Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors

• Poorandokht Soltani ¹
• Amin Roshandel Kahoo ²
• Hamid Hassanpour ³

¹ Faculty of Mining, Petroleum and Geophysics Engineering, Shahrood University of Technology

² Shahrood University of Technology

³ Faculty of Computer Engineering, Shahrood University of Technology

Abstract

Seismic methods are among the primary and most effective techniques for hydrocarbon exploration, as they enable comprehensive imaging and interpretation of the Earth's subsurface. However, accurate interpretation of seismic data requires detailed analysis of geological structures, often involving complex and subjective decision-making processes. Constructing an initial geological model that aligns with seismic observations is a critical first step, but it is inherently non-unique and heavily influenced by the interpreter’s experience and preferences. Among various subsurface structures, salt domes are of particular interest due to their unique physical characteristics and their critical role in hydrocarbon entrapment, drilling risk management, and subsurface storage applications. Their distinct seismic textures, compared to surrounding sediments, make them identifiable using seismic texture attributes. Nevertheless, the manual delineation of salt dome geobody is a time-consuming and potentially error-prone task, especially given the volume, redundancy, and complexity of the seismic attributes used. To overcome these challenges, we propose a novel unsupervised framework for automatically identifying salt dome geobody in 2D seismic sections. The method begins by extracting a diverse set of seismic texture attributes, including both conventional attributes and novel texture descriptors derived from advanced image analysis techniques. Following attribute extraction, a attribute selection phase using techniques such as Laplacian Score is employed to eliminate redundant, irrelevant, or highly correlated attributes, thereby enhancing model efficiency and interpretability. The reduced set of relevant attributes is then used as input for clustering algorithms based on metaheuristic optimization techniques. These algorithms aim to partition the seismic data into meaningful clusters that correspond to geological attributes, particularly salt domes. Validation against multiple expert interpretations demonstrates the robustness and high accuracy of the proposed method. Results emphasize the capability of unsupervised clustering approaches especially those guided by metaheuristic strategies—in reducing interpretation uncertainty and improving segmentation quality.

Keywords

• seismic attributes
• texture analysis
• clustering
• metaheuristic optimization
• image segmentation

Main Subjects

• Geophysics-Seismology