Geology 351 – Geophysical Methods for Geology,

Engineering and Environmental Sciences (ATH)

Magnetic Surveys
Magnetic surveys are probably the oldest geophysical surveying technique. Chinese
discovered magnetism as early as 5000 years ago. It has been used to find magnetic
minerals ever since. However, magnetism was not used for oil and gas prospecting until
after the Second World War. Magnetic methods are used mainly to map basement rocks.
Such mapping can yield information about the size and shape of sedimentary basins.
Sedimentary rocks exert very small magnetic effects compared to igneous and
metamorphic rocks. Therefore, they are largely transparent to magnetic methods. As a
result, magnetic surveys are more commonly used to study basement lithology and
igneous intrusions.

Magnetic surveys have a great deal in common with gravity surveys. Both methods
make use of a potential field; both seek anomalies caused by changes in the physical
properties of subsurface rocks; and both are used as reconnaissance tools. However,
interpretation of magnetic data is a lot more complicated, both in principle and in practice
for a number of reasons. For example, magnetism possesses both magnitude and
direction, whereas gravity can be treated as a scalar for all practical purposes because it is
dominated by the vertical component. Further, a magnetic force can be either attractive
or repulsive while gravitational forces are always attractive. Time variations of gravity
over the duration of a survey are generally well understood (i.e., they are mainly due to
tidal interactions), whereas time variations of magnetic field are random and chaotic (i.e.,
unpredictable). Finally, magnetic effects are often influenced by small traces of certain
minerals in a rock formation, whereas gravity originates only from the bulk constituents
of rocks.

Why do rocks show magnetic properties? Rocks will show magnetic characteristics
only when they contain ferromagnetic minerals such as magnetite (Fe3O4) and/or
hematite (Fe2O3). These magnetic minerals can be grouped together to form magnetic
grains (or sometimes known as magnetic domains). Each magnetic domain behaves like
a tiny little bar magnet. When the magnetic domains are aligned in a coherent direction,
it will exhibit a magnetic signature external to the rock. How do these magnetic domains
acquire their coherent orientations? Magnetization of rocks is usually accomplished
during the formation of terrestrial rocks.

Magnetic field strength is expressed in terms of magnetic field intensity. It is the

equivalent of expressing gravity field strength in terms of gravitational acceleration. The
conventional unit for magnetic field intensity is oersted (Oe) or gauss. This is the unit
used to describe the global field intensity of the Earth. The Earth's magnetic field
strength at its surface is about 0.57 Oe. In applied geophysics, however, one seldom
deals with magnetic intensity variations with such magnitudes. Instead, magnetic
variations are many orders of magnitude smaller. Therefore, a smaller unit called gamma
is frequently used. A gamma is equal to 10-5 Oe (or gauss).

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Time Variations of the Earth's Magnetic Field

There are very complex long-term variations of the Earth magnetic field called
secular variations. These include the westward drift and the magnetic reversals.
However, these variations are so slow that they pose no practical effects to surveying.
Consequently, in applied geophysics, only the short-term variations are of interest.

(a) Diurnal Variations : There is a short term oscillation in the Earth's magnetic field that
has a periodicity of about a day and an amplitude of about 25 gamma. Careful
observations indicate that there are two different types of diurnal variations: the quiet
day type and the disturbed day type. The quiet day variation is smooth, regular and
low in amplitude. It can be separated into predictable components having both solar
and lunar periodicities. The disturbed day variations are less regular and are
generally associated with magnetic storms from the Sun.

(b) Magnetic Storms : These are highly irregular transient disturbances of the
geomagnetic field. Because magnetic storms are unpredictable and their amplitudes
are often large, their effects on magnetic surveys are most damaging. Therefore,
magnetic surveys must be discontinued during storms of any severity. From the
equator to approximately 60 degrees of latitude, magnetic oscillations due to the
storms can exceed 1000 gamma. This can be even worse in polar region. These
storms seem to appear at intervals of about 27 days. Their frequency has strong
correlation to the Sun spot activities. These storms usually last about several days.

Magnetic Data Acquisition

I. Instrumentation : Nowadays, there are two different types of magnetometer that

are commonly used. These are (a) the flux-gate type, and (b) the proton precession
type.

(a) The flux-gate magnetometer : This instrument was initially developed for submarine
detection during World War II. Detecting submarines beneath sea surface is
analogous to finding metallic minerals beneath the surface. After the war, the
instrument was immediately adopted for minerals as well as oil and gas
reconnaissance. The operation principle of a flux-gate magnetometer is illustrated
below.

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The instrument is composed of two cores of a highly magnetically permeable

material, and they are arranged parallel to each other. Two sets of coils are placed
around the core. The first set of coils (i.e., the thin red coils) is placed on each core
such that they are in series. A current source is connected to this circuit. According
to Ampere's Law, the current loops will induce a magnetic field within the core as
indicated by the blue arrows F. If the current source produces an alternate current,
an oscillating magnetic field will be generated within the core. This change of
magnetic field will produce a current in the second set of coils (i.e., the thick green
coils). The second set of coil is connected to a voltmeter so that any net current
within the circuit can be measured. In the absence of an external field, currents
produced in the two thick green coils will oppose each other resulting in zero voltage
output. When an external field is present, however, voltage output from the two
coils will be different. Magnitude of the voltage output is related to the magnitude of
the external field. Thus, by measuring the voltage, one can determine the strength of
the external field. Note that flux-gate magnetometers measure magnetic field
strength in the direction aligned with the direction of the cores.

(b) Proton Precession Magnetometer : This instrument is designed based on the

principle of nuclear magnetic resonance. Detail design principles require some
knowledge of quantum mechanics that is beyond the scope of this course. Therefore,
only the qualitative working principles of this instrument will be discussed here.

Most chemical elements possess an intrinsic magnetic moment. The nuclei of

these elements may be looked upon as a tiny magnet in the form of a sphere spinning
with respect to an intrinsic axis. These spinning axes tend to align with the
prevailing external magnetic field. The simplest nucleus having this property is a
proton, or a hydrogen nucleus. Because oxygen has no magnetic moment, a water
sample can be regarded as an assemblage of protons as far as nuclear magnetic
resonance is concerned.

Consider a bottle of water with an electric coil placed outside the bottle.
Initially, the protons are aligned with the prevailing Earth's field. Suddenly, a

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current is applied to the coil and a strong magnetic field is established in the
direction of the symmetric axis of the bottle. The protons will align themselves to
this newly applied field almost instantaneously. When the applied field is removed,
the protons will return to the external Earth's field through a precession around the
local Earth's magnetic field axis. The precession oscillation can produce an electrical
potential in the exterior coil. By measuring this induced voltage, strength of the
Earth's field can be determined.

This is a relatively simple device. It is lightweight and can easily be carried in

field conditions. It is a preferred instrument for magnetic surveys today. The
instrument measures the total field, however, and not its components. It does not
have a drift problem and one does not need to worry about the orientation of the
instrument.

II. Field Operations : Unlike gravity surveys, magnetic surveys can be carried out on
land, at sea or in the air because they do not require a stable platform and
measurements are in the form of voltage output that can be recorded continuously if
necessary. At present, most large-scale surveys are carried out using airplanes.

(a) Air-borne Surveys : This mode of survey is relatively inexpensive. It cost $7-$10 per
mile relative to $25 per mile for ground surveys. Air-borne surveys can cover a large
area within a relatively short period of time. Because airplanes can usually carry a
heavier and more sophisticated payload than land surveys, air-borne instrument can
usually achieve higher sensitivities. For example, air-borne magnetometers have a
sensitivity of 1-5 gamma comparing to 10-20 gamma for ground survey
magnetometers. In addition, air-borne surveys can reach areas that may be
inaccessible from land.

Airborne magnetometers are usually towed behind airplanes, or attached to the

tail or wing tip of an airplane to minimize the magnetic effects from the plane itself.

It is also desirable to design a flight path such that the flight trajectories form a
rectangular grid system. Typically, survey lines are 1/8 to several miles apart.
Because magnetic field is a potential field, flight altitude can produce strong effects
on the measurements. A change of 100 feet in altitude can produce a magnetic
variation of 50-130 gamma. Therefore, flight path should be maintained at a
constant altitude when possible. An altitude of 1000 feet is usually used, and an
altimeter or barometer is often used to control flight altitudes.

(b) Ground Surveys : Like gravity surveys on land, magnetic surveys also require the
establishment of a grid system. A survey line spacing of 1/4 to several miles is
typically used for oil and gas reconnaissance. For mineral exploration, however, 50-
200 feet spacing is commonly used. Occasionally, spacing can be as small as 20 feet.

Ground surveys are a lot slower than air-borne surveys, and it translates into
high costs. Because land surveys are slow, diurnal variations of the Earth's magnetic

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field often need to be considered. In addition, at the surface, there are often erratic
signals caused by terrain such as an erosional channel. For high sensitivity
measurements, one should avoid taking data near railroad tracks, wire fences, or any
large size object with metallic iron. Even instrument operators should avoid having
such objects in their pockets.

Magnetic Data Reduction

Like gravity surveys, repeated measurements should be made every 2-4 hours at the
base station. This enables the subsequent corrections to account for the effects due to
diurnal variations and instrument drift. How about other corrections that have been
discussed in gravity survey? It turns out that the magnetic signals of interest are often
500 gamma or higher. The latitude variation of Earth's magnetic field is less than 10
gamma per mile; and altitude variation is less than 0.01 gamma per foot. Consequently,
both the latitude and the free-air corrections are not essential (or necessary). The
equivalent of Bouguer gravity correction can be significant, however. One needs to
measure the vertical gradient of the local magnetic field for this correction. The formula
is given below.

∂H
H (xo , yo , 0 ) = H (xo , yo , h ) −
∂z y =0

where (xo, yo) is the position of the grid station, h is the station elevation, and z is the
vertical coordinate.

Magnetic Profiles of Idealized Objects

Next, we shall examine some sample profiles of idealized objects in the subsurface.
First, let us consider a monopole in the subsurface as illustrated below.

Because magnetic surveys represent measurements of local field lines, a profile across
the surface should show variations in the horizontal and the vertical components of these
field lines. In reality, magnetic monopoles do not exist. This diagram implies that the
other pole is located underneath but at an infinite distance away. The vertical and the
horizontal field strength across the surface are given in the following diagram.

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Magnetic Field Strength

Distance

vertical horizontal

It is clear that immediately above the pole, there exists the maximum field strength. In a
dipolar magnetic field, both magnetic poles exist beneath the surface. Assuming that they
are arranged in a vertical direction, the resultant magnetic signature at the surface is a
simple superposition of both fields due to each individual pole.
magnetic field strength

distance

positive pole negative pole net effect

In this case, the positive pole is closer to the surface resulting in a stronger positive
signature. The negative signature lower in the diagram is that produced by the negative
pole. The linear sum of these two curves yield the net magnetic signature measured at the
surface. This illustrates that surface magnetism represents a summation of the magnetic
effects produced by all the sources existed beneath the surface, just like gravity.

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Interpretation of Magnetic Data

Unlike gravity, magnetic field should be presented as vector fields. Consequently,

there should be two different ways to interpret magnetic data: the single component
interpretation and the total field interpretation. From a practical point of view, however,
the difference is often small. Generally, at high magnetic latitudes, the total field is very
similar to the vertical component of the field, whereas at low magnetic latitudes, the total
field is approximately the same as its horizontal component. Only at mid-latitude that
both components are needed to represent the total field accurately. Over the entire North
America, inclination of the Earth's magnetic field is greater than 60 degrees.

In magnetic interpretation, it is very often that only qualitative information can be

extracted. Nevertheless, this can be sufficient most of the time. For example, it is often
more important for us to know if a fault or an intrusive body existed beneath the surface
rather than its shape or its burial depth. This is especially true because neither the shape
nor the burial depth can be determined uniquely in most cases.

Like gravity, magnetic data are often presented as contour maps. However, magnetic
contours can appear deceptively similar to structures in the subsurface such that extreme
cautions must be exercised to carry out a correct interpretation, especially for deep buried
objects.

(a) Effect of Basement Geology : Consider the following structure.

In this case, a gravity profile will show no structure because densities of granite
(2516 – 2809 kg/m3) and andesite (2721 – 2960 kg/m3) are very similar. However,
because of the large difference in magnetic susceptibility (kgr = 0.003 and kande =
0.013), the boundary is clearly illustrated in a magnetic profile as shown above.

(b) Effect of Magnetization Direction : Consider some identical objects buried in the
subsurface. Their directions of magnetization are different, however. Let us
examine the resultant magnetic profiles at the surface.

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These three cases illustrate clearly the differences in surface magnetic signals due to
objects with different orientations of magnetization even though every other aspect
of the objects is identical. Therefore, great care must be exercised in order to
interpret magnetic data correctly.

(c) Computer Modeling : This is the most commonly used method to interpret magnetic
data for subsurface structures nowadays. Although the model developed may not be
unique like gravity or seismic modeling, it remains the most reliable method for
magnetic data interpretations.

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