AGP 307 – MAGNETIC PROSPECTING METHODS

INTRODUCTION TO MAGNETIC INTERPRETATION

INTRODUCTION

The interpretation of magnetic data is very similar to the interpretation of gravity data, but
considerably more complex because the magnetization of a material has not only a
magnitude, but also a direction. The earth itself has a steady magnetic field as if a strong
magnet were situated at the centre of the earth with its north pole pointing nearly
southwards. Practical measurements thus show that the natural magnetic field at the north
and south poles is vertical, with little or no horizontal component and approximately equal
to 60,000 nT, while at the equator the field is horizontal with little or no vertical component
and approximately equal to 30,000 nT(1 nT = 1 gamma).

MAGNETIC MATERIALS

A large number of materials exhibit magnetic properties with the most strongly magnetic
elements being iron, nickel and cobalt. The magnetic properties of materials vary over very
wide limits, this variation being the result of the variation in volume density of the
elementary magnets, the ease with which they can be oriented, and the persistence with
which they maintain a given orientation once it has been acquired.

Rocks become magnetized because they contain magnetic minerals. There are several such
minerals, including magnetite, hematite, pyrrhotite, ilmenite, but magnetite is by far the
most magnetic and the most common of these minerals. The other rock-forming minerals
are essentially non-magnetic. For most practical purposes, therefore, one can say that rocks
are magnetizable if they contain magnetite, and their magnetic properties depend on the
amount of magnetite disseminated among the non-magnetic minerals which make up the
principal material of the rock. This means that igneous and metamorphic rocks are much
more magnetic than sedimentary rocks, so that magnetic effects observed by airborne
magnetometers are essentially the same as they would be if the sediments were absent.

The analogue of density in the gravity method is the magnetic susceptibility. As with
density, it is not always possible to measure susceptibility directly in the field, but there are
instruments designed to be used on outcrops or rock samples. The magnetic susceptibility
is not a constant for a magnetic substance but varies with H, the inducing field. It is
therefore important in making susceptibility measurements, to use a value of H about the
same as the earth’s field.

THE NATURE OF MAGNETIC ANOMALIES

The form of the magnetic anomaly from a given body depends on the following factors:

i) The geometry of the body.

ii) The direction of the earth’s field at a location of the body.
iii) The direction of polarization of the rocks forming the body.
iv) The orientation of the body with respect to the direction of the earth’s field.
v) The orientation of the line of observation with respect to the axis of the body.
It can therefore be seen that computations of models to account for magnetic anomalies is
much more complex than those for gravity anomalies. As an example of this complexity we
note the variation in the form of anomaly in total magnetic intensity of a point pole with
change in inclination of the earth’s field.

TOTAL FIELD CURVES FOR POINT POLE

1.2
1
0.8

0.6 I= 90 degrees
0.4 I=60 degrees

0.2 I=30 degrees

0 I= 0 degrees

-0.2
-0.4

-0.6

We note that the magnitude and nature of the curves are greatly modified by the direction
of magnetization, where the curves have been calculated on the assumption that the body is
magnetized in the direction of the earth’s field.

Note: I = 67.50 corresponds to a magnetic latitude of 50 0. For this and higher latitudes the
assumption of a vertical primary field is usually made for quick interpretive procedures.
This assumption is however not valid at the latitude of Nigeria.

Because of the complexities mentioned above, calculations for the magnetic effect are now
made almost entirely by digital computers.

INTERPRETATION

Although magnetic interpretations are often qualitative, the procedure of matching field
anomalies with models, as done in gravity, is also used. In one method, type curves are
generated for several simple geometrical shapes under different possible conditions for
curve-matching with anomalies obtained in ground surveys. This will be done in another
laboratory assignment. In another method, the magnetic effect of a simple geometrical
body is computed and compared with the observed anomaly; modifications are then made
to the model until a good fit is obtained. Very often, a starting model is obtained with the
type curves.

EXERCISES

Note: In the following examples we assume, for simplicity, that the bodies are vertically
polarized. We again note that this assumption is not valid for the latitude of Nigeria.

1. Using the analytic expressions for the magnetic effect of the sphere, horizontal
cylinder, vertical cylinder, and thin vertical sheet (see Appendix), determine the
expressions for the maximum value of V, and the value of X (X 1/2) at which V has
 fallen to half of its maximum, and the depth of the body in terms of X 1/2. If the
anomaly curve crosses X-axis, give the value of X at which this occurs.

Plot the graph V vs X for the above bodies.

Vmax Z

2. The magnetic profile given below is across a section of a magnetic anomaly

that is thought to be due to a shallow basement structure. The anomaly is
somewhat elongated in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the profile.
Geological information suggests that a circular cross-section for the
anomalous structure may be a reasonable approximation. A possible method
of interpretation would therefore be to assume the causative body to be first
a sphere and then a long horizontal cylinder. Presumably the true structure
will lie somewhere between these two extremes.

Using the formulae and curves derived in Q.1, calculate the radius and depth
of (a) a sphere (b) a horizontal cylinder, that would give rise to this profile.
Assume:

Volume susceptibility of basement rock = 2 x 10-3 e.m.u

Strength of earth’s magnetic field = 50000 nT.

Comment on the difficulty in establishing the baseline for an anomaly of this

type.

Station Vertical Field Intensity

0 OON 848
5 OON 846
10 OON 850
15 OON 861
20 OON 908
25 OON 951
30 OON 913
35 OON 858
40 OON 852
45 OON 847
50 OON 850
Stations are spaced at 150 m intervals.

REFERENCES

Nettleton, L.L.: Gravity and magnetic in Oil Prospecting, McGraw Hill Book Company, 1976.

Telford, W. M. et.: Applied Geophysics, Cambridge University Press, 1976.

APPENDIX I

TYPE CURVES

The following notation is used for the equations for the anomaly over various simple shapes

V = vertical component of anomalous magnetic field

I = Intensity of magnetization (susceptibility x earth’s magnetic field strength)
a = x/z
Each of the formulae is quoted in the usual algebraic form and in non-dimension form (in
terms of a). All formulae in magnetics have this important property that they can be
expressed in terms of non-dimension quantities. This permits the use of master type curve
e.g. only one curve is necessary for the interpretation of all anomalies due to spherical
bodies.
O P P
x O x

Z Z

R R

Sphere Horizontal Cylinder

V = (4/3)IR3 V = 2IR2

= I = 2I

O P
x O P
x

Z
Z

∞ ∞

Vertical Cylinder Thin Vertical Sheet

V = IR2 V = It

= I = 2I

t << z

Thin Horizontal Sheet (of Fault) The error of this approximate formula is
less than 2% when t = z/2 and decreases
rapidly for smaller values of t.
O P
V = It = 2I x

Z
∞
t