The Pliocene-Recent Muda formation is essentially undeformed in the West Natuna Basin, and excellent resolution of this interval on three-dimensional seismic data in Belida Field allows detailed interpretation of component fluvial-deltaic systems. Detailed interpretation of seismic time slice and seismic sections along with seismic facies analysis, horizon mapping, and extraction of seismic attributes provide the basis to construct a sequence stratigraphic framework and determine patterns for sediment dispersal and accumulation. The Muda interval contains five third-order sequences, with depositional environments confined to the shelf and consisting mainly of fluvial elements. Sequence boundaries (SB) apparently result from major sea level falls, since there was no tectonic uplift and the field underwent only regional slow subsidence during sedimentation of the study interval. Sea level fluctuation also caused changes in fluvial patterns. Analysis of changing channel patterns indicates that major systems tracts relate to specific channel patterns. The Lowstand Systems Tract (LST) is generally dominated by larger channel dimensions and low sinuosity channel patterns. The Transgressive Systems Tract (TST) typically contains relatively smaller channels with high sinuosity. Channels in the Highstand Systems Tract (HST) generally show moderate sinuosity channels and are intermediate in size, larger than TST channels but smaller than LST channels. Crossplots of stratigraphic position and channel morphology indicate that within the transition from LST-TST, channel dimensions (width and thickness) generally decrease and channel sinuosity generally increases. High sinuosity, meandering and anastomosing channels are generally found near the maximum flooding surface. Low sinuosity channels occur within the HST-SB-LST succession, with the exception of higher sinuosity meandering channels evolving inside valleys. Larger, lower sinuosity channels result from high gradient and high discharge associated with stream piracy. Smaller, high-sinuosity channels result from low gradient and small discharge. Extraction of seismic attributes such as RMS Amplitude and Average Reflection Strength show these depositional features in greater detail. In the Belida Field area, lowstand channels were found to comprise the greatest volume of sandstone bodies. Seismic delineation of the distribution and morphology of these channel systems provides critical input for reservoir modeling and volumetric analysis.

Three dimensional (3-D) seismic reflection surveying is accepted as the preferred method for imaging complex geology for proving and developing commercial oil and gas fields. However, the cost of 3-D seismic recording and processing is substantial and often can be as expensive as the cost of production drilling. This is particularly the case for land oil field development, where the cost of 3-D surveying is often unacceptably high. Such high costs also restrict its application in coal exploration, where 2-D seismic methods have long been accepted.During the early 1980's, a low fold technique for recording land 3-D data was devised which offered significant cost savings. The technique was adapted by the author for land 3-D surveying over coal fields. Inherent in the technique was a requirement that the data must have a high signal-to-noise ratio, which is not generally the case in land surveying due to the presence of strong source generated surface wave noise. A further major impediment to the technique was its inability to perform an acceptable stacking velocity analysis because of the low number of seismic traces generated. This thesis defines three data collection and processing advancements in low fold 3-D technology which go some way towards resolving these impediments.The first advancement is a method to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio of the stacked seismic data, and consists of a Radon-based transform which stacks shot domain data along a curved trajectory, thereby attenuating surface waves on swath recorded data. This transform is termed the 'Radial Transform' of 3-D data.The second advancement is a statics method to improve the stacked image from a low number of input traces. The method uses the concept that if both the reflected and refracted waves pass through a weathering layer with very similar travel paths, then static corrections to remove the ++ / effects of weathering variations on the refraction travel times would be very similar to those required for the reflections. This method, which was patented, is used equally for both 2-D and 3-D field data, and is regularly used in high resolution seismic processing for coal at Curtin University.The third advancement resolves the problem of azimuthal variation of stacking velocities. By predicting the true reflector dip and its azimuth, apparent dip can be included in the normal moveout equation, which is named the Generalized Moveout equation. The requirement for an azimuthally dependent stacking velocity is then no longer an impediment in low fold 3-D processing of coal data.After developing these transforms and applying them to synthetic data, they were tested with success on modelled field data. All field data used within this thesis were either recorded in the field by the author, or were produced with a physical modelling system, which was built by the author at the University of Houston and later at Curtin University.Results indicate that the procedures described in this thesis enable the low fold 3-D technique to be used as a viable method for recording seismic data when survey economics are a major issue. Furthermore, all three advancements are suitable for application in conventional two dimensional (2-D) and swath seismic surveying.

Seismic layer segmentation, oil-gas boundary surfaces recognition, and 3D volume data reconstruction are three important tasks in three-dimensional seismic image processing. Geophysical and geological parameters and properties have been known to exhibit progressive changes in a layer. However, there are also times when sudden changes can occur between two layers. λ-connectedness was proposed to describe such a phenomenon. Based on graph theory, λ-connectedness describes the relationship among pixels in an image. It is proved that λ-connectedness is an equivalence relation. That is, it can be used to partition an image into different classes and hence can be used to perform image segmentation. Using the random graph theory and λ-connectivity of the image, the length of the path in a λ-connected set can be estimated. In addition to this, the normal λ-connected subsets preserve every path that is λ-connected in the subsets. An O(nlogn) time algorithm is designed for the normal λ-connected segmentation. Techniques developed are used to find objects in 2D/3D seismic images. Finding the interface between two layers or finding the boundary surfaces of an oil-gas reserve is often asked. This is equivalent to finding out whether a λ-connected set is an interface or surface. The problem that is raised is how to recognize a surface in digital spaces. λ-connectedness is a natural and intuitive way for describing digital surfaces and digital manifolds. Fast algorithms are designed to recognize whether an arbitrary set is a digital surface. Furthermore, the classification theorem of simple surface points is deduced: there are only six classes of simple surface points in 3D digital spaces. Our definition has been proved to be equivalent to Morgenthaler-Rosenfeld's definition of digital surfaces in direct adjacency. Reconstruction of a surface and data volume is important to the seismic data processing. Given a set of guiding pixels, the problem of generating a λ-connected (subset of image) surface is an inverted problem of λ-connected segmentation. In order to simplify the fitting algorithm, gradual variation, an equivalent concept of λ-connectedness, is used to preserve the continuity of the fitted surface. The key theorem, the necessary and sufficient condition for the gradually varied interpolation, has been mathematically proven. A random gradually varied surface fitting is designed, and other theoretical aspects are investigated. The concepts are used to successfully reconstruct 3D seismic real data volumes. This thesis proposes λ-connectedness and its applications as applied to seismic data processing. It is used for other problems such as ionogram scaling and object tracking. It has the potential to become a general technique in image processing and computer vision applications. Concepts and knowledge from several areas in mathematics such as Set Theory, Fuzzy Set Theory, Graph Theory, Numerical Analysis, Topology, Discrete Geometry, Computational Complexity, and Algorithm Design and Analysis have been applied to the work of this thesis.

Multicomponent seismic imaging techniques improve geological interpretation by providing crucial information about subsurface characteristics. These techniques deliver different images of the same subsurface using multiple waveforms. Compressional (P) and shear (S) waves respond to lithology and fluid variations differently, providing independent measurements of rock and fluid properties. Joint interpretation of multicomponent images requires P-wave and S-wave events to be aligned in depth. The process of identifying P and S events from the same reflector is called depth-registration. The purpose of this investigation is to illustrate procedures for depth-registering P and S seismic data when the most fundamental information needed for depth-registration – reliable velocity data – are not available. This work will focus on the depth-registration of a 9-component 3-dimensional seismic dataset targeting the Sycamore formation in Stephens County, Oklahoma. The survey area – 16 square miles – is located in Sho-Vel-Tum oilfield. Processed P-P, SV-SV, and SH-SH wave data are available for post-stack analysis. However, the SV-data volume will not be interpreted because of its inferior data-quality compared to the SH-data volume. Velocity data are essential in most depth-registration techniques: they can be used to convert the seismic data from the time domain to the depth domain. However, velocity data are not available within the boundaries of the 9C/3D seismic survey. The data are located in a complex area that is folded and faulted in the northwest part of the Ardmore basin, between the eastern Arbuckle Mountains and the western Wichita Mountains. Large hydrocarbon volumes are produced from stratigraphic traps, fault closures, anticlines, and combination traps. Sho-Vel-Tum was ranked 31st in terms of proved oil reserves among U.S. oil fields by a 2009 survey. I will interpret different depth-registered horizons on the P-wave and S-wave seismic data volumes. Then, I will present several methods to verify the accuracy of event-registration. Seven depth-registered horizons are mapped through the P-P and SH-SH seismic data. These horizons show the structural complexity that imposes serious challenges on well drilling within the Sho-Vel-Tum oil field. Interval Vp/Vs – a seismic attribute often used as lithological indicator – was mapped to constrain horizon picking and to characterize lateral stratigraphic variations. / text

A new methodology is proposed to perform nonlinear time domain analysis on three-dimensional reinforced concrete bridge structures subjected to spatially varying seismic ground motions. A stochastic algorithm is implemented to generate unique and correlated time history records under each bridge support to model the spatial variability effects of seismic wave components traveling in the longitudinal and transverse direction of the bridge. Three-dimensional finite element models of highway bridges with variable geometry are considered where the nonlinear response is concentrated at bidirectional plastic hinges located at the pier end zones. The ductility demand at each pier is determined from the bidirectional rotations occurring at the plastic hinges during the seismic response evaluation of the bridge models. Variability of the soil characteristics along the length of the bridge is addressed by enforcing soil response spectrum compatibility of the generated time history records and of the dynamic stiffness properties of the spring sets modeling soil rigidity at the soil-foundation interface at each support location. The results on pier ductility demand values show that their magnitude depends on the type of soil under the pier supports, the pier location and the overall length and geometry of the bridge structure. Maximum ductility demand values were found to occur in piers supported on soft soils and located around the mid span of long multi-span bridges. The results also show that pier ductility demand values in the transverse direction of the bridge can be significantly different than the values in the longitudinal direction and in some instances, the maximum value occurs in the transverse direction. Moreover, results also show that ignoring the effects of spatial variability of the seismic excitation, the pier ductility demand can be severely underestimated. Finally, results show that increasing the vertical acceleration component in the seismic wave will generate an increase in the pier axial loads, which will reduce the ductility range of the pier plastic zones. As result, even though the increase in pier ductility demand associated with the increase in the vertical acceleration component was found to be relatively small, the number piers exhibiting significant structural damage increased.