Magnetic anomaly

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The Bangui magnetic anomaly in central Africa and the Kursk magnetic anomaly in eastern Europe (both in red) Bangui anomaly.JPG
The Bangui magnetic anomaly in central Africa and the Kursk magnetic anomaly in eastern Europe (both in red)

In geophysics, a magnetic anomaly is a local variation in the Earth's magnetic field resulting from variations in the chemistry or magnetism of the rocks. Mapping of variation over an area is valuable in detecting structures obscured by overlying material. The magnetic variation (geomagnetic reversals) in successive bands of ocean floor parallel with mid-ocean ridges was important evidence for seafloor spreading, a concept central to the theory of plate tectonics.

Contents

Measurement

Magnetic anomalies are generally a small fraction of the magnetic field. The total field ranges from 25,000 to 65,000  nanoteslas (nT). [1] To measure anomalies, magnetometers need a sensitivity of 10 nT or less. There are three main types of magnetometer used to measure magnetic anomalies: [2] :162–164 [3] :77–79

  1. The fluxgate magnetometer was developed during World War II to detect submarines. [3] :75 [4] It measures the component along a particular axis of the sensor, so it needs to be oriented. On land, it is often oriented vertically, while in aircraft, ships and satellites it is usually oriented so the axis is in the direction of the field. It measures the magnetic field continuously, but drifts over time. One way to correct for drift is to take repeated measurements at the same place during the survey. [2] :163–165 [3] :75–77
  2. The proton precession magnetometer measures the strength of the field but not its direction, so it does not need to be oriented. Each measurement takes a second or more. It is used in most ground surveys except for boreholes and high-resolution gradiometer surveys. [2] :163–165 [3] :77–78
  3. Optically pumped magnetometers, which use alkali gases (most commonly rubidium and caesium) have high sample rates and sensitivities of 0.001 nT or less, but are more expensive than the other types of magnetometers. They are used on satellites and in most aeromagnetic surveys. [3] :78–79

Data acquisition

Ground-based

In ground-based surveys, measurements are made at a series of stations, typically 15 to 60 m apart. Usually a proton precession magnetometer is used and it is often mounted on a pole. Raising the magnetometer reduces the influence of small ferrous objects that were discarded by humans. To further reduce unwanted signals, the surveyors do not carry metallic objects such as keys, knives or compasses, and objects such as motor vehicles, railway lines, and barbed wire fences are avoided. If some such contaminant is overlooked, it may show up as a sharp spike in the anomaly, so such features are treated with suspicion. The main application for ground-based surveys is the detailed search for minerals. [2] :163 [3] :83–84

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Aeromagnetic

Airborne magnetic surveys are often used in oil surveys to provide preliminary information for seismic surveys. In some countries such as Canada, government agencies have made systematic surveys of large areas. The survey generally involves making a series of parallel runs at a constant height and with intervals of anywhere from a hundred meters to several kilometers. These are crossed by occasional tie lines, perpendicular to the main survey, to check for errors. The plane is a source of magnetism, so sensors are either mounted on a boom (as in the figure) or towed behind on a cable. Aeromagnetic surveys have a lower spatial resolution than ground surveys, but this can be an advantage for a regional survey of deeper rocks. [2] :166 [3] :81–83

Shipborne

In shipborne surveys, a magnetometer is towed a few hundred meters behind a ship in a device called a fish. The sensor is kept at a constant depth of about 15 m. Otherwise, the procedure is similar to that used in aeromagnetic surveys. [2] :167 [3] :83

Spacecraft

Sputnik 3 in 1958 was the first spacecraft to carry a magnetometer. [5] :155 [6] In the autumn of 1979, Magsat was launched and jointly operated by NASA and USGS until the spring of 1980. It had a caesium vapor scalar magnetometer and a fluxgate vector magnetometer. [7] CHAMP, a German satellite, made precise gravity and magnetic measurements from 2001 to 2010. [8] [9] A Danish satellite, Ørsted, was launched in 1999 and is still in operation, while the Swarm mission of the European Space Agency involves a "constellation" of three satellites that were launched in November, 2013. [10] [11] [12]

Data reduction

There are two main corrections that are needed for magnetic measurements. The first is removing short-term variations in the field from external sources; e.g., diurnal variations that have a period of 24 hours and magnitudes of up to 30 nT, probably from the action of the solar wind on the ionosphere. [3] :72 In addition, magnetic storms can have peak magnitudes of 1000 nT and can last for several days. Their contribution can be measured by returning to a base station repeatedly or by having another magnetometer that periodically measures the field at a fixed location. [2] :167

Second, since the anomaly is the local contribution to the magnetic field, the main geomagnetic field must be subtracted from it. The International Geomagnetic Reference Field is usually used for this purpose. This is a large-scale, time-averaged mathematical model of the Earth's field based on measurements from satellites, magnetic observatories and other surveys. [2] :167

Some corrections that are needed for gravity anomalies are less important for magnetic anomalies. For example, the vertical gradient of the magnetic field is 0.03 nT/m or less, so an elevation correction is generally not needed. [2] :167

Interpretation

Theoretical background

The magnetization in the surveyed rock is the vector sum of induced and remanent magnetization:

The induced magnetization of many minerals is the product of the ambient magnetic field and their magnetic susceptibility χ:

Some susceptibilities are given in the table.

Minerals that are diamagnetic or paramagnetic only have an induced magnetization. Ferromagnetic minerals such as magnetite also can carry a remanent magnetization or remanence. This remanence can last for millions of years, so it may be in a completely different direction from the present Earth's field. If a remanence is present, it is difficult to separate from the induced magnetization unless samples of the rock are measured. The ratio of the magnitudes, Q = Mr/Mi, is called the Koenigsberger ratio. [2] :172–173 [13]

Magnetic anomaly modeling

Interpretation of magnetic anomalies is usually done by matching observed and modeled values of the anomalous magnetic field. An algorithm developed by Talwani and Heirtzler(1964) (and further elaborated by Kravchinsky, 2019) treats both induced and remnant magnetizations as vectors and allows theoretical estimation of the remnant magnetization from the existing apparent polar wander paths for different tectonic units or continents. [14] [15]

Applications

Ocean floor stripes

Magnetic anomalies around the Juan de Fuca and Gorda Ridges, off the west coast of North America, color-coded by age. Magnetic anomalies off west coast of North America.gif
Magnetic anomalies around the Juan de Fuca and Gorda Ridges, off the west coast of North America, color-coded by age.

Magnetic surveys over the oceans have revealed a characteristic pattern of anomalies around mid-ocean ridges. They involve a series of positive and negative anomalies in the intensity of the magnetic field, forming stripes running parallel to each ridge. They are often symmetric about the axis of the ridge. The stripes are generally tens of kilometers wide, and the anomalies are a few hundred nanoteslas. The source of these anomalies is primarily permanent magnetization carried by titanomagnetite minerals in basalt and gabbros. They are magnetized when ocean crust is formed at the ridge. As magma rises to the surface and cools, the rock acquires a thermoremanent magnetization in the direction of the field. Then the rock is carried away from the ridge by the motions of the tectonic plates. Every few hundred thousand years, the direction of the magnetic field reverses. Thus, the pattern of stripes is a global phenomenon and can be used to calculate the velocity of seafloor spreading. [16] [17]

In fiction

In the Space Odyssey series by Arthur C. Clarke, a series of monoliths are left by extraterrestrials for humans to find. One near the crater Tycho is found by its unnaturally powerful magnetic field and named Tycho Magnetic Anomaly 1 (TMA-1). [18] One orbiting Jupiter is named TMA-2, and one in the Olduvai Gorge is found in 2513 and retroactively named TMA-0 because it was first encountered by primitive humans.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magnetic anomaly detector</span> Instrument for detecting variations in the Earths magnetic field

A magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) is an instrument used to detect minute variations in the Earth's magnetic field. The term refers specifically to magnetometers used by military forces to detect submarines ; military MAD equipment is a descendant of geomagnetic survey or aeromagnetic survey instruments used to search for minerals by detecting their disturbance of the normal earth-field.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geophysics</span> Physics of the Earth and its vicinity

Geophysics is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists, who usually study geophysics, physics, or one of the Earth sciences at the graduate level, complete investigations across a wide range of scientific disciplines. The term geophysics classically refers to solid earth applications: Earth's shape; its gravitational, magnetic fields, and electromagnetic fields ; its internal structure and composition; its dynamics and their surface expression in plate tectonics, the generation of magmas, volcanism and rock formation. However, modern geophysics organizations and pure scientists use a broader definition that includes the water cycle including snow and ice; fluid dynamics of the oceans and the atmosphere; electricity and magnetism in the ionosphere and magnetosphere and solar-terrestrial physics; and analogous problems associated with the Moon and other planets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magnetometer</span> Device that measures magnetism

A magnetometer is a device that measures magnetic field or magnetic dipole moment. Different types of magnetometers measure the direction, strength, or relative change of a magnetic field at a particular location. A compass is one such device, one that measures the direction of an ambient magnetic field, in this case, the Earth's magnetic field. Other magnetometers measure the magnetic dipole moment of a magnetic material such as a ferromagnet, for example by recording the effect of this magnetic dipole on the induced current in a coil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earth's magnetic field</span> Magnetic field that extends from the Earths outer and inner core to where it meets the solar wind

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Remanence or remanent magnetization or residual magnetism is the magnetization left behind in a ferromagnetic material after an external magnetic field is removed. Colloquially, when a magnet is "magnetized", it has remanence. The remanence of magnetic materials provides the magnetic memory in magnetic storage devices, and is used as a source of information on the past Earth's magnetic field in paleomagnetism. The word remanence is from remanent + -ence, meaning "that which remains".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proton magnetometer</span> Instrument which measures very small variations in the Earths magnetic field

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paleomagnetism</span> Study of Earths magnetic field in past

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aeromagnetic survey</span> Surveying method, analyzing the magnetic properties of large regions from high altitudes

An aeromagnetic survey is a common type of geophysical survey carried out using a magnetometer aboard or towed behind an aircraft. The principle is similar to a magnetic survey carried out with a hand-held magnetometer, but allows much larger areas of the Earth's surface to be covered quickly for regional reconnaissance. The aircraft typically flies in a grid-like pattern with height and line spacing determining the resolution of the data.

Natural remanent magnetization is the permanent magnetism of a rock or sediment. This preserves a record of the Earth's magnetic field at the time the mineral was laid down as sediment or crystallized in magma and also the tectonic movement of the rock over millions of years from its original position. Natural remanent magnetization forms the basis of paleomagnetism and magnetostratigraphy.

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Viscous remanent magnetization, also known as viscous magnetization, is remanence that is acquired by ferromagnetic materials by sitting in a magnetic field for some time. The natural remanent magnetization of an igneous rock can be altered by this process. This is generally an unwanted component and some form of stepwise demagnetization must be used to remove it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Near-surface geophysics</span> Geophysics of first tens of meters below surface

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of geophysics</span> Topics in the physics of the Earth and its vicinity

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to geophysics:

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Project Magnet (USN)</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marine geophysics</span>

Marine geophysics is the scientific discipline that employs methods of geophysics to study the world's ocean basins and continental margins, particularly the solid earth beneath the ocean. It shares objectives with marine geology, which uses sedimentological, paleontological, and geochemical methods. Marine geophysical data analyses led to the theories of seafloor spreading and plate tectonics.

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Further reading