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Russian Geology and Geophysics

2014 year, number 4

EFFECTS OF NEAR-SURFACE INHOMOGENEITIES ON MT RESPONSES: AN ANALYTICAL MODEL

V.V. Plotkin
A.A. Trofimuk Institute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, pr. Akademika Koptyuga 3, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia
Keywords: Magnetotelluric (MT) soundings, analytical model, galvanic distortion, shallow structures, electrostatic field, thin conductive layer

Abstract

An analytical model is suggested to describe the electrostatic field produced by near-surface inhomogeneities responsible for galvanic shift in magnetotelluric (MT) apparent resistivity sounding curves. The near-surface inhomogeneities are modeled in thin-sheet approximation with laterally variable longitudinal conductance and transverse resistance. The model accounts for the TM (transverse magnetic) mode secondary electric field in the conductive layered subsurface below the thin sheet. Equations have been obtained to relate the subsurface geoelectric parameters and the spatial harmonics of the secondary electrostatic field. This secondary field, which is the source of galvanic shift in MT data, turns out to be in-phase with the primary field. The equations derived to simulate galvanic distortions are applicable to long-period MT data acquired by a synchronous array.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rgg.2014.03.009