This thesis presents two new algorithms for doing constrained Magnetotelluric (MT) inversion based on an existing Occam 2D inversion program. The first algorithm includes borehole resistivity logs as prior information to constrain resistivity directly in the vicinity of boreholes. The second algorithm uses reflection seismic data as prior constraints to transfer structural information from seismic images to 2D resistivity models. These two algorithms are efficient (proved through tests of synthetic examples) and widely applicable. In this thesis, they have been successfully applied to the COSC (Collisional Orogeny in the Scandinavian Caledonides) MT data. The COSC project aims to study the mountain belt dynamics in central Sweden by drilling two 2.5 km deep boreholes. MT data were collected to locate the main décollement that separates the overlying Caledonian allochthons and the underlying Precambrian basement, as the main décollement is associated with very conductive Alum shale. The previous interpretation based on part of the COSC seismic profile (CSP) was that the main décollement was located along a reflection with depth of 4.5 km underneath Åre and ~3 km underneath Mörsil, in central Jämtland. The MT resistivity model reveals a very conductive layer in the central and western parts of the profile, the top of which coincides with the first seismic reflection. This means that the first conductive alum shale layer occurs at less than 1 km depth, supporting a new interpretation of the main décollement at shallower depth. In a re-interpretation of the CSP data based on the MT model, the main décollement occurs a few hundred metres below the top of the conductor and is coincident with a laterally continuous seismic reflection. Further, the overlying seismic reflections resemble imbricated alum shale of the Lower Allochthon. MT inversion using seismic constraints from CSP gives further support to the new interpretation. Moreover, MT investigations were conducted in the Alnö alkaline and carbonatite ring-intrusion complex in Sweden. 2D and 3D resistivity models inverted from MT data together with resistivity and porosity laboratory measurements delineate a fossil magma chamber as a resistive anomaly surrounded by electrically conductive up-doming and ring-shaped faults and fractures.

Geologically-constrained inversion of geophysical data is a powerful method for predicting geology beneath cover. The process seeks 3D physical property models that are consistent with the geology and explain measured geophysical responses. The recovered models can guide mineral explorers to prospective host rocks, structures, alteration and mineralisation. This thesis provides a comprehensive analysis of how the University of British Columbia Geophysical Inversion Facility (UBC–GIF) gravity and magnetic inversions can be applied to subsurface mapping and exploration by demonstrating the necessary approach, data types, and typical results. The non-uniqueness of inversion demands that geological information be included. Commonly available geological data, including structural and physical property measurements, mapping, drilling, and 3D interpretations, can be translated into appropriate inversion constraints using tools developed herein. Surface information provides the greatest improvement in the reliability of recovered models; drilling information enhances resolution at depth. The process used to prepare inversions is as important as the geological constraints themselves. Use of a systematic workflow, as developed in this study, minimises any introduced ambiguity. Key steps include defining the problem, preparing the data, setting inversion parameters and developing geological constraints. Once reliable physical property models are recovered they must be interpreted in a geological context. Where alteration and mineralisation occupy significant volumes, the mineralogy associated with the physical properties can be identified; otherwise a lithological classification of the properties can be applied. This approach is used to develop predictive 3D lithological maps from geologically-constrained gravity and magnetic inversions at several scales in the Agnew-Wiluna greenstone belt in Australia’s Yilgarn Craton. These maps indicate a spatial correlation between thick mafic-ultramafic rock packages and gold deposit locations, suggesting a shared structural control. The maps also identify structural geometries and relationships consistent with the published regional tectonic framework. Geophysical inversion provides a framework into which geological and geophysical data sets can be integrated to produce a holistic prediction of the subsurface. The best possible result is one that cannot be dismissed as inconsistent with some piece of geological knowledge. Such a model can only be recovered by including all available geological knowledge using a consistent workflow process.

Geologically-constrained inversion of geophysical data is a powerful method for predicting geology beneath cover. The process seeks 3D physical property models that are consistent with the geology and explain measured geophysical responses. The recovered models can guide mineral explorers to prospective host rocks, structures, alteration and mineralisation. This thesis provides a comprehensive analysis of how the University of British Columbia Geophysical Inversion Facility (UBC–GIF) gravity and magnetic inversions can be applied to subsurface mapping and exploration by demonstrating the necessary approach, data types, and typical results. The non-uniqueness of inversion demands that geological information be included. Commonly available geological data, including structural and physical property measurements, mapping, drilling, and 3D interpretations, can be translated into appropriate inversion constraints using tools developed herein. Surface information provides the greatest improvement in the reliability of recovered models; drilling information enhances resolution at depth. The process used to prepare inversions is as important as the geological constraints themselves. Use of a systematic workflow, as developed in this study, minimises any introduced ambiguity. Key steps include defining the problem, preparing the data, setting inversion parameters and developing geological constraints. Once reliable physical property models are recovered they must be interpreted in a geological context. Where alteration and mineralisation occupy significant volumes, the mineralogy associated with the physical properties can be identified; otherwise a lithological classification of the properties can be applied. This approach is used to develop predictive 3D lithological maps from geologically-constrained gravity and magnetic inversions at several scales in the Agnew-Wiluna greenstone belt in Australia’s Yilgarn Craton. These maps indicate a spatial correlation between thick mafic-ultramafic rock packages and gold deposit locations, suggesting a shared structural control. The maps also identify structural geometries and relationships consistent with the published regional tectonic framework. Geophysical inversion provides a framework into which geological and geophysical data sets can be integrated to produce a holistic prediction of the subsurface. The best possible result is one that cannot be dismissed as inconsistent with some piece of geological knowledge. Such a model can only be recovered by including all available geological knowledge using a consistent workflow process.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-13T17:08:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MarinaBG_DISSERT.pdf: 4802721 bytes, checksum: 33f005bb55a08c628d93bc270cde7787 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-06-20 / The gravity inversion method is a mathematic process that can be used to estimate the basement relief of a sedimentary basin. However, the inverse problem in potential-field methods has neither a unique nor a stable solution, so additional information (other than gravity measurements) must be supplied by the interpreter to transform this problem into a well-posed one. This dissertation presents the application of a gravity inversion method to estimate the basement relief of the onshore Potiguar Basin. The density contrast between sediments and basament is assumed to be known and constant. The proposed methodology consists of discretizing the sedimentary layer into a grid of rectangular juxtaposed prisms whose thicknesses correspond to the depth to basement which is the parameter to be estimated. To stabilize the inversion I introduce constraints in accordance with the known geologic information. The method minimizes an objective function of the model that requires not only the model to be smooth and close to the seismic-derived model, which is used as a reference model, but also to honor well-log constraints. The latter are introduced through the use of logarithmic barrier terms in the objective function. The inversion process was applied in order to simulate different phases during the exploration development of a basin. The methodology consisted in applying the gravity inversion in distinct scenarios: the first one used only gravity data and a plain reference model; the second scenario was divided in two cases, we incorporated either borehole logs information or seismic model into the process. Finally I incorporated the basement depth generated by seismic interpretation into the inversion as a reference model and imposed depth constraint from boreholes using the primal logarithmic barrier method. As a result, the estimation of the basement relief in every scenario has satisfactorily reproduced the basin framework, and the incorporation of the constraints led to improve depth basement definition. The joint use of surface gravity data, seismic imaging and borehole logging information makes the process more robust and allows an improvement in the estimate, providing a result closer to the actual basement relief. In addition, I would like to remark that the result obtained in the first scenario already has provided a very coherent basement relief when compared to the known basin framework. This is significant information, when comparing the differences in the costs and environment impact related to gravimetric and seismic surveys and also the well drillings / Esta disserta??o apresenta resultados de invers?es gravim?tricas realizadas com dados p?blicos na Bacia Potiguar Emersa. A invers?o gravim?trica ? uma processo matem?tico que pode ser usado para estimar o relevo do embasamento de uma bacia sedimentar. Embora este seja um problema matematicamente mal-posto, devido ? n?o unicidade e/ou instabilidade das solu??es, ele pode ser estabilizado atrav?s do uso de funcional a ser minimizado de modo que, al?m do ajuste das observa??es geof?sicas, alguns v?nculos geologicamente significativos sejam incorporados. O processo de invers?o gravim?trica aqui utilizado admite que o contraste de densidade entre o embasamento e as rochas sedimentares ? constante e conhecido. A metodologia pressup?e ainda a discretizac?o do pacote sedimentar num conjunto de prismas (3D), cujas espessuras correspondem ?s profundidades do embasamento e s?o os par?metros a serem estimados. A estabiliza??o do problema ? feita com os v?nculos de (1) suavidade na varia??o espacial da profundidade, (2) de proximidade a um modelo de refer?ncia, bem como (3) de honrar desigualdades conhecidas sobre a profundidade em locais espec?ficos, a exemplo de po?os. Esses v?nculos de desigualdade foram incorporados na forma de barreiras logar?tmicas, as quais permitem agregar informa??es n?o s? de po?os que atingiram o embasamento como tamb?m de po?os conclu?dos na se??o sedimentar. Os cen?rios de aplica??o da metodologia de invers?o foram escolhidos de modo a simular diferentes fases ou etapas de explora??o de uma bacia ao longo do tempo. A invers?o no primeiro cen?rio foi realizada utilizando somente dados gravim?tricos e um plano como modelo de refer?ncia. A invers?o no segundo cen?rio foi subdividida em dois casos: agregando aos dados gravim?tricos os v?nculos oriundos de po?os ou de um modelo s?smico de refer?ncia. Por fim, na invers?o no ?ltimo cen?rio foram agregados dados de po?os e um modelo de refer?ncia s?smico. Para todos os cen?rios, as estimativas obtidas do relevo do embasamento revelaram nitidamente a forma interna do Rifte Potiguar, evidenciando a presen?a de fei??es estruturais alinhadas com dire??o principal NE-SW e segmentadas por componentes de dire??o NW em alguns locais. Em rela??o aos valores absolutos de profundidade, a inclus?o dos v?nculos dos po?os aprimorou os resultados. Por sua vez, a introdu??o do modelo s?smico de refer?ncia aumentou a resolu??o global dos resultados. A flexibilidade de incluir na invers?o uma variedade de informa??es de fontes distintas gerou resultados mais robustos e que atendem simultaneamente aos dados gravim?tricos, s?smicos e geol?gicos (po?os). A consist?ncia e confiabilidade dos resultados comprovaram a potencialidade da invers?o gravim?trica como ferramenta de delineamento da geometria do embasamento. ? relevante destacar que a invers?o realizada apenas com dados gravim?tricos, e numa malha com espa?amento regional, Cen?rio 1, j? forneceu uma estimativa de relevo do embasamento bastante coerente com o arcabou?o conhecido da bacia. Essa ? uma importante informa??o, se levarmos em conta diferen?as de custo financeiro e de impacto ambiental dos levantamentos gravim?tricos em rela??o ao m?todo s?smico, bem como ? perfura??o de po?os

Geologically-constrained inversion of geophysical data is a powerful method for predicting geology beneath cover. The process seeks 3D physical property models that are consistent with the geology and explain measured geophysical responses. The recovered models can guide mineral explorers to prospective host rocks, structures, alteration and mineralisation. This thesis provides a comprehensive analysis of how the University of British Columbia Geophysical Inversion Facility (UBC–GIF) gravity and magnetic inversions can be applied to subsurface mapping and exploration by demonstrating the necessary approach, data types, and typical results. The non-uniqueness of inversion demands that geological information be included. Commonly available geological data, including structural and physical property measurements, mapping, drilling, and 3D interpretations, can be translated into appropriate inversion constraints using tools developed herein. Surface information provides the greatest improvement in the reliability of recovered models; drilling information enhances resolution at depth. The process used to prepare inversions is as important as the geological constraints themselves. Use of a systematic workflow, as developed in this study, minimises any introduced ambiguity. Key steps include defining the problem, preparing the data, setting inversion parameters and developing geological constraints. Once reliable physical property models are recovered they must be interpreted in a geological context. Where alteration and mineralisation occupy significant volumes, the mineralogy associated with the physical properties can be identified; otherwise a lithological classification of the properties can be applied. This approach is used to develop predictive 3D lithological maps from geologically-constrained gravity and magnetic inversions at several scales in the Agnew-Wiluna greenstone belt in Australia’s Yilgarn Craton. These maps indicate a spatial correlation between thick mafic-ultramafic rock packages and gold deposit locations, suggesting a shared structural control. The maps also identify structural geometries and relationships consistent with the published regional tectonic framework. Geophysical inversion provides a framework into which geological and geophysical data sets can be integrated to produce a holistic prediction of the subsurface. The best possible result is one that cannot be dismissed as inconsistent with some piece of geological knowledge. Such a model can only be recovered by including all available geological knowledge using a consistent workflow process. / Science, Faculty of / Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of / Graduate