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Progress in the development and modification of software to accommodate total field anomaly data and for spectral analysis of aeromagnetic profile data and computation of depth to magnetic bottom is reported.
Efforts on the analysis of MAGSAT scalar anomaly data, the application of the scalar analysis results to three component vector data, and the comparison of MAGSAT data with corresponding MAGNET aeromagnetic and free air gravity anomaly data are briefly described.
Analysis of Investigator B tapes was extended to use a statistical screening of individual data points in each grid cell over the map area. The mean value of data from each cell was computed and all data values more than 4nT from the mean were rejected. The revised mean and standard deviation was computed. The average standard deviation for all map grid cells was 1.4nT for the scalar anomaly map and about 2nT for the vector component anomaly maps. At this stage, the grid cell is larger and spatial resolution lower for the vector maps than for the scalar maps, because the vector components are considerably more disturbed and more data points were rejected. An approach for altitude adjustment is in progress so that corrections can be made and data reduction procede. To evaluate the use of scalar and vector MAGSAT data for the production of regional magnetic charts, charts of the north, east, vertical, and scalar field derived from MAGSAT and from Canadian aeromagnetic data were compared. It appears possible to retrieve crustal signals from the horizontal vector components despite external disturbance fields at high latitude.
Using a thermal-inertia mapping algorithm which provides greater discrimination capability than those in current use, a geologic features was detected in the Cabeza Prieta, Arizona, area. Initially seen on an image formed as a difference of two thermal-inertia images, it was found to be the extension of a bilaterally symmetrical aeromagnetic feature which trends northeast for a distance of at least 1200 km.
Errors in the gravity models used in satellite position calculations are examined as a possible source of the 0 to 100% variance found between POGO and Magsat magnetic data and the extrapolations of aerial magnetic survey data to satellite heights. For POGO data obtained over the New York Bight region using a relatively poor gravity field (a hybrid spherical harmonic model of degree 7 and order 6 with three higher order resonance terms), the magnitude of the error in the satellite height component is found to be sufficient to account for the amplitude of the discrepancy, however the frequency of the quasi-periodic orbital error is too large to explain the localized nature of the differences. For the case of the Magsat satellite, in which a more accurate gravity model was used, it is found that a 30 mgal gravitational anomaly distributed over a 5 x 5 deg area will produce insufficiently large position errors to account for the variations. The agreement between the two sets of satellite data in the New York Bight region suggests either a consistent error in satellite measurements, or problems with the reduction and processing of the aeromagnetic data.
A data set composed of vector magnetic measurements obtained by MAGSAT and very accurate altitude determinations made using Sun sensors and star cameras was used to obtain data for very quiet days over the Indian region at 10 S to 40 N and 60 E to 110 E in an effort to determine the validity of quantitative estimates made from aeromagnetic data obtained by removing the core field. To further account for the external effects, the ring current contributions estimated using both X and Z variations were subtracted from the observed values. Before this, the core contribution was eliminated through a spherical harmonic expansion with terms up to N=13. Analysis of the residual measurements using Fast Fourier techniques indicates that the anomalies contain substantial power for wavelengths of about 1500 kms. Because the ring current effect has a spatial structure of this dimension over India, efforts are being made to exactly eliminate these two interfering effects from the data.
The processing of MAGSAT scalar data to construct a crustal magnetic anomaly map over the continental U.S. involves removal of the reference field model, a path-by-path subtraction of a low order polynomial through a least-squares fit to reduce orbital offset errors, and a two dimensional spectral filtering to mitigate the spectral bias induced by the path-by-path orbital correction scheme. The resultant anomaly map shows reasonably good correlations with an aeromagnetic map derived from the project MAGNET. Prominent satellite magnetic anomalies are identified in terms of geological provinces and age boundaries. An inversion method was applied to MAGSAT data which produces both the Curie depth topography and laterally varying magnetic susceptibility of the crust. A contoured Curie depth map thus derived shows general agreements with a crustal thickness map based on seismic data.
Construction of a model of the regional magnetic field and investigation of the local magnetic anomalies and their origin were approaches used in attempts to study the crustal structure near Japan and its Antarctic bases. Spatial properties of the regional magnetic field and comparison of the regional model with that derived from MAGSAT data are discussed. Possible causes of the magnetic anomalies, and results of aeromagnetic surveys incorporating gravity and seismic data are explored. Ionospheric and magnetospheric contributions to geomagnetic variations, field-aligned currents, magnetic geomagnetic pulsations, and hydromagnetic waves by analysis of MAGSAT data are also examined.
The implications and accuracy of anomaly maps produced using Magsat data on the scalar and vector magnetic field of the earth are discussed. Comparisons have been made between the satellite maps and aeromagnetic survey maps, showing smoother data from the satellite maps and larger anomalies in the aircraft data. The maps are being applied to characterize the structure and tectonics of the underlying regions. Investigations are still needed regarding the directions of magnetization within the crust and to generate further correlations between anomaly features and large scale geological structures. Furthermore, an increased data base is recommended for the Pacific Ocean basin in order to develop a better starting model for Pacific tectonic movements. The Pacific basin was large farther backwards in time and subduction zones surround the basin, thereby causing difficulties for describing the complex break-up scenario for Gondwanaland.
Heat Capacity Mapping Mission thermal-inertia images of a diversity of terrains and geologic settings were examined in conjunction with topographic, geologic, geophysical, and LANDSAT data. The images were found to have attributes similar to bedrock maps. In the Cascades region, two new features were identified and a method was developed to characterize regional terranes using linear feature data. Two northeast-trending Lineaments were discovered in the Overthrust Belt of Montana and Idaho. The longer of the two extends from the Idaho-Oregon border, through the Idaho batholith and across the Lewis thrust. It coincides, along segments, with mapped faults and an aeromagnetic pattern change. A major lineament crossing the Colorado Plateau and the Southern Rocky Mountians was detected on several thermal-inertial images and evidence was found for the existence of a geologic discontinuity. Vegetation-covered areas in Richfield and the Silver City quadrangle (Arizona and New Mexico) displayed thermal-inertia differences within heavily vegetation areas although no apreciable correlation was found between vegetation cover and thermal inertia. Resistant ridges and knolls have high thermal inertias and thermal-inertia contrasts occurred at lithologic and fault contacts. In the heavy vegetated Pinaleno Mountains, Arizona, a Lithologic unit obscured on LANDSAT MSS data due to the vegetation cover, exhibited a thermal-inertia contrast with its surroundings.
Scalar aeromagnetic data obtained during the U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office (NOO)-Vector Magnetic Survey of the conterminous United States were upward continued by equivalent point source inversion and compared with POGO satellite magnetic anomaly and preliminary scalar MAGSAT data. Initial comparisons indicate that the upward continued NOO data is dominated by long wavelength (approximately equal to 1000 to 3000 km) anomalies which are not present in the satellite anomaly data. Thus, the comparison of the data sets is poor. Several possible sources for these differences are present in the data analysis chain. However, upon removal of these long wavelengths from the upward continued NOO data, a close comparison observed between the anomalies verifies that satellite magnetic anomaly data do portray the crustal component within a range of wavelengths from roughly 1000 km down to the resolution limit of the observations.
A very prominent magnetic anomaly measured by MAGSAT over the eastern mid-continent of the United States was inferred to have a source region beneath Kentucky and Tennessee. Prominent aeromagnetic and gravity anomalies are also associated with the inferred source region. A crustal model constructed to fit these anomalies interpreted the complex as a large mafic plutonic intrusion of Precambrian age. The complex was named the Kentucky body. It was noticed that the Jessamine Dome, which is a locus of intense faulting and mineralization, occurs near the northern end of the Kentucky body, and that more generally there seemed to be a spatial relationship between mineral occurrence and the body. The relationship between mineral deposits in Kentucky and Tennessee and the Kentucky body was investigated. A compilation of mineral occurrences in the region, classified according to type and age, is presented.
Processing of existing gravity and aeromagnetic data with modern methods is providing new insights into crustal and mantle structures for large parts of the United States and Canada. More than three-quarters of a million ground station readings of gravity are now available for this region. These data offer a wealth of information on crustal and mantle structures when reduced and displayed as Bouguer anomalies, where lateral variations are controlled by the size, shape and densities of underlying materials. Digital image processing techniques were used to generate Bouguer images that display more of the granularity inherent in the data as compared with existing contour maps. A dominant NW-SE linear trend of highs and lows can be seen extending from South Dakota, through Nebaska, and into Missouri. This trend is probably related to features created during an early and perhaps initial episode of crustal assembly by collisional processes. The younger granitic materials are probably a thin cover over an older crust.
A petrologic model of the northern Mississippi Embayment, derived from gravity, seismic and rift data, is evaluated by converting the model to a magnetization model which is compared with satellite magnetic anomaly models. A magnetization contrast of approximately -0.54 A/m, determined from the petrologic model of the embayment compares favorably to values of -0.62 A/m and -0.45 A/m from a Magsat United States Apparent Magnetization Contrast Map and a published POGO magnetization contrast model, respectively. The petrologic model suggests that the magnetic anomaly low associated with the Mississippi Embayment may be largely due to the intrusion under non-oxidizing conditions of low Curie temperature gabbroic material at the base of the crust of the embayment. Near-surface mafic plutons, bordering the Mississippi Valley Graben, appear from aeromagnetic data to have higher magnetizations than the deeper gabbroic material; however, it is impossible to ascertain if this is due to compositional differences or similar material at shallower (lower temperature) depths. These results indicate that variations in the Curie temperatures of intrusions accompanying rifting may account for a large part of the wide range of magnetic anomalies associated with presently inactive rifts with normal heat flow.
The Magsat-derived magnetic anomaly field over the United States was inverted to magnetization in a seismically determined variable-thickness lower crust. The results are quite similar to those obtained from a previous inversion of POGO data. The average magnetization is 3.45 + or - 1.0 A/m, which gives a bulk magnetic susceptibility of 8.7 + or - 2.4 x 10 to the -2nd (SI units) for the lower crustal layer consistent with a mafic composition. These values are also consistent with previous estimates of lower crustal magnetization from aeromagnetic data and with laboratory measurements of mafic rock susceptibilities.
A modeling technique using spherical shell elements and equivalent dipole sources has been applied to Magsat signatures at the Churchill-Superior boundary in Manitoba, Ontario, and Ungava. A large satellite magnetic anomaly (12 nT amplitude) on POGO and Magsat maps near the Churchill-Superior boundary was found to be related to the Richmond Gulf aulacogen. The averaged crustal magnetization in the source region is 5.2 A/m. Stacking of the magnetic traces from Magsat passes reveals a magnetic signature (10 nT amplitude) at the Churchill-Superior boundary in an area studied between 80 deg W and 98 deg W. Modeling suggests a steplike thickening of the crust on the Churchill side of the boundary in a layer with a magnetization of 5 A/m. Signatures on aeromagnetic maps are also found in the source areas for both of these satellite anomalies.
Two-dimensional Curie depth models along two sections across the western United States are derived using an equivalent layer magnetization model derived from Magsat data, and the results are used to constrain finite element thermal models developed by Mayhew and Majer (1980). Regional heat flow variations predicted by the models compare favorably with those inferred from direct measurements. The methodology is applied to upward-continued aeromagnetic data, and the results are found to be in good agreement with previous Curie depth estimates and average measured heat flow.
Various lines of evidence point to the lower crust as the source of the long-wavelength magnetic anomaly field measured by the POGO and Magsat satellites. Using seismically determined lower crust thicknesses and equivalent source inversion of the satellite anomaly data, magnetization for the lower crust for much of the United States has been calculated. The average magnetization for two hundred sixty-six 150 x 150 km areas is 3.5 A/m with a standard deviation of 1.1 A/m. These values are consistent with laboratory measurements of mafic-ultramafic rocks expected in the lower crust, and in agreement with previous estimates of lower crust magnetization based on long-wavelength aeromagnetic data. Average lower crust thickness for the same areas is 18.2 km (sigma = 6.4). Thus, over large regions, it appears that variation in magnetization and variation in magnetic layer thickness contribute almost equally in causing the anomaly field variation at satellite altitude.