MAGNETIC EXPLORATION METHOD
2.1 INTRODUCTION
2.2 PRINCIPLES
2.3 MAGNETIC FIELD OF EARTH
2.4 MAGNETIC MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
2.5 FIELD OPERATIONS
2.6 DATA CORRECTIONS
2.7 INTERPRETATION
2.1 INTRODUCTION
The study of the earth's magnetism is the oldest branch of the subject of Geophysics. For more
than three centuries, it has been known that the earth behaves as a giant, irregular magnet, with
magnetic field equivalent to that of a permanent magnet lying in a general N - S direction near
the earth's axis of rotation. For more than 150 years the variation in the earth's magnetic field
have been used to locate deposits of magnetic ore. This makes the magnetic exploration method
the oldest branch of Applied Geophysics.
The aim of a magnetic survey is to investigate subsurface geology on the basis of anomalies in
the Earth’s magnetic field resulting from the magnetic properties of the underlying rocks.
Although most rock-forming minerals are effectively non-magnetic, certain rock types contain
sufficient magnetic minerals to produce significant magnetic anomalies. Similarly, man-made
ferrous objects also generate magnetic anomalies. Magnetic surveying thus has a broad range of
applications, from small-scale engineering or archaeological surveys to detect buried metallic
objects, to large-scale surveys carried out to investigate regional geological structure.
Magnetic surveys are widely employed on land, at sea and in the air either for locating targets
(pipes, cables, metallic objects including shells and bombs and concealed mineshafts), or for
mapping (archaeological remains, concealed basic igneous dykes, metalliferous mineral lodes,
geological boundaries between magnetically contrasting lithologies including faults, and large
scale geological structures)..
2.2 ELEMENTARY THEORY
The force exerted on each other by a pair of
magnetic poles is defined as:
where the force, F is in dynes, m 1 and m2, the
poles having strength of 1 emu each, and the
separated by of r, r1 is a unit vector directed from
m1 to m2 and μ is the permeability of the medium
where the poles are located, and equals to 1 for
vacuum, and ≈1 for air.
Unlike gravity where the force is always attractive
and directed vertically downward, the magnetic
force can be attractive if the poles are opposite and
repulsive if they are the same. The convention
adopted for magnetic poles is that the one
attracted towards the earth's north pole is positive
while that attracted towards the south pole is the
negative. They are also described as north-seeking
and south-seeking respectively.
A more practical quantity for describing the magnetic field at a point in space than the magnetic
force is the magnetic field strength or magnetic field intensity. It is defined as:
H may also be produced by current flowing in a wire rather than by poles, which are imaginary.
Its unit is Oersteds when F is in dynes. The mks unit of H is ampere-turns per m and m is in
webers.
Because magnetic poles always exist in pairs, the fundamental entity in magnetism is the
magnetic dipole, denoted by two poles of strength +m and -m separated by a distance, l. The
Magnetic Moment is defined as:
where r1 is a unit vector extending from the negative to the positive poles.
When a magnetic body is placed in an external field, it becomes magnetized by induction. The
Intensity of Magnetization, I, produced in the body is defined as the magnetic moment per unit
volume, This quantity is proportional to the strength of the field and is directed as
the field. The effect of magnetization by induction is that the dipoles of the material are lined up.
It is thus referred to as magnetic polarization also.
The degree to which a body placed in an external magnetic field is magnetized is referred to as
its magnetic susceptibility, κ, defined as . Susceptibility is the
fundamental parameter in magnetic prospecting. The magnetic response of rocks and minerals to
an external field is determined by the amount of magnetic materials in them, and these have κ
values much larger than the rocks and minerals.
When a body is placed in an external field, H, its poles are lined up by this field and its own
magnetic field H’ is produced. This increases the total field within the body. The total field
within the body, called the magnetic induction, B, is defined as:
since .
By definition, the ratio of B to H is called the magnetic permeability, μ. Thus B = (1 + 4πκ)H =
μH, that is, μ = 1 + 4πκ. μ is a dimensionless quantity because both B and H have the same unit.
A new unit of H convenient in magnetic exploration is the gamma, γ. The mks unit of H is the
A-turn/meter and this equals 4π x 10-3 oersteds. That is 1 γ = 10-5 oersteds.
2.3 MAGNETISM OF THE EARTH
As a result of over 4 centuries of studies, the earth is known to possess a magnetic field, and
therefore, behaves as a giant magnet. These studies have shown that the geomagnetic field is
composed of three parts, namely, the main field, the external field and variations of the main
field.
The Main Field
The earth's main field is not constant, but varies with time. This variation is however, slow. The
origin of this field is thought to be caused by electric currents circulating in the earth's outer core
(which is liquid) extending from a radius of 2900 km to 3500 km and made up of mainly iron
and nickel, both good electrical conductors.
If an unmagnetized steel needle were hung at its centre by a thread so that it is free to orient itself
in any direction in space, at most points on the earth's surface it would assume a direction that is
neither horizontal nor aligned to the geographic meridian. This orientation is the direction of the
earth's total magnetic field at this point. The magnitude of this field, F, the inclination of the
needle from the horizontal position, I, and its declination, D, the angle it makes with the
geographic north, completely defines the
magnetic component.
F= total field
H= horizontal component of F
X= component of horizontal component
in the direction of the Geographic North
Y= component of horizontal component
in the East
Z= component of the total field in the
vertical direction
I= inclination of the total field from the
horizontal
D = declination of the horizontal
component from the geographic north.
From the diagram above, it can be seen that
H2 = X2 + Y2 and
F2 = H2 + Z2 = X2 + Y2 + Z2
H = F cos I; Z = F sin I
X = H cos D; Y = H sin D
tan I = z/H; tan D = Y/Z.
2.4 MAGNETIC MEASURING
INSTRUMENTS
Although the magnetic field has many
components, the measurement of total field, F, the
inclination, I, and the declination, D, completely
specifies the magnetic field as all the other
components can be obtained. The instruments
used in magnetic exploration are called
magnetometers. These can be grouped in to three
classes known as torsion or balance type, fluxgate
and resonance type. Torsion magnetometers are
seldom use for exploration nowadays, but are still
popular in magnetic observatories to monitor
many of the components of the field. Exploration
magnetometers measure either the Z, H or F.
Torsion and Balance Magnetometers
These have been in use since 1640, and may
consist of a magnet suspended on a wire (torsion
type) or balanced on a knife edge (balance type).
In the earth’s magnetic field, the magnet adopts an equilibrium position at the location. If the
equipment is taken to a new location, its aligns itself to the magnetic field at the new location,
and hence the deflection of the magnet between the two positions is taken as a measure of the
earth’s field. Different methods of the
detection of the deflections of the
magnets have been devised, and these
have given rise to different equipments.
This class of meters require extreme
alignment and are therefore slow and
unsuitable for sea and air surveys.
Telford et al. (1990) have described
these types of meters, and you may read the details therefrom.
Fluxgate
Magnetometer
This class of meters
were developed since
the 1940s. They
require only coarse
leveling and were used
to detect submarines
from the air. Several
designs have been
developed, and are
used for the detection
of diurnal variation in
the earth’s field, for
aeromagnetic as well
as for ground surveys.
The instrument
consists of two cores
held parallel to one
another. These are
made up of magnetic
material such as mu-
meta, permalloy or
ferrite that has a very
high permeability at low magnetic fields. Primary and secondary coils are wound in opposition
on the two cores, and primary cores are connected in series and energised by a low frequency (50
– 1000 Hz) current produced by a constant
source. The maximum current is sufficient to
energise the cores to saturation in opposite
polarity, twice each cycle. The secondary
coils, which consist of many turns of fine
wire, are connected to a differential amplifier
whose output is proportional to the difference
of the two signals.
In the absence of an external field, the
saturation of the secondary coils oppose and
cancel each other, while in the presence of an
external field, saturation occurs at different
times, and does not cancel. The difference
between the output voltages from the secondary coils is a series of voltage pulses whose heights
are proportional to the amplitude of the biasing field of the earth. Any of the components of the
earth’s field, namely, Z, H or F, can be measured by suitable alignment of the core with a
sensitivity of ±1 nT.
The sensitivity of the meter is improved by using cores that are saturated in small fields. The
problem of noise caused by hysteresis effects in the cores is high, and is addressed by a number
of measures including deliberately unbalancing the two secondary outputs so that voltage spikes
are present with or without an external field, and the presence of an external field increases the
voltage of one polarity more than the other, and this difference is amplified, tuning the output of
the secondary with a capacitor and using a phase detector rather than an differential amplifier.
Proton-Precession Magnetometer
This meter belongs to the resonance type group. The sensing device of the proton magnetometer
is a container filled with a liquid rich in hydrogen atoms, such as kerosene or water, surrounded
by a coil. The hydrogen nuclei (protons) act as small dipoles and normally align parallel to the
ambient geomagnetic field, F. A current is passed through the coil to generate a magnetic field
50–100 times larger than the
geomagnetic field, and in a
different direction, causing
the protons to realign in this
new direction. The current
to the coil is then switched
off so that the polarizing
field is rapidly removed.
The protons return to their
original alignment with F by
spiralling or precessing
(Larmor), in phase around
this direction with a period
of about 0.5 ms, taking
some 1–3 s to achieve their
original orientation. The
frequency f of this
precession is given by
where γp is the
gyromagnetic ratio of the
proton, an accurately known
constant, The measurement
of f, about 2 kHz, provides a very accurate measurement of the strength of the total geomagnetic
field.
f is determined by measurement of the alternating voltage of the same frequency induced to flow
in the coil by the precessing protons. γ p = 0.26753 Hz/nT, F = 23.4859f. To obtain an accuracy of
± 0.1 nT, f must be measured to within ±0.004 Hz.
Optically-pumped Magnetometer
Optically pumped or alkali vapour magnetometers have a significantly higher precision than the
proton precession types. They use the optical pumping comprise a glass cell containing an
evaporated alkali metal such as caesium, rubidium or potassium which is energized by light of a
particular wavelength. In these alkali atoms there exist valence electrons partitioned into two
energy levels 1 and 2.
Gradiometers
Calibration of Magnetometers
2.5 FIELD OPERATIONS
Ground Magnetic Surveys
Aeromagnetic and Marine Surveys
6. DATA CORRECTION
Drift correction
Diurnal variation
correction
Geomagnetic
correction
Elevation and terrain
corrections
International
Geomagnetic Reference
Field (IGRF)
often subtract
Earth's main field from
magnetic data:
o removes
regional field
o removes secular variation in main field, important when combining data acquired years
apart
field evaluated every 5 years; coefficients of field, and secular variation in field, published
example: to find field in November 27, 2007 (2007.9), extrapolate by using IGRF2005
values for 2005.0 plus secular terms for 2005.0 times 2.9;
to find field in 1994, interpolate between 1990.0 and 1995.0 coefficients
2.7 INTERPRETATION
Profile analysis
Map analysis
