David Beamish

Fundamentals of the capacitive resistivity technique

Capacitive resistivity (CR) is an emerging geophysical technique designed to extend the scope of the conventional methodology of dc resistivity to environments where galvanic coupling is notoriously difficult to achieve — for example, across engineered structures (roads, pavements), hard rock, dry soil, or frozen ground. Conceptually, CR is based on a four-point array capacitively coupled to the ground. Under certain conditions, capacitive measurements of resistivity are equivalent to those obtained with the dc technique, thus making dc interpretation schemes applicable to CR data. The coupling properties of practical sensor realizations are shown to be a function of their geometrical arrangement. Separate bodies of theory are associated with two complementary but distinct sensor types: the capacitive-line antenna and the plate-wire combination. The use of plate-wire combinations results in localized coupling, which, in conjunction with a quasi-static (low-frequency) formulation of the transfer impedance,...

Geophysical images of the deep crust: the Iapetus suture

The Iapetus suture, arguably the most fundamental lineament of British and Irish structure, has been previously identified on the BIRPS WINCH deep seismic reflection profiles offshore as a NW-dipping feature. New depth-migrated interpretations of these and other reflection data show good correlation of structure for 100 km along strike in the northern Irish Sea towards magnetotelluric stations onshore in the north of England and Southern Uplands of Scotland. Three different methods of inverting data from these sites all reveal a thin NW-dipping slab of high conductivity. A contour map of the suture trace, dipping at 15–25°NW, can be constructed down to and through the Moho at 28 km depth. This map suggests crustal stretching below the Solway Basin. The ?mylonitic suture zone is characterized by good seismic reflection layering, high conductivity (presumably fluid-produced), and a steep increase of P-wave velocity over the few kilometres of its width. Crustal refraction experiments LISPB and CSSP provide useful velocities, but locally misleading structure, so that the combination of the seismic reflection and geoelectric methods may be the most powerful means of determining deep crustal structure with a good degree of both vertical and lateral resolution.

Geomagnetically induced currents in the UK: geomagnetic variations and surface electric fields

Abstract The geomagnetically induced current (GIC) risk to the power transmission grid in the United Kingdom is discussed with reference to an example of a geomagnetic storm during which GICs were suspected of causing abnormal transformer behaviour. A simple measure of the power of the magnetic field variation, the hourly standard deviation (HSD) in the north or east horizontal component, is used to determine the general risk to the UK power grid from rapid magnetic variations, according to season and local time. Monitoring and forecasting of HSD may be a useful means of gauging the likely risk to high-cost power engineering equipment. A simplified but representative three-dimensional geological model of the UK landmass and surrounding seas is used to provide an indication of the surface electric field for various amplitudes and orientations of external magnetic field variations. It is found that the resistivity contrast between seawater and the onshore geology, particularly around the Scottish metamorphic terranes, produces enhanced electric fields at coastal sites. These are as much as 4 V/km for a 1 A/m (or 1257 nT ) external field with 10 min period.

Quantitative 2D VLF data interpretation

The ability of the VLF-R (Resistivity) method to provide quantitative subsurface resistivity information is examined. The frequencies used in conventional VLF (15 to 30 kHz) provide the deepest penetrations of the multi-frequency, extended method of RadioMT. Both methods are considered. VLF data, being effectively single frequency, are insufficient to resolve one-dimensional (1D) (vertical) structure in any detail. At the site investigation scale, however, it is the departures from the background (vertically uniform) structure that are of interest. Improved methodologies for the quantitative assessment of VLF data derive from advances in regularised inversion techniques. Hydrogeological and waste-site examples of VLF-R survey data, aided by wide-band (VLF/RadioMT) synthetic modelling and inversion studies, are used to illustrate their shallow (0 to 20 m) resolution capabilities in conductive environments.

Two-dimensional, regularised inversion of VLF data

Very low frequency electromagnetic (EM) methods using VLF transmitters have found many applications in subsurface geophysical investigations. Surface measurements involving both the vertical component of the magnetic field (VLF-EM or VLF-Z) and of the apparent resistivity (VLF-R) are increasingly common. Although extensive VLF data sets have been successfully used for mapping purposes, modelling and interpretation techniques which asess the third (i.e. depth) dimension appear limited. Given a profile of VLF-R measurements the main purpose of the present study is to demonstrate an automatic method for the construction of a resistivity cross-section. The technique used is one of a new generation of regularised inversion methods. These techniques attempt to overcome the problem of equivalence/non-uniqueness in EM sounding data by constructing the resistivity distribution with the minimum amount of structure that fits the data. VLF data represent a special case of plane-wave EM sounding in that they conform, in practice, to a single-frequency technique. This fact imposes a limitation in the amount of vertical resolution that we can expect using such data. In the case of two-dimensional modelling and inversion, resolution through the cross-section is a resultant attribute from both vertical and lateral resistivity gradients within the subsurface. In order to provide insight into the practical application of regularised inversion techniques to VLF data, both synthetic and field examples are considered. Both sets of examples are primarily concerned with VLF data applied to near-surface fault mapping where the main aim is to assess the location, dip and depth extent of conductive subsurface features.

Melting in the crust and upper mantle beneath the Kenya Rift: evidence from Geomagnetic Deep Sounding experiments

A Geomagnetic Deep Sounding experiment in and around the Kenya Rift Valley has shown that telluric currents are concentrated by 3 regions with high electrical conductivity. Two of the anomalies are related to the rift structure, and the combination of different lines of geophysical evidence strongly suggests that the high conductivity is due to the presence of molten material in the rocks of the lower crust and upper mantle. The shallower zone where melt is present, is located directly beneath the floor of the rift valley. Its upper surface is no deeper than 20 km; it may be as shallow as 5 km. The electrical conductivity is compatible with an average melt concentration of 5–10%, but could also be explained by discrete magma chambers where the concentration was much higher. The deeper conductor is located to the E of the rift valley beneath the Aberdare Mountains, and possibly extends beneath Mount Kenya. The Geomagnetic Deep Sounding data suggest a depth of 100 km to the high conductivity body, which appears to correspond to the core (the region with the highest melt concentration) of a zone of more diffuse melting in the mantle, that is responsible for seismic and regional gravity anomalies, and which supports a part of the topographic elevation of the Kenya dome.

The use of the D+ solution in magnetotelluric interpretation

Abstract The MT interpretation procedure begins with a set of sounding data in the frequency domain. The overall quality of these data can be variable both as a function of frequency and location. Many simple interpretation procedures, such as the assessment of static distortion, act directly on the sounding data. A number of response characteristics, such as the location (in frequency) and number of turning points, are important to the interpretation. Localised scatter (noise) in the response estimates can produce false gradients which degrade the quality of the inferences made from the data. This study considers how the D + solution can be used to process the raw sounding data to provide a number of interpretational advantages. Although the D + solution has strict formal roots in 1D inverse theory, it is used here simply to enhance those data attributes, particularly that of physical validity, which lead to a more meaningful assessment of data characteristics. The data considered are 84 broadband array soundings from the Parana basin, Brazil. The advantages provided by the D + processed data set are demonstrated by using the raw and processed data in two main interpretational procedures. The first procedure concerns the ability of the data to provide quantitative assessments of the influence of static distortion. The second procedure concerns the application of transform methods which attempt to recover a resistivity/depth or reflectivity profile directly from the sounding data.

Gamma ray attenuation in the soils of Northern Ireland, with special reference to peat.

This study considers gamma ray attenuation in relation to the soils and bedrock of Northern Ireland using simple theory and data from a high resolution airborne survey. The bedrock is considered as a source of radiogenic material acting as parent to the soil. Attenuation in the near-surface is then controlled by water content in conjunction with the porosity and density of the soil cover. The Total Count radiometric data together with 1:250 k mapping of the soils and bedrock of Northern Ireland are used to perform statistical analyses emphasising the nature of the low count behaviour. Estimations of the bedrock response characteristics are improved by excluding areas covered by low count soils (organic/humic). Equally, estimations of soil response characteristics are improved by excluding areas underlain by low count bedrock (basalt). When the spatial characteristics of the soil-classified data are examined in detail, the low values form spatially-coherent zones (natural clusters) that can potentially be interpreted as areas of increased water content for each soil type. As predicted by theory, the highest attenuation factors are associated with the three organic soil types studied here. Peat, in particular, is remarkably skewed to low count behaviour in its radiometric response. Two detailed studies of blanket bogs reveal the extent to which peat may be mapped by its radiometric response while the intra-peat variations in the observed response may indicate areas of thin cover together with areas of increased water content.

Geoelectric structural dimensions from magnetotelluric data; methods of estimation, old and new

A magnetotelluric (MT) sounding curve obtained at a given location may contain contributions from 1-D, 2-D, or 3-D geoelectric components, either singly or in combination. The modeling and interpretation of such data depend upon the ability to assess the degree of influence exerted by the three possible structural components. Six existing MT sounding curves provide case histories of the performance of both conventional and new methods for estimation of structural dimensions. For data from a single location, all the methods must be based on the horizontal rotation properties of the impedance tensor. Of the three conventional dimensional indicators considered, only one (skew) provides a degree of satisfactory performance for practical data. Three recently introduced, normalized dimensional weights appear to offer better performance. Solutions to the 1-D MT problem are central to the issue of providing dimensional constraints. The inverse theories established by Weidelt (1972) and Parker (1980) provide two tests that can be applied to establish the existence of 1-D solutions. The formalism in these theories provides the basis for a systematic method for investigating the dimensional properties of practical MT data.

A high resolution study of continuous pulsations in the European sector

Abstract Complex demodulation has been described in detail and applied to Pi2 pulsations in a previous paper by Beamish et al . (1979). The technique is now extended to demonstrate spatiotemporal variations in the fundamental characteristics of Pc3 and Pc4 pulsations along a meridional profile extending from the U.K. to Iceland. With the exception of a high latitude Pc4 coupled resonance the results are consistent with a −90° Hughes rotation (introduced by the ionosphere) of magnetospheric toroidal line resonances. Furthermore, the ionosphere appears capable of smoothing away the polarisation reversal which would be expected across such amplitude maxima within the plasmasphere. However, a toroidal line resonance in the Pc3 period range about which a sense of polarisation reversal is clearly observed on the ground is suggested as occurring at the plasmapause. This is accounted for in terms of the width of the resonance structure.