This dissertation presents three novel applications of supervirtual interferometry (SVI) to seismic data: 3D refraction SVI, reflection SVI, and the combination of machine learning and SVI for automatic picking of SVI arrival times. The most important scientific finding of this dissertation is that I applied refraction SVI to seismic data recorded over the Olduvai Basin, Tanzania to more than double the source-receiver offset of pickable refraction arrivals. This allows us, for the first time, to delineate the depth of the bedrock in the Olduvai Basin. The maximum basin thickness is around 405 m, which has important palaeoantropological significance in that hominin palaeoenvironments in the Olduvai Basin possibly date back to 4 Ma, almost doubling the age estimated from the previous coring logs. The seismic results also map synsedimentary normal faults and trace individual strata at depth for the Olduvai Basin.
| Date of Award | Aug 2019 |
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| Original language | English (US) |
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| Awarding Institution | - Physical Sciences and Engineering
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| Supervisor | Gerard Schuster (Supervisor) |
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