Changhong Lin

Crustal structure beneath Namche Barwa, eastern Himalayan syntaxis: New insights from three-dimensional magnetotelluric imaging

The eastern terminations of the Himalayan orogeny, named Namche Barwa, are considered a vital natural laboratory in the Tibetan plateau for geodynamics due to its distinctive geological and geomorphological characteristics. Magnetotelluric (MT) data measured at 83 sites around the Namche Barwa are imaged by three-dimensional (3D) inversion to better reveal the crustal structure of the eastern Himalaya. The results show a complex and heterogeneous electrical structure beneath the Namche Barwa. The electrical conductors distributed in the middle and lower crust around the Namche Barwa provide additional evidence for the “crustal flow” model if they are considered as some parts of the flow in a relatively large-scale region. The near-surface resistivity model beneath the inner part of Namche Barwa conforms with the locations of hot spring and fluid inclusions, the brittle–ductile transition and the 300 °C–400 °C isotherm from previous hydrothermal studies. Relatively resistive upper crust (>800 Ωm) is underlain by a more conductive middle to lower crust (<80 Ωm). The electrical characteristics of the thermal structure at shallow depth indicate an accumulation of hydrous melting, a localized conductive steep dipping zone for decompression melting consistent with the “tectonic aneurysm” model for explaining the exhumation mechanism of metamorphic rocks at Namche Barwa. The results also imply that both surface processes and local tectonic responses play a vital role in the evolution of Namche Barwa. An alternative hypothesis that the primary sustained heat source accounts for the local thermal–rheological structure beneath Namche Barwa is also discussed.

Three-dimensional interpretation of sparse survey line MT data: Synthetic examples

Currently, most of MT (magnetotelluric) data are still collected on sparse survey lines and interpreted using 2D inversion methods because of the field work cost, the work area environment, and so on. However, there are some 2D interpretation limitations of the MT data from 3D geoelectrical structures which always leads to wrong geological interpretations. In this paper, we used the 3D inversion method to interpret the MT sparse lines data. In model testing, the sparse lines data are the MT full information data generated from a test model and processed using the 3D conjugate gradients inversion code. The inversion results show that this inversion method is reasonable and effective. Meanwhile, we prove that for inversion results with different element parameters, the results by joint inversion of both the impedance tensor data and the tipper data are more accurate and closer to the test model.

Two-dimensional inversion of spectral induced polarization data using MPI parallel algorithm in data space

Traditional two-dimensional (2D) complex resistivity forward modeling is based on Poisson’s equation but spectral induced polarization (SIP) data are the coproducts of the induced polarization (IP) and the electromagnetic induction (EMI) effects. This is especially true under high frequencies, where the EMI effect can exceed the IP effect. 2D inversion that only considers the IP effect reduces the reliability of the inversion data. In this paper, we derive differential equations using Maxwell’s equations. With the introduction of the Cole–Cole model, we use the finite-element method to conduct 2D SIP forward modeling that considers the EMI and IP effects simultaneously. The data-space Occam method, in which different constraints to the model smoothness and parametric boundaries are introduced, is then used to simultaneously obtain the four parameters of the Cole—Cole model using multi-array electric field data. This approach not only improves the stability of the inversion but also significantly reduces the solution ambiguity. To improve the computational efficiency, message passing interface programming was used to accelerate the 2D SIP forward modeling and inversion. Synthetic datasets were tested using both serial and parallel algorithms, and the tests suggest that the proposed parallel algorithm is robust and efficient.

Three-dimensional tensor controlled-source audio-frequency magnetotelluric inversion using LBFGS

The controlled-source audio-frequency magnetotelluric (CSAMT) method has become an important method in geophysical electromagnetic exploration. However, traditional CSAMT only gathers a single set of orthogonal electric and magnetic data, which cannot describe the whole subsurface geological structure. Due to increasingly complex geological targets, the drawbacks of traditional CSAMT have gradually become more significant, promoting the need for tensor CSAMT. Tensor CSAMT can gather richer information, but the 3D forward and inversion models of this method have developed slowly since it was first proposed. The common method for inverting the data of the tensor CSAMT is still magnetotelluric (MT). This paper adopts a staggered-grid finite difference method to realise the 3D forward modelling of the tensor CSAMT. On this basis, we adopt a limited-memory Broyden-Fletcher-Goldfarb-Shanno (LBFGS) method to implement a 3D inversion with full impedance data. Through inverting synthetic and real data, we prove that: (1) directly using an MT method to invert the data of the tensor CSAMT will obtain an incorrect result, (2) the inversion result of tensor CSAMT is more reliable than that of the traditional CSAMT, and (3) LBFGS is more efficient than the nonlinear conjugate gradient (NLCG) for tensor CSAMT. Our research shows that 3D tensor CSAMT inversion with LBFGS is very useful and practical for electromagnetic exploration. We have shown in this paper that directly using a magnetotelluric method to invert the data of the tensor controlled-source audio-frequency magnetotelluric (CSAMT) will obtain an incorrect result, the inversion result of tensor CSAMT is more reliable than that of the traditional CSAMT, and the limited-memory Broyden-Fletcher-Goldfarb-Shanno (LBFGS) method is more efficient than the nonlinear conjugate gradient (NLCG) method for tensor CSAMT.

Three-dimensional inversion of CSAMT data in the presence of topography

3D controlled-source audio frequency magnetotelluric (CSAMT) responses can be distorted strongly by topography and should be accounted for in data inversion and interpretation. In this paper we present a scheme to incorporate topographic distortions into the inversion instead of correcting them. This approach has been verified by comparing the modelling results with 2D FEM CSAMT solutions and synthetic inversion examples. Compared with the responses generated from a half-space model with flat surface, it is found that not only the topography in the survey area but also that at the source position may strongly distort the CSAMT responses. The field example indicates that results with topography are much better than those without considering topography to map the distribution of coal seam underground, which also illustrates the effectiveness of our approach. In this paper, we present a scheme to incorporate 3D controlled-source audio frequency magnetotelluric (CSAMT) topographic distortions into the 3D inversion instead of correcting them. This approach has been verified by comparison with 2D FEM CSAMT solutions and synthetic inversion examples. The field example also illustrates the effectiveness of our approach.

Three‐dimensional inversion of CSAMT data using conjugate gradient method

The controlled source audio-frequency magnetotelluric (CSAMT) method plays an important role in the resource exploration. Using a finite difference method in the forward modeling problem and a conjugate gradient method in the regularized inversion problem, we developed a threedimensional (3D) inversion algorithm for CSAMT data. Inversions with the synthetic data demonstrated the validity and stability of the inversion algorithm.

The effects of 3D topography on CSAMT responses

We are investigating the 3D topographic effects on controlled-source audio frequency magnetotelluric data. Two 3D topographic models are considered: a trapezoidal-hill model and a trapezoidal-valley model. Different responses are generated, including the amplitude of electric field, amplitude of magnetic field, apparent resistivity and phase data. The responses distorted by the 3D topography are simulated for the source located both next to and on the hill/valley. Our study indicates that all the electric field, magnetic field, apparent resistivity and phase data are influenced by 3D topography, but to different extents. These topographic effects depend on the transmission-receiver-topography geometry, the transmission frequency, earth resistivity and the roughness of the surface. The effects in the near-field generated by topography in the survey area are quite different from those in the far-field because of the existence of the source. Compared to those in the far-field zone, the magnetic field and pha...