Magnetic Method
By
Prof. P. R. Mohanty
Department of AGP
IIT (ISM), Dhanbad
Introduction
The magnetic field ‘B’ due to a pole of strength ‘m’ at a distance ‘r’ from the pole is defined as the force exerted
on a unit positive pole at that point
Magnetic fields can be defined in terms of magnetic potentials in a similar manner to gravitational fields. For a
single pole of strength ‘m’, the magnetic potential ‘V’ at a distance ‘r’ from the pole is given by
The magnetic field component in any direction is then given by the partial derivative of the potential in that
direction.
Magnetic Susceptibility: it is a measure of how much a material will become magnetized in an applied magnetic
field. It is the ratio of Magnetization (M) to the applied magnetizing field intensity (H).
The induced intensity of magnetization is proportional to the strength of the magnetizing force ‘H’ of the inducing
field:
where ‘’ is the magnetic susceptibility.
Magnetic susceptibility indicates whether a material is attracted into or repelled out of a magnetic field.
Magnetic Susceptibility of Rocks and Their Range
In rocks, susceptibility is mainly dependent on the
volume percent of magnetite. This mineral is
common in igneous and metamorphic rocks, and is
present at least in trace amounts in most sediments.
Most common rock-forming minerals exhibit a very
low magnetic susceptibility and rocks owe their
magnetic character to the generally small proportion
of magnetic minerals that they contain.
There are only two geochemical groups which
provide such minerals. The iron–titanium–oxygen
group possesses a solid solution series of magnetic
minerals from magnetite (Fe3O4) to ulvöspinel
(Fe2TiO4). The other common iron oxide, hematite
(Fe2O3), is antiferromagnetic and thus does not give Figure 1: Illustration of summarizing typical susceptibilities
of common rock types.
rise to magnetic anomalies unless a parasitic
antiferromagnetism is developed.
Earth Magnetic Field and its Elements
The earth’s magnetic field extends millions of kilometers into outer space and looks very much like a bar
magnet. The earth’s south magnetic pole is actually near the North Pole and the magnetic north pole is in
Antarctica! This is why a compass magnet’s north pole actually points north (north and south poles attract).
The Earth’s magnetic field extends far and wide but is very weak in terms of field strength.
Dynamo Effect: The earth gets its own magnetic field lines because of the presence of the metallic fluids
that are present at the outer core as well as in the inner core. The outer core consists of molten iron while
the inner core has the solidified elements.
Earth’s Magnetism is generated by convection currents of molten iron and nickel in the earth’s core. These
currents carry streams of charged particles and generate magnetic fields. This magnetic field deflects
ionizing charged particles coming from the sun (called solar wind) and prevents them from entering our
atmosphere. Without this magnetic shield, the solar wind could have slowly destroyed our atmosphere
preventing life on earth to exist. Mars does not have a strong atmosphere that can sustain life because it
does not have a magnetic field protecting it.
The earth’s magnetic poles are not aligned to the actual geographic north and south poles. The magnetic
poles are inclined by about 10 degrees to the earth’s rotational axis.
Components of Earth’s Magnetic Field
There are three components that are responsible for the
magnitude as well as the direction of the earth’s magnetic
field:
Magnetic declination: It is defined as the angle between
the true north and the magnetic north. On the horizontal
plane, the true north is never at a constant position and
keeps varying depending upon the position on the earth’s
surface and time.
Magnetic inclination or the angle of dip: Itis also
known as the angle of dip. It is the angle made the
horizontal plane on the earth’s surface. At the magnetic
equator, the angle of dip is 0° and at the magnetic poles,
the angle of dip is 90°.
Intensity: There are two components to explain the
intensity of the earth’s magnetic field:
Figure 2: Illustration of common coordinate system used
Horizontal component (H) for representing Earth’s magnetic field along with
Vertical component (v) different components.
Magnetometers
A magnetometer is a device that measures magnetism: the direction, strength, or relative change of a magnetic
field at a particular location.
The first magnetometer capable of measuring the absolute magnetic intensity was invented by Carl Friedrich
Gauss in 1833 and that was a notable developments in the 19th century, which is still widely used.
Magnetometers are widely used for measuring the Earth's magnetic field, and in geophysical surveys, to detect
magnetic anomalies of various types. In an aircraft's attitude and heading reference system, they are commonly
used as a heading reference. Magnetometers are also used in the military to detect submarines. Consequently,
some countries, such as the United States, Canada and Australia, classify the more sensitive magnetometers as
military technology, and control their distribution.
Magnetometers can be used as metal detectors: they can detect only magnetic (ferrous) metals, but can detect
such metals at a much larger depth than conventional metal detectors; they are capable of detecting large objects,
such as cars, at tens of meters, while a metal detector's range is rarely more than 2 meters.
Magnetometers used to study the Earth's magnetic field may express the vector components of the field in terms
of declination (the angle between the horizontal component of the field vector and magnetic north) and the
inclination (the angle between the field vector and the horizontal surface).
Types: There are two basic types of magnetometer measurement.
Vector magnetometers measure the vector components of a magnetic field. Ex: Fluxgate magnetometer.
Total field magnetometers or scalar magnetometers measure the magnitude of the vector magnetic field.
Ex: Proton precession
Fluxgate Magnetometer
The first decide to be developed for magnetic measurements was the fluxgate
magnetometer.
The instrument employs two identical ferromagnetic cores of such high
permeability that the geomagnetic field can induce a magnetization that is a
substantial proportion of their saturation value.
Identical primary and secondary coils are wound in opposite directions around
the cores.
An alternating current of 50–1000 Hz is passed through the primary coils,
generating an alternating magnetic field (Fig. 3a).
In the absence of any external magnetic field, the cores are driven to
saturation near the peak of each half-cycle of the current (Fig. 3b).
The alternating magnetic field in the cores induces an alternating voltage in
the secondary coils which is at a maximum when the field is changing most
rapidly (Fig. 3c).
In the presence of an external magnetic field, saturation occurs earlier for the
core whose primary field is reinforced by the external field and later for the
core opposed by the external field. The induced voltages are now out of phase
as the cores reach saturation at different times (Fig. 3d).
the combined output of the secondary coils is consists of a series of voltage
pulses (Fig. 3e).
Figure 3: Illustration of principle of
Sensor accuracy is 1 nT so orientation must be known to within .001 degrees.
Fluxgate magnetometer
Proton Precession Magnetometer
It measure the resonance frequency of protons (hydrogen nuclei) in the
magnetic field to be measured, due to nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).
Because the precession frequency depends only on atomic constants and the
strength of the ambient magnetic field, the accuracy of this type of
magnetometer can reach 1 ppm.
The most commonly used magnetometer for both survey work and
observatory monitoring is currently the nuclear precession or proton
magnetometer. The sensing device of the proton magnetometer is a container
filled with a liquid rich in hydrogen atoms, such as kerosene or water,
surrounded by a coil (Figure 4a).
The hydrogen nuclei (protons) act as small dipoles and normally align parallel
to the ambient geomagnetic field Be (Figure 4b). A current is passed through
the coil to generate a magnetic field Bp 50–100 times larger than the
geomagnetic field, and in a different direction, causing the protons to realign
in this new direction (Figure 4c).
The protons return to their original alignment with Be by spiraling, or
precessing, in phase around this direction (Figure 4d) with a period of about
0.5 ms, taking some 1–3 s to achieve their original orientation.
Advantages: Sensitive to 1 nT, small, rugged & reliable, not sensitive to Figure 4: Illustration of principle of Proton
orientation. precession magnetometer
Disadvantages: Takes >1 sec to read, sensitive to high gradients.
Correction Applied in Magnetic Survey
The reduction of magnetic data is necessary to remove all causes of magnetic variation
from the observations other than those arising from the magnetic effects of the subsurface.
Diurnal Correction: The effects of diurnal variation may be removed in several ways.
The magnetometer is read at a fixed base station periodically throughout the day. The
differences observed in base readings are then distributed among the readings at stations
occupied during the day according to the time of observation.
Diurnal variations differ quite markedly from place to place and so the observatory used
should not be more than about 100 km from the survey area.
Diurnal variations, however recorded, must be examined carefully. If large, high-frequency
variations are apparent, resulting from a magnetic storm, the survey results should be
discarded.
Overview of Other Corrections
Apart from Diurnal correction, there are other two types of corrections are applied
to magnetic data such as; Geomagnetic correction and Elevation & Terrain
correction.
Geomagnetic Correction: It is equivalent of the latitude correction in gravity
survey. It removes the effect of a geomagnetic reference field from the survey data.
The most rigorous method of geomagnetic correction is the use of the International
Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF).
Elevation and Terrain Corrections: The vertical gradient of the geomagnetic
field is only some 0.03nat the poles and -0.015n at the equator, so an elevation
correction is not usually applied.
The influence of topography can be significant in ground magnetic surveys but is
not completely predictable as it depends upon the magnetic properties of the
topographic features. Therefore, in magnetic surveying terrain corrections are
rarely applied.
Magnetic Effect Due to Various Objects/Shapes
In a normal geomagnetic field: (1)
When there is a magnetic anomaly observed, that produce a vertical component DZ and a horizontal component
DH at an angle a to H. as a result; (2)
When magnetic anomaly included then equation 1 becomes
(3)
If the equation is expanded by ignoring the insignificant term , it reduces to
(4)
By substituting eq. (2) and angular description of geomagnetic element rations gives
(5)
Where is the inclination of the geomagnetic field
This approach can be used to calculate the magnetic anomaly caused by a small isolated magnetic pole of
strength m,
Isolated Pole
Lets, the pole is situated at depth z, a horizontal distance x and radial
distance r from the observation point.
The force of repulsion … on the unit positive pole in the direction r is
given by; with where, (6)
The horizontal () and vertical components of the force can be
computed by solving in the relevant directions are written as
(7)
(8)
(it is –ve as the z-axis is positive downwards)
The total field anomaly is then obtained by substituting the
expressions of equations (7 & 8) in equation (5), where α=0
If the profile were not in the direction of magnetic north, the angle a
Figure 5: Illustration of the horizontal (H ),
would represent the angle between magnetic north and the profile vertical (Z) and total field (B) anomalies due to
direction. an isolated pole.
Figure 7: Illustration of the total field magnetic anomaly of various objects/shapes.
Figure 8: Illustration of the total field magnetic anomaly of an elongate body approximated by a dipole.
