Consequences of induced polarization in magneto-telluric interpretation

Summary Both in-situ and laboratory studies indicate that naturally occurring earth materials are electrically dispersive. A review of both historical and recent developments in the field of dispersion is presented, including induced polarization (IP) as used in mineral prospecting. Computer-simulated magnetotelluric (MT) sounding curves are presented for nondispersive, semi-dispersive and dispersive, electrical structures. Admittivities of the form =A +A log (/₀)and other frequency dependent forms are used in the calculations. The results indicate that interpretation of electromagnetic field data, in terms of nondispersive layered structures, can lead to significant errors in the estimation of subsurface structure. Thus, there may be an important limitation in the use of variable frequency or transient data in the currently popular inversion schemes.