1D and 2D Modelling of AMT and CSAMT Measurements from Swedish Lapland - A Case Study

Audiomagnetotelluric measurements with (CSAMT) and without (AMT) a controlled source were performed near Gällivare and Kiruna in Swedish Lapland in order to retrieve representative conductivity models of the subsurfaces. Magnetotelluric transfer functions were gained from processed time series’ and subsequently inverted to generate the sought models successfully. Additionally, a strike angle analysis was performed to determine the dimension of the ground structures. That information was used to justify the approaches of 1D and 2D inversions of the data sets and to judge their applicability. In Kiruna, two profiles were installed. One profile is considered to be in line with the strike direction, the other profile was oriented rather orthogonal to the strike direction. In Gällivare, only one profile was installed orthogonally with respect to the strike direction. The strike analysis showed a preferentially 2-dimensional structure for Kiruna’s parallel profile. For the orthogonal oriented profiles from Kiruna and Gällivare, the analysis revealed a 2D (with distortions) to 3D dimension of the ground structures. For the AMT method, it was possible to generate 1-dimensional and 2-dimensional models. Regarding the CSAMT data, it was only possible to generate a 1D conductivitymodel for the subsurface. Due to a significant transmitter overprint, no undistorted start model for the 2-dimensional CSAMT data inversion could be produced. The models from Kiruna had a sufficient data quality and thus resulted in reliable 2D AMT resistivity models with, locally, 2 to 3 layers. However, in combination with the 1D models for AMT and CSAMT, a 3-layer structure was predicted, where a resistive layer is covered by a thin conductive layer and underlaid by a rather conductive basement. For Gällivare’s profile, the data quality was good such that for all inversion methods good results were achieved. The predicted 2-layer models were resolved for for depths between 10m and 10,000m and coincide with the at hand geological maps and cross sections