We describe a three‐dimensional electrical exploration system, and its use in carrying out a three‐dimensional survey on a polymetallic deposit located in China's Gansu Province. A time‐domain‐induced polarization method, along with a controlled‐source audiomagnetotelluric method, was used to survey the same station points for comparison. Then, a three‐dimensional inversion based on the incomplete Gauss–Newton method (for time‐domain‐induced polarization) and a nonlinear conjugate gradient (for controlled‐source audiomagnetotelluric) method were developed and applied in order to model the data sets. Four subsurface targets were mapped by the three‐dimensional electrical exploration method. A strong correlation was found between the zones of the revealed ore‐bearing anomalies and the geological setting. Using the results of the three‐dimensional electrical exploration, we revealed the spatial distribution of the ore‐bearing stratum, as well as the relationship between the ore bodies and the stratum. The results potentially provided evidence for future interpretations of deep geological structures, along with evaluations of mineral resources.
An improved interpolation scheme is presented for 2.5‐dimensional marine controlled‐source electromagnetic forward modelling. For the marine controlled‐source electromagnetic method, due to the resistivity contrast between the seawater and seafloor sedimentary layers, it is difficult to compute the electromagnetic fields accurately at receivers, which are usually located at the seafloor. In this study, the 2.5‐dimensional controlled‐source electromagnetic responses are simulated by the staggered finite‐difference method. The secondary‐field approach is used to avoid the source singularities, and the one‐dimensional layered background model is used for calculating the primary fields excited by the source quasi‐analytically. The interpolation of electromagnetic fields at the cell nodes for the whole computational domain to the receiver locations is discussed in detail. Numerical tests indicate that the improved interpolation developed is more accurate for simulating the electromagnetic responses at receivers located at the seafloor, compared with the linear or rigorous interpolation.
In order to investigate the three-dimensional structures of intrusive granite and the deep structure of the Darbut fault in the northwestern margin of the Karamay region, western Junggar Basin, China, new magnetotelluric data were collected along six profiles across the Darbut fault. The magnetotelluric data were processed using a robust estimation technique to obtain the magnetotelluric impedance. Then the off-diagonal components of the impedance tensor were inverted using a three-dimensional nonlinear conjugate gradient inversion technique, which was performed using open-source three-dimensional electromagnetic inversion software. The final three-dimensional model includes two major low-resistivity anomalies and two major high-resistivity anomalies. The first low-resistivity anomaly corresponds to the location of the Darbut fault, which indicates that metallic elements are abnormally enriched there. The second one is located beneath the Darbut fault, and it is most likely a magma channel in the middle crust. The two major high-resistivity anomalies are distributed on either side of the Darbut fault. We interpret them as Karamay rocks and Akebasitao rocks and suggest that they were formed in an extensional setting. The cross sections of three-dimensional magnetotelluric inversion result reveal that the Darbut fault has been reformed by the later magmatism, leading to the variation of its downward extent along its strike. Moreover, our inversion result also indicates that a magma channel exists in the middle crust of the region.
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