Jeffrey D. Phillips

The historical development of the magnetic method in exploration

The magnetic method, perhaps the oldest of geophysical exploration techniques, blossomed after the advent of airborne surveys in World War II. With improvements in instrumentation, navigation, and platform compensation, it is now possible to map the entire crustal section at a variety of scales, from strongly magnetic basement at regional scale to weakly magnetic sedimentary contacts at local scale. Methods of data filtering, display, and interpretation have also advanced, especially with the availability of low-cost, high-performance personal computers and color raster graphics. The magnetic method is the primary exploration tool in the search for minerals. In other arenas, the magnetic method has evolved from its sole use for mapping basement structure to include a wide range of new applications, such as locating intrasedimentary faults, defining subtle lithologic contacts, mapping salt domes in weakly magnetic sediments, and better defining targets through 3D inversion. These new applications have increased the method’s utility in all realms of exploration — in the search for minerals, oil and gas, geothermal resources, and groundwater, and for a variety of other purposes such as natural hazards assessment, mapping impact structures, and engineering and environmental studies.

Historical development of the gravity method in exploration

The gravity method was the first geophysical technique to be used in oil and gas exploration. Despite being eclipsed by seismology, it has continued to be an important and sometimes crucial constraint in a number of exploration areas. In oil exploration the gravity method is particularly applicable in salt provinces, overthrust and foothills belts, underexplored basins, and targets of interest that underlie high-velocity zones. The gravity method is used frequently in mining applications to map subsurface geology and to directly calculate ore reserves for some massive sulfide orebodies. There is also a modest increase in the use of gravity techniques in specialized investigations for shallow targets. Gravimeters have undergone continuous improvement during the past 25 years, particularly in their ability to function in a dynamic environment. This and the advent of

Can we estimate total magnetization directions from aeromagnetic data using Helbig's integrals?

An algorithm that implements Helbig’s (1963) integrals for estimating the vector components (mx, my, mz) of the magnetic dipole moment from the first order moments of the vector magnetic field components (ΔX, ΔY, ΔZ) is tested on real and synthetic data. After a grid of total field aeromagnetic data is converted to vector component grids using Fourier filtering, Helbig’s infinite integrals are evaluated as finite integrals in small moving windows using a quadrature algorithm based on the 2-D trapezoidal rule. Prior to integration, best-fit planar surfaces must be removed from the component data within the data windows in order to make the results independent of the coordinate system origin. Two different approaches are described for interpreting the results of the integration. In the “direct” method, results from pairs of different window sizes are compared to identify grid nodes where the angular difference between solutions is small. These solutions provide valid estimates of total magnetization directions for compact sources such as spheres or dipoles, but not for horizontally elongated or 2-D sources. In the “indirect” method, which is more forgiving of source geometry, results of the quadrature analysis are scanned for solutions that are parallel to a specified total magnetization direction.

Locating magnetic contacts: A comparison of the horizontal gradient, analytic signal, and local wavenumber methods

Three methods for locating isolated magnetic contacts from magnetic anomaly data are examined. All methods are similar in that they involve passing a small window over a derivative profile or grid, searching for local maxima within the window, estimating the strike (for grids) and horizontal position of the contact from the local maxima, then estimating the depth of the contact and other parameters by fitting the derivative data within the window to a theoretical curve. The methods differ in their complexity, accuracy, and sensitivity to noise and anomaly interference. The horizontal gradient method requires first-order horizontal derivatives and a reduction-to-the-pole or pseudogravity transformation. It is the method least susceptible to noise, but results are accurate only where the magnetization is induced and the sources are of very specific types. The analytic signal method requires first-order horizontal and vertical derivatives of the magnetic field or of the first vertical integral of the magnetic field. Horizontal location of isolated sources is generally accurate, but vertical position is accurate only for specific source types. Both the horizontal gradient method and the analytic signal method can be used to estimate minimum and maximum limits on source depths. The local wavenumber method requires firstand second-order horizontal and vertical derivatives, and is the most susceptible to noise and interference effects. In the absence of these problems, it provides accurate horizontal and vertical locations of isolated sources along with structural indices for the sources. The analytic signal and local wavenumber methods can be extended to estimate the geologic dip and magnetic susceptibility contrast across isolated contacts under the assumption of induced magnetization.

75th Anniversary: The historical development of the magnetic method in exploration

The magnetic method, perhaps the oldest of geophysical exploration techniques, blossomed after the advent of airborne surveys in World War II. With improvements in instrumentation, navigation, and platform compensation, it is now possible to map the entire crustal section at a variety of scales, from strongly magnetic basement at regional scale to weakly magnetic sedimentary contacts at local scale. Methods of data filtering, display, and interpretation have also advanced, especially with the availability of low-cost, high-performance personal computers and color raster graphics. The magnetic method is the primary exploration tool in the search for minerals. In other arenas, the magnetic method has evolved from its sole use for mapping basement structure to include a wide range of new applications, such as locating intrasedimentary faults, defining subtle lithologic contacts, mapping salt domes in weakly magnetic sediments, and better defining targets through 3D inversion. These new applications have increased the method’s utility in all realms of exploration — in the search for minerals, oil and gas, geothermal resources, and groundwater, and for a variety of other purposes such as natural hazards assessment, mapping impact structures, and engineering and environmental studies.

High resolution aeromagnetic survey of Lake Superior

A 57,000 line kilometer, high-resolution aeromagnetic survey was flown in 1987 as a contribution to the Great Lakes International Multidisciplinary Program on Crustal Evolution (GLIMPCE). Existing aeromagnetic data from the United States and Canada were combined with the new data to produce a composite map and gridded data base of the Lake Superior region (Figure 1). Analysis of the new data permits more accurate definition of faults and contacts within the Midcontinent Rift system (MCR). The aeromagnetic map provides important information supplemental to the seismic profiles acquired under the GLIMPCE program in 1986, allowing lateral extension of the seismic interpretation. In particular, modeling of the data provides an independent assessment of a reflection seismic model derived along line A (Figure 2). The profile and gridded digital data are available to geoscientists through the Geophysical Data Centre of the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC), while the gridded data are available from the USGS-EROS Data Center. GLIMPCE was established in 1985 to study the nature and genesis of the crust in the Great Lakes region. Program participants include the GSC, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), provincial and state surveys, and Canadian and American universities. In the Lake Superior area, a major objective of the program is to develop thermal, tectonic, and petrogenetic models for the evolution of the MCR and to evaluate these in the broader context of the tectonic evolution of the North American continent. Pre-1982 geological and geophysical knowledge of the MCR in the Lake Superior region has been summarized by Wold and Hinze [1982]. The Lake Superior region provides a unique window on this Proterozoic rift system, exposing igneous rock of the Keweenawan Supergroup that disappears under Paleozoic cover to the southwest.

Estimating locations and total magnetization vectors of compact magnetic sources from scalar, vector, or tensor magnetic measurements through combined Helbig and Euler analysis

Summary The Helbig method for estimating total magnetization directions of compact sources from magnetic vector components is extended so that tensor magnetic gradient components can be used instead. Depths of the compact sources can be estimated using the Euler equation, and their dipole moment magnitudes can be estimated using a least squares fit to the vector component or tensor gradient component data.

Crustal insights from gravity and aeromagnetic analysis: Central North Slope, Alaska

Aeromagnetic and gravity data are processed and interpreted to reveal deep and shallow information about the crustal structure of the central North Slope, Alaska. Regional aeromagnetic anomalies primarily reflect deep crustal features. Regional gravity anomalies are more complex and require detailed analysis. We constrain our geophysical models with seismic data and interpretations along two transects including the Trans-Alaska Crustal Transect. Combined geophysical analysis reveals a remarkable heterogeneity of the pre-Mississippian basement. In the central North Slope, pre-Mississippian basement consists of two distinct geophysical domains. To the southwest, the basement is dense and highly magnetic; this basement is likely mafic and mechanically strong, possibly acting as a buttress to basement involvement in Brooks Range thrusting. To the northeast, the central North Slope basement consists of lower density, moderately magnetic rocks with several discrete regions (intrusions?) of more magnetic rocks. A conjugate set of geophysical trends, northwest-southeast and southwest-northeast, may be a factor in the crustal response to tectonic compression in this domain. High-resolution gravity and aeromagnetic data, where available, reflect details of shallow fault and fold structure. The maps and profile models in this report should provide useful guidelines and complementary information for regional structural studies, particularly in combination with detailed seismic reflection interpretations. Future challenges include collection of high-resolution gravity and aeromagnetic data for the entire North Slope as well as additional deep crustal information from seismic, drilling, and other complementary methods.

Tertiary thrust systems and fluid flow beneath the Beaufort coastal plain (1002 area), Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, U.S.A.

Beneath the Arctic coastal plain (commonly referred to as the 1002 area) in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, northeastern Alaska, United States, seismic reflection data show that the northernmost and youngest part of the Brookian orogen is preserved as a Paleogene to Neogene system of blind and buried thrust-related structures. These structures involve Proterozoic to Miocene (and younger?) rocks that contain several potential petroleum reservoir facies. Thermal maturity data indicate that the deformed rocks are mature to overmature with respect to hydrocarbon generation. Oil seeps and stains in outcrops and shows in nearby wells indicate that oil has migrated through the region; geochemical studies have identified three potential petroleum systems. Hydrocarbons that were generated from Mesozoic source rocks in the deformed belt were apparently expelled and migrated northward in the Paleogene, before much of the deformation in this part of the orogen. It is also possible that Neogene petroleum, which was generated in Tertiary rocks offshore in the Arctic Ocean, migrated southward into Neogene structural traps at the thrust front. However, the hydrocarbon resource potential of this largely unexplored region of Alaskas North Slope remains poorly known. In the western part of the 1002 area, the dominant style of thin-skinned thrusting is that of a passive-roof duplex, bounded below by a detachment (floor thrust) near the base of Lower Cretaceous and younger foreland basin deposits and bounded above by a north-dipping roof thrust near the base of the Eocene. East–west-trending, basement-involved thrusts produced the Sadlerochit Mountains to the south, and buried, basement-involved thrusts are also present north of the Sadlerochit Mountains, where they appear to feed displacement into the thin-skinned system. Locally, late basement-involved thrusts postdate the thin-skinned thrusting. Both the basement-involved thrusts and the thin-skinned passive-roof duplex were principally active in the Miocene. In the eastern part of the 1002 area, a northward-younging pattern of thin-skinned deformation is apparent. Converging patterns of Paleocene reflectors on the north flank of the Sabbath syncline indicate that the Aichilik high and the Sabbath syncline formed as a passive-roof duplex and piggyback basin, respectively, just behind the Paleocene deformation front. During the Eocene and possibly the Oligocene, thin-skinned thrusting advanced northward over the present location of the Niguanak high. A passive-roof duplex occupied the frontal part of this system. The Kingak and Hue shales exposed above the Niguanak high were transported into their present structural position during the Eocene to Oligocene motion on the long thrust ramps above the present south flank of the Niguanak high. Broad, basement-cored subsurface domes (Niguanak high and Aurora dome) formed near the deformation front in the Oligocene, deforming the overlying thin-skinned structures and feeding a new increment of displacement into thin-skinned structures directly to the north. Deformation continued through the Miocene above a detachment in the basement. Offshore seismicity and Holocene shortening documented by previous workers may indicate that contractional deformation continues to the present day.

11.12 – Tools and techniques: gravitational method

The gravitational method is used to investigate density variations within the subsurface at depths of several meters to tens of meters, as in depth-to-bedrock investigations, or at depths of several kilometers, as in sedimentary basin thickness investigations. This chapter covers fundamental relations, densities of Earth materials, instruments, field procedures, data reduction, filtering, forward modeling, inversion, and field examples. The focus is on near-surface investigations as distinct from the solid Earth studies found elsewhere in this treatise. The gravitational method is often used in conjunction with other geophysical methods, such as the magnetic method or the seismic method, which target similar physical properties at similar depths.