Some new ideas on induction in infinitely- conducting oceans of arbitrary shapes

summary . The problem of an infinitely-conducting hemispherical'ocean'above a perfectly-conducting concentric sphere is solved by using Legendre polynomial expansions. Some of the techniques used in manipulating the expansions are believed to be novel. The form of the solution leads to a new general method for oceans of arbitrary shapes.     

Electromagnetic induction studies in the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia

Magnetic field fluctuations have been recorded by an array of portable three-component magnetometers at 60 sites across the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia between December 1993 and March 1995. An additional 54 magnetometer data records, collected prior to 1989 and described by Milligan (1989) and Milligan, White & Chamalaun (1989), were included in the analysis. A major conductive feature in the crust, first noted by White & Milligan (1984) as the Eyre Peninsula Anomaly (EPA), is re-examined to assess its continuity to the north of the original arrays and to investigate its relationship with major tectonic features.
Magnetic-field time-series were converted to induction arrows in the frequency domain. These induction arrows were initially inverted using the minimum-structure 2-D Occam approach to estimate the electrical conductance of the crust. Following this, thin-sheet forward modelling was used to examine the relationship between the conductance and the dominant tectonic features. The principal results of the modelling are that a narrow conductive feature extends inland from the coast about 160 km before terminating, and the conductance is in the range 3000 to 10 000 S, which decreases inland.
A strong correlation exists between the electrical conductance of the Eyre Peninsula and Bouguer gravity anomalies, and in particular the EPA is coincident with a significant Bouguer gravity gradient. There is also good agreement between the locations of the foci of earthquakes of magnitude greater than 4.0 and the EPA. We believe that the anomaly is associated with a geological fracture in the Precambrian upper crust as a result of crustal extension prior to the rifting of Australia from Antarctica in the Jurassic (160 Ma).     

The Influence of Surface Inhomogeneities On Deep Electromagnetic Soundings of the Earth

Summary. Asymptotic expressions for components of the electromagnetic field of a grounded electric dipole are considered for the model consisting of a thin surface-layer overlapping a stratified medium with a highly resistive screen on the roof. It is shown that the method of spatial derivatives makes it possible to obtain proper estimates of the impedance at distances of r ≥|λ₀| from the nearest edge of the surface anomaly (|λ₀| being the effective depth of the field penetration in the underlying section). the magnetotelluric methods allow one to obtain the true values of impedance, provided r ≥ max {|λ₀|, |/( S ⁻¹+ Z ⁻₀|^1/2} where S is the integrated conductivity of the surface layer, is the transverse resistance of the screen, and Z ⁻₀ is the Tikhonov—Cagniard impedance for the medium underlying the surface layer.     

Electromagnetic response of an ocean-coast model to E-polarization induction

summary . An ocean-coast model which consists of a uniformly conducting half-space screened by a perfectly conducting half-plane (the model ocean) is studied. On the land the electric field decreases continuously to zero as the coast is approached. The horizontal magnetic field component is found to vary rapidly, but remains finite; the vertical component on the other hand, increases to infinity at the coast. On the surface of the model ocean as well as on the sea floor, electric field and vertical magnetic field are both nil, but the horizontal magnetic field becomes singular as the seashore is approached. This horizontal magnetic field however, is different on the sea floor and at the ocean surface, because the integrated ocean current is finite, even growing to infinity as the shore is approached. The very large ocean currents near the shore act as an extremely long line antenna, which radiates far afield. This antenna feature explains the very long range of the ocean-coast effects observed under E -polarization induction, compared to the corresponding H -polarization effects where no such antenna-like feature occurs. A similarly large difference of ranges can be expected for all shallow structures with large lateral conductivity contrasts. The present study may therefore be of some interest in relation to geomagnetic depth soundings by the inductive and magnetotelluric methods, as well as in understanding the ocean-coast effect known for some time from records of coastal observatories.     

Electromagnetic induction over the edge of a perfectly conducting ocean: theH-polarization case

Summary. Using the Wiener—Hopf technique, a solution is obtained for the problem of H -polarization electromagnetic induction at an ocean edge. The ocean is represented by a perfectly conducting thin sheet. The implications of the solution for magnetotelluric and geomagnetic sounding are discussed.     

Geomagnetic induction in a heterogeneous sphere: fully three-dimensional test computations and the response of a realistic distribution of oceans and continents

Long-period geomagnetic data can resolve large-scale 3-D mantle electrical conductivity heterogeneities which are indicators of physiochemical variations found in the Earth's dynamic mantle. A prerequisite for mapping such heterogeneity is the ability to model accurately electromagnetic induction in a heterogeneous sphere. A previously developed finite element method solution to the geomagnetic induction problem is validated against an analytic solution for a fully 3-D geometry: an off-axis spherical inclusion embedded in a uniform sphere. Geomagnetic induction is then modelled in a uniform spherical mantle overlain by a realistic distribution of oceanic and continental conductances. Our results indicate that the contrast in electrical conductivity between oceans and continents is not primarily responsible for the observed geographic variability of long-period geomagnetic data. In the absence of persistent high-wavenumber magnetospheric disturbances, this argues strongly for the existence of large-scale, high-contrast electrical conductivity heterogeneities in the mid-mantle. Lastly, for several periods the geomagnetic anomaly associated with a mid-mantle spherical inclusion is calculated. A high-contrast inclusion can be readily detected beneath the outer shell of oceans and continents. A comparison between observed and computed c responses suggests that the mid-mantle contains more than one order of magnitude of lateral variability in electrical conductivity, while the upper mantle contains at least two orders of magnitude of lateral variability in electrical conductivity.