomography is proven. A correlation of the seismic velocities with the content of organic carbon is an important task for the characterization of the reservoir properties of a black shale formation. It is not possible without calibration but in combination with a full 2D tomographic image of the subsurface it gives the subsurface distribution of the organic material. The S-wave model obtained with surface wave inversion of the vibroseis data of one of the profiles images the Alum Shale layer also very well with S-wave velocities around 2 km/s. Although individual 1D velocity models for each of the source positions were determined, the subsurface S-wave velocity distribution is very uniform with a good match between the single models. A really new approach described here is the application of seismic interferometry to a really small study area and a quite short time interval. Also new is the selective procedure of only using time windows with the best crosscorrelation signals to achieve the final interferograms. Due to the small scale of the interferometry even P-wave signals can be observed in the final crosscorrelations. In the laboratory measurements the seismic body waves were recorded for different pressure and temperature stages. Therefore, samples of different depths of the Alum Shale were available from one of the scientific boreholes at the study location. The measured velocities have a high variance with changing pressure or temperature. Recordings with wave propagation both parallel and perpendicular to the bedding of the samples reveal a great amount of anisotropy for the P-wave velocity, whereas the S-wave velocity is almost independent of the wave direction. The calculated velocity ratio is also highly anisotropic with very low values for the perpendicular samples and very high values for the parallel ones. Interestingly, the laboratory velocities of the perpendicular samples are comparable to the velocities of the field experiments indicating that the field measurements are sensitive to wave propagation in vertical direction. The velocity ratio is also calculated with the P-wave and S-wave velocity models of the field experiments. Again, the Alum Shale can be clearly separated from the adjacent formations because it shows overall very low vP/vS ratios around 1.4. The very low velocity ratio indicates the content of gas in the black shale formation. With the combination of all the different methods described here, a comprehensive interpretation of the seismic response of the black shale layer can be made and the hydrocarbon source rock potential can be estimated. / Schwarzschiefer sind Sedimentgesteine, die einen hohen Gehalt an organischem Kohlenstoff aufweisen, was zu einer dunkelgrauen bis schwarzen Färbung führt. Da Schwarzschiefer das Potenzial besitzen, Öl oder Gas zu enthalten und somit zur weltweiten Energieversorgung beitragen könnten, sind sie von großem Interesse. Mit Hilfe der Kombination verschiedener seismischer Messverfahren wurden die Schwarzschiefer des Unteren Paläozoikums auf der dänischen Insel Bornholm untersucht um den oberflächennahen Alaunschiefer und dessen Umgebungsgestein dort zu lokalisieren und sein Potenzial als Muttergestein abzuschätzen. Dafür wurden im Oktober 2010 und im Juni 2012 im südlichen Teil der Insel zwei seismische Experimente auf insgesamt drei sich kreuzenden Profilen durchgeführt. Für zwei aktive seismische Messungen wurden ein Fallgewicht und ein Minivibrator als Quellen genutzt. Zusätzlich wurde im Messgebiet noch das Wellenfeld des umgebenden Rauschens über einen Zeitraum von etwa einem Tag aufgezeichnet. Außerdem wurden Labormessungen an Bohrkernen aus dem Alaunschiefer durchgeführt. Die seismischen Messprofile befanden sich so nah wie möglich an zwei wissenschaftlichen Bohrungen, die für Vergleichszwecke genutzt wurden. Um die P- und S-Wellengeschwindigkeitsmodelle des Untergrundes zu erhalten wurden die seismischen Felddaten mittels Laufzeittomographie, Oberflächenwelleninversion und seismischer Interferometrie ausgewertet. Die P-Wellenmodelle, die für alle drei seismischen Profile erstellt wurden, zeigen den Alaunschiefer zwischen dem Komstad Kalkstein, der den Alaunschiefer überdeckt, und der Læså Sandsteinformation, die die Basis der Modelle bildet. Für die Schwarzschieferschicht ergeben sich mit rund 3 km/s deutlich geringere P-Wellengeschwindigkeiten als für die umgebenden Gesteine. Zwei seismische Profile liegen direkt an einer der Bohrungen, für die verschiedene Bohrloch-Logs durchgeführt wurden. Der Vergleich des Sonic-Logs mit den vertikalen Geschwindigkeitsprofilen beider Modelle am Bohrpunkt zeigt eine sehr gute übereinstimmung aller Geschwindigkeiten. Dies ist ein Indiz für die Plausibilität der durchgeführten Laufzeittomographie. Um die Reservoireigenschaften der Schwarzschieferschicht einordnen zu können, wurde versucht, die seismischen Geschwindigkeiten mit dem Gehalt an organischem Material zu korrelieren. Ohne geeignete Kalibrierung ist diese Korrelation schwierig, kann aber mit Hilfe der Tomographieergebnisse ein zweidimensionales Abbild der Verteilung des organischen Materials im Untergrund liefern. Auch das S-Wellengeschwindigkeitsmodell, welches mit der Oberflächenwelleninversion der Vibroseisdaten erstellt wurde, bildet den Alaunschiefer gut ab. Hierbei zeigen sich S-Wellengeschwindigkeiten um 2 km/s. Obwohl jeweils nur 1D-Modelle für jede Quellposition bestimmt wurden, ergibt sich für die gesamte Untergrundstruktur des untersuchten Profils ein einheitliches Bild der Geschwindigkeiten. Einen sehr neuen Ansatz bildet die Anwendung der seismischen Interferometrie auf ein sehr kleines Untersuchungsgebiet und über einen sehr kurzen Zeitraum. Neu ist außerdem, dass für die Bestimmung der endgültigen Interferogramme nur Zeitfenster der Kreuzkorrelationen ausgewählt werden, in denen die Signalqualität hinreichend gut ist. In den berechneten Kreuzkorrelationen sind sogar P-Wellen enthalten, was auf die geringen Abstände der seismischen Rekorder zurück zu führen ist. Bei den Labormessungen wurden die Raumwellen für verschiedene Drücke und Temperaturen aufgezeichnet. Die Messungen der Geschwindigkeiten sowohl parallel als auch senkrecht zur Schichtung der Proben zeigen eine starke Anisotropie für die P-Welle. Dagegen scheint die S-Wellengeschwindigkeit fast unabhängig von der Ausbreitungsrichtung der Wellen zu sein. Auch das Verhältnis der Geschwindigkeiten weist starke Anisotropie auf. Für die Wellenausbreitung senkrecht zur Schichtung zeigen sich sehr niedrige Werte, die Werte für die Messungen parallel zur Schichtung sind dagegen deutlich erhöht. Ein interessanter Aspekt der aus den Labormessungen resultiert ist, dass die Geschwindigkeit der Messungen senkrecht zur Schichtung mit den Geschwindigkeitswerten der Feldmessungen übereinstimmen. Damit scheinen die Feldmessungen besonders die Ausbreitung der Wellen in vertikaler Richtung zu registrieren. Das Geschwindigkeitsverhältnis wurde auch mit den P- und S-Wellenmodellen der Feldexperimente berechnet. Auch hier hebt sich der Alaunschiefer mit deutlich verringerten Werten um 1.4 vom Umgebungsgestein ab. Solch geringe Werte für das Verhältnis der Geschwindigkeiten deutet auf den Gehalt von Gas im Schwarzschiefer. Mit der Kombination der verschiedenen Methoden ist es möglich, die seismische Antwort der Schwarzschieferschicht umfassend zu beschreiben und Schlussfolgerungen darüber zu ziehen, ob die hier untersuchte Schwarzschieferschicht das Potenzial hat als Kohlenwasserstofflagerstätte zu fungieren.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [112]-124).

Nous souhaitons connaître les processus qui contrôlent les glissements de terrain lents à l’aide de méthodes sismiques passives. Nous installons des dispositifs d’écoute sismique sur les sites de Super-Sauze (France) et de Valoria (Italie). Nous détectons, localisons et caractérisons trois types principaux de signaux sismiques. Un type est associé aux séismes régionaux donc externe à la dynamique des glissements. Les deux autres sont localisés dans des foyers de fissures ou des ruptures de pente. Nous suggérons que le premier type est associé à des écroulements depuis l’escarpement et à du transport en surface, tandis que le second type est associé à des fractures et des cisaillements. On montre qu’il existe des corrélations entre ces signaux, les déplacements en surface et les précipitations. Les glissements de terrain sont des volumes variables dans le temps et dans l’espace, ce qui impose une maintenance régulière des équipements et complexifie l’acquisition de données permanentes. / We aim at improving our knowledge regarding slow-moving landslide evolution processes by means of passive seismic methods. Seismic arrays have been installed on two landslides (Super-Sauze, France and Valoria, Italy). We detect, locate and characterise three main types of seismic signals. One type corresponds to the regional earthquakes and is also external to the dynamics of the landslides. The two others are located into clusters close to fractured or scarp zones. The first type is interpreted as rock falls or brittle material propagating along the slide, while the second type is interpreted as fracture or shearing phenomena. We evaluate that displacements and precipitations might be correlated with seismic signals variations. Landslides are likely to move and to mechanically change in space and time, which implies a continuous monitoring of the seismic equipment and prevents from long-term acquisition.

Passive seismic experiments, MOSAIC, BOHEMA I-III, EgerRift, or, PASSEQ, carried out in the region of the Bohemian Massif (BM), allowed a detailed study of velocity structure of the upper mantle. We present results of tomography studies of the upper mantle beneath the north-eastern and southern parts of the BM based on the data from the BOHEMA II and BOHEMA III experiments (2004-2006). Despite the fact that regions with the highest resolution of velocity perturbations differ in the models, tomography images are similar in overlapping parts. Models of the upper mantle show mostly low- velocity perturbations relatively to radially symmetric velocity model of the Earth beneath the BM. Limited high-velocity heterogeneity beneath the Moldanubian unit, extended in the NE-SW direction, reflects thickening of the lithosphere due to a collision of the BM with the Brunovistulian micro-plate during the Variscan orogeny. The tomography based on the data from the BOHEMA III experiment revealed significant high-velocity heterogeneity in the southern margin of the model with a subduction of the lithosphere beneath the Eastern Alps. Tomographic tests showed that effects of uncorrected velocity heterogeneities within the crust can appear as deep as 100 km and, therefore, they could lead to erroneous interpretation of...

La marge algérienne borde le bassin algérien, formé en position de bassin arrière-arc de la subduction Téthysienne. L'importance de l'étude du segment de marge qui s'étend de Ténès à Mostaganem sur environ 250 km, réside dans sa position charnière entre le domaine continental d'Alborán à l'Ouest et le bassin océanique algérien à l'Est. Dans ce travail nous avons déterminé pour la première fois, la structure et la nature de la croûte de ce segment, à partir de l'inversion tomographique des données de sismique grand-angle d'un profil N-S perpendiculaire à la marge. Grâce aux traitements des données de sismique réflexion multitrace acquises pendant la campagne SPIRAL et aux données industrielles, nous avons pu proposer un schéma tectonique régional et une cartographie de l'extension possible du socle Kabyle en mer. Les résultats révèlent une marge caractérisée par la juxtaposition d'une croûte océanique peu épaisse au nord et d'une croûte continentale amincie au sud de part et d'autre d'un accident vertical. L'ouverture du bassin océanique résulterait de la réponse à la déchirure du panneau lithosphérique en subduction sous Gibraltar, accompagné par la migration du bloc Alborán vers l'Ouest. La propagation de cette déchirure (STEP) a généré une zone de cisaillement qui se focalise dans zone de transition océan-continent. L'inversion tectonique qui affecte plus à l'Est la marge semble s'arrêter à la latitude de Ténès. Cette absence de déformation en mer coïncide avec une lacune de sismicité liée à la résistance mécanique de la marge. Par comparaison à d'autres régions du monde, seules les zones situées sur la croûte continentale pourraient présenter un potentiel pétrolier. / Located in North Africa, the Algerian margin is bordering the Algerian basin, formed in the back of the Tethyan subduction. The importance of the study of the segment extending from Tenes to Mostaganem over 250 km, lies in its pivotal position between the continental Alborán domain to the West and the Algerian Basin to the East. In this work, we determined for the first time, the structure and the crustal nature of this segment using the tomographic inversion of the seismic data recorded along a N-S wide-angle seismic profile shot perpendicular to the margin. Thanks to the multichannel reflection seismic data acquired during SPIRAL (2009), and to industrial data, we have proposed a regional tectonic pattern and the possible offshore extension of the kabylian basement The results reveal a margin characterized by the juxtaposition of a thin oceanic crust to the North and a slightly thinned continental crust to the South on either side of a major vertical accident. This suggests that the margin is formed in a strike-slip context. The opening of the oceanic basin should result from the response to the retreat and to the tear of the lithospheric slab beneath the Gibraltar subduction, accompanied by the westward migration of the Alborán block. The propagation of this lithospheric tearing (STEP) generated a zone of strike-slip along the narrow ocean-continent transition. The offshore absence of seismicity along our segment is connected to the mechanical resistance of the margin due to rapid change of crust nature. Owing the results and compared with other regions of the world, the areas which can likely present oil potential are the ones located on the continental crust.

La tomographie des temps de première arrivée vise à retrouver un modèle de vitesse de propagation des ondes sismiques à partir des temps de première arrivée mesurés. Cette technique nécessite la résolution d’un problème inverse afin d’obtenir un modèle sismique cohérent avec les données observées. Il s'agit d'un problème mal posé pour lequel il n'y a aucune garantie quant à l'unicité de la solution. L’approche bayésienne permet d’estimer la distribution spatiale de la vitesse de propagation des ondes sismiques. Il en résulte une meilleure quantification des incertitudes associées. Cependant l’approche reste relativement coûteuse en temps de calcul, les algorithmes de Monte Carlo par chaînes de Markov (MCMC) classiquement utilisés pour échantillonner la loi a posteriori des paramètres n'étant efficaces que pour un nombre raisonnable de paramètres. Elle demande, de ce fait, une réflexion à la fois sur la paramétrisation du modèle de vitesse afin de réduire la dimension du problème et sur la définition de la loi a priori des paramètres. Le sujet de cette thèse porte essentiellement sur cette problématique.Le premier modèle que nous considérons est basé sur un modèle de mosaïque aléatoire, le modèle de Jonhson-Mehl, dérivé des mosaïques de Voronoï déjà proposées en tomographie bayésienne. Contrairement à la mosaïque de Voronoï, les cellules de Johsnon-mehl ne sont pas forcément convexes et sont bornées par des portions d’hyperboloïdes, offrant ainsi des frontières lisses entre les cellules. Le deuxième modèle est, quant à lui, décrit par une combinaison linéaire de fonctions gaussiennes, centrées sur la réalisation d'un processus ponctuel de Poisson. Pour chaque modèle, nous présentons un exemple de validation sur des champs de vitesse simulés. Nous appliquons ensuite notre méthodologie à un modèle synthétique plus complexe qui sert de benchmark dans l'industrie pétrolière. Nous proposons enfin, un modèle de vitesse basé sur la théorie du compressive sensing pour reconstruire le champ de vitesse. Ce modèle, encore imparfait, ouvre plusieurs pistes de recherches futures.Dans ce travail, nous nous intéressons également à un jeu de données réelles acquises dans le contexte de la fracturation hydraulique. Nous développons dans ce contexte une méthode d'inférence bayésienne trans-dimensionnelle et hiérarchique afin de traiter efficacement la complexité du modèle à couches. / First arrival time tomography aims at inferring the seismic wave propagation velocity using experimental first arrival times. In our study, we rely on a Bayesian approach to estimate the wave velocity and the associated uncertainties. This approach incorporates the information provided by the data and the prior knowledge of the velocity model. Bayesian tomography allows for a better estimation of wave velocity as well asassociated uncertainties. However, this approach remains fairly expensive, and MCMC algorithms that are used to sample the posterior distribution are efficient only as long as the number of parameters remains within reason. Hence, their use requires a careful reflection both on the parameterization of the velocity model, in order to reduce the problem's dimension, and on the definition of the prior distribution of the parameters. In this thesis, we introduce new parsimonious parameterizations enabling to accurately reproduce the wave velocity field with the associated uncertainties.The first parametric model that we propose uses a random Johnson-Mehl tessellation, a variation of the Voronoï tessellation. The second one uses Gaussian kernels as basis functions. It is especially adapted to the detection of seismic wave velocity anomalies. Each anomaly isconsidered to be a linear combination of these basis functions localized at the realization of a Poisson point process. We first illustrate the tomography results with a synthetic velocity model, which contains two small anomalies. We then apply our methodology to a more advanced and more realistic synthetic model that serves as a benchmark in the oil industry. The tomography results reveal the ability of our algorithm to map the velocity heterogeneitieswith precision using few parameters. Finally, we propose a new parametric model based on the compressed sensing techniques. The first results are encouraging. However, the model still has some weakness related to the uncertainties estimation.In addition, we analyse real data in the context of induced microseismicity. In this context, we develop a trans-dimensional and hierarchical approach in order to deal with the full complexity of the layered model.

La tomographie sismique des temps de trajet est un problème d'optimisation mal-posé du fait de la non-linéarité entre les temps et le modèle de vitesse. Par ailleurs, l'unicité de la solution n'est pas garantie car les données peuvent être expliquées par de nombreux modèles. Les méthodes de Monte-Carlo par Chaînes de Markov qui échantillonnent l'espace des paramètres sont généralement appréciées pour répondre à cette problématique. Cependant, ces approches ne peuvent pleinement tirer partie des ressources computationnelles fournies par les super-calculateurs modernes. Dans cette thèse, je me propose de résoudre le problème de tomographie sismique à l'aide d'algorithmes évolutionnistes. Ce sont des méthodes d'optimisation stochastiques inspirées de l'évolution naturelle des espèces. Elles opèrent sur une population de modèles représentés par un ensemble d'individus qui évoluent suivant des processus stochastiques caractéristiques de l'évolution naturelle. Dès lors, la population de modèles peut être intrinsèquement évaluée en parallèle ce qui rend ces algorithmes particulièrement adaptés aux architectures des super-calculateurs. Je m'intéresse plus précisément aux trois algorithmes évolutionnistes les plus populaires, à savoir l'évolution différentielle, l'optimisation par essaim particulaire, et la stratégie d'évolution par adaptation de la matrice de covariance. Leur faisabilité est étudiée sur deux jeux de données différents: un jeu réel acquis dans le contexte de la fracturation hydraulique et un jeu synthétique de réfraction généré à partir du modèle de vitesse Marmousi réputé pour sa géologie structurale complexe. / Seismic traveltime tomography is an ill-posed optimization problem due to the non-linear relationship between traveltime and velocity model. Besides, the solution is not unique as many models are able to explain the observed data. The non-linearity and non-uniqueness issues are typically addressed by using methods relying on Monte Carlo Markov Chain that thoroughly sample the model parameter space. However, these approaches cannot fully handle the computer resources provided by modern supercomputers. In this thesis, I propose to solve seismic traveltime tomography problems using evolutionary algorithms which are population-based stochastic optimization methods inspired by the natural evolution of species. They operate on concurrent individuals within a population that represent independent models, and evolve through stochastic processes characterizing the different mechanisms involved in natural evolution. Therefore, the models within a population can be intrinsically evaluated in parallel which makes evolutionary algorithms particularly adapted to the parallel architecture of supercomputers. More specifically, the works presented in this manuscript emphasize on the three most popular evolutionary algorithms, namely Differential Evolution, Particle Swarm Optimization and Covariance Matrix Adaptation - Evolution Strategy. The feasibility of evolutionary algorithms to solve seismic tomography problems is assessed using two different data sets: a real data set acquired in the context of hydraulic fracturing and a synthetic refraction data set generated using the Marmousi velocity model that presents a complex geology structure.