Product catalogue
Synthetic magnetotelluric modelling of a regional fault network – implications for survey design and interpretation
The magnetotelluric (MT) method is increasingly being applied to mineral exploration under cover with several case studies showing that mineral systems can be imaged from the lower crust to the near surface. Driven by this success, the Australian Lithospheric Architecture Magnetotelluric Project (AusLAMP) is delivering long-period data on a 0.5° grid across Australia, and derived continental scale resistivity models that are helping to drive investment in mineral exploration in frontier areas. Part of this investment includes higher-resolution broadband MT surveys to enhance resolution of features of interest and improve targeting. To help gain best value for this investment it is important to have an understanding of the ability and limitations of MT to resolve features on different scales. Here we present synthetic modelling of conductive, narrow, near-vertical faults 500 m to 1500 m wide, and show that a station spacing of around 14 km across strike is sufficient to resolve these into the upper crust. However, the vertical extent of these features is not well constrained, with near-vertical planar features commonly resolved as two separate features. This highlights the need for careful interpretation of anomalies in MT inversion. In particular, in an exploration scenario, it is important to consider that a lack of interconnectivity between a lower crustal/upper mantle conductor and conductors higher up in the crust and the surface might be apparent only, and may not reflect reduced mineral prospectivity.
Appeared in Exploration Geophysics Journal 05 Dec 2022
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Identification info
- Date (Creation)
- 2021-05-27T13:30:00
- Date (Publication)
- 2022-12-05
- Date (Revision)
- 2022-12-07T06:11:33
- Citation identifier
- Geoscience Australia Persistent Identifier/https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/145457
Identifier
- Codespace
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Digital Object Identifier
- Cited responsible party
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Author Kirkby, A.
MEG Internal Contact Author Doublier, M.
MEG Internal Contact
- Purpose
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Scientific article
- Status
- Completed
- Point of contact
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Point of contact Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice Point of contact Doublier, M.
MEG Internal Contact Resource provider Minerals, Energy and Groundwater Division
External Contact
- Spatial representation type
- Topic category
-
- Geoscientific information
Extent
Extent
))
- Maintenance and update frequency
- As needed
Resource format
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Product data repository: Various Formats
- Website
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Data Store directory containing the digital product files
Data Store directory containing one or more files, possibly in a variety of formats, accessible to Geoscience Australia staff only for internal purposes
- theme.ANZRC Fields of Research.rdf
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EARTH SCIENCES
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Electrical and Electromagnetic Methods in Geophysics
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- Discipline
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magnetotellurics
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- Feature type
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fault
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- Feature type
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mineral system
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- Process
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inversion
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- Process
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synthetic modelling
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- Project
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EFTF
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- Keywords
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Published_External
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Resource constraints
- Title
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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence
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CC-BY
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4.0
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Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem
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- 2018-11-01T00:00:00
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- Unclassified
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- English
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- UTF8
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Distributor Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice
- OnLine resource
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Link to the Exploration Geophysics Journal paper
Link to the Exploration Geophysics Journal paper
- Distribution format
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Resource lineage
- Statement
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This study was completed under the Exploring for the Future initiative, as part of the Darling-Curnamona-Delamerian project.
Metadata constraints
- Title
-
Australian Government Security Classification System
- Edition date
- 2018-11-01T00:00:00
- Classification
- Unclassified
Metadata
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urn:uuid/b659c0ac-35e3-4d72-8b2c-8ed9cca61263
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GeoNetwork UUID
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- English
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- UTF8
- Contact
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Point of contact Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice Owner Kirkby, A
Internal Contact Point of contact Doublier, M.
MEG Internal Contact
Type of resource
- Resource scope
- Document
- Name
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External publication: Journal article
Alternative metadata reference
- Title
-
Geoscience Australia - short identifier for metadata record with
uuid
- Citation identifier
- eCatId/145457
- Date info (Creation)
- 2019-04-08T01:55:29
- Date info (Revision)
- 2019-04-08T01:55:29
Metadata standard
- Title
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AU/NZS ISO 19115-1:2014
Metadata standard
- Title
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ISO 19115-1:2014
Metadata standard
- Title
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ISO 19115-3
- Title
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Geoscience Australia Community Metadata Profile of ISO 19115-1:2014
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Version 2.0, September 2018
- Citation identifier
- https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/122551