THE VERTICAL MAGNETIC FIELD OF AN ALTERNATING CURRENT DIPOLE FOR HORIZONTALLY STRATIFIED MEDIA *

For the computation of the vertical component H_z of the magnetic field of a horizontal A.C. dipole lying on the earth's surface, a recurrence formula is presented for a horizontally stratified half space, to obtain the (n+ 1)-layer case from the w-layer case. By means of several computed diagrams for the two-layer case, H_z can be determined for different ratios of conductivity of the subsoil and that of the overburden. Thereby the distance from the dipole as well as the layer thickness h are expressed in terms of the wave length A of a plain wave in the overburden. Assuming a sufficiently large conductivity difference, the results show that evidence about the subsurface conditions can be obtained if the distance between the measuring coil and the dipole is of the order of A/3, and if the thickness h of the layer varies within the range A/100 < h < A/6. As an example for the 3-layer case, a nonconducting intermediate layer is assumed.