Depth to magnetic basement in the Anambra Basin, Benue Trough of Nigeria from aeromagnetic data: A prelude for hydrocarbon exploration

Data transformation, regional-residual separation, trend analysis, and Analytic Signal (AS) depth estimation were applied to aeromagnetic data covering the Anambra Basin, which is a major depocentre in the Benue Trough, southeast Nigeria with the primary objectives of accentuating attributes of magnetic sources and determining if sufficient sediment thickness exists for hydrocarbon generation, maturation, and expulsion. The application of data transformation techniques (such as map projection, merging, and reduction-to-pole) and regional-residual ensured the computation of a crustal magnetic field that would be suitable for magnetic analyses. Results indicate that the magnetic basement in the basin forms an undulating surface overlain by sediments with average thickness ranging between 4 km and 7.5 km, while maximum thickness reaches 8 km in some areas. This depth range suggests promising prospect for source-facies maturation and expulsion. We expect that areas in the study area with these appreciable sediment thicknesses, good preservation of graben-fill, and suitable areal closures or fault structures would be favorable for hydrocarbon prospectivity.

Analysis of gravity and aeromagnetic data to determine structural trend and basement depth beneath the Ajdabiya Trough in northeastern Libya

In this study, we analyse both ground gravity and aeromagnetic data in order to delineate structural trends, fault systems and deduce sedimentary thicknesses within the Ajdabiya Trough in Libya’s northeast. A high-pass filter and a reduced-to-the-pole (RTP) transformation are applied to the gravity and aeromagnetic data respectively. Different filters are used to enhance the structural signatures and fault trends within the study area. The Werner deconvolution and source parameter imaging (SPI) techniques are applied to the RTP magnetic data for source depth estimation. Four well-data within the area are used as constraints in the two-dimensional forward modelling process. The results show that the Ajdabiya Trough is characterised by gravity anomaly highs and magnetic anomaly lows. The analysis of gravity data shows predominant Northeast–Southwest structural trends, whereas the analysis of magnetic data shows predominant North–South magnetic lineaments within the Ajdabiya Trough. The Euler deconvolution depth estimates of faults depths range between 1500 and 9500 m. The SPI estimates of the magnetic basement range between 2500 and 11,500 m beneath the study area (deepest beneath the Ajdabiya Trough). Constrained by the well-data, six major layers characterize the four profiles that are taken within the area. One of the profiles shows a high-density intrusion (about 4 km from the surface) within the sedimentary sequence. The intrusion may be the result of the rifting Sirt Basin which caused a weakening of the crust to allow for mantle intrusion.

POWER SPECTRAL ANALYSIS OF RESIDUAL AEROMAGNETIC MAP OF SOKOTO BASIN, NORTH WESTERN NIGERIA

Aeromagnetic data obtained from a recent aeromagnetic survey of Sokoto Basin, northwestern Nigeria has been studied using Power Spectral (PS) analysis. The Sokoto Basin is an arm of the Iullemmeden Basin is situated between latitudes 10°30’’ N to 14° 00" N and longitudes 3° 30” E to 7° 00" E in the Nigeria national grid. The PS analysis was carried out to determine the depth to magnetic sources in the Basin. By splitting the study area into 16 spectral model blocks, the spectral probe of 27.5 by 27.5 km2 for each block was carried out respectively. The results of the PS analysis revealed two prominent magnetic source depth layers. Depths determination of the magnetic sources showed that the first layer has average depth of 0.28 km which is interpreted as shallow magnetic zones attributed to the intrusions of magnetic rocks into the sedimentary formation. The second layer has average depth of 1.86 km and was interpreted as the deep magnetic source representing the depth to magnetic basement. Hence the results show that the maximum thickness of the sedimentary layers to be 1.86 km is the limit of the depressions on the basement surface of the basin. Hence it suggests that exploration of hydrocarbon which would require a minimum sedimentary thickness of about 2.3 km as obtainable in the coasts of West Africa region is also not feasible.

Estimation of The Structural Pattern and Sedimentary Thickness Over Part Of Anambra Basin, Nigeria Using Aeromagnetic Data

Aeromagnetic data acquired over part of the Anambra Basin is analyzed to determine the structural pattern and sedimentary thickness of the basin. The study area is covered by high resolution aeromagnetic data on sheets 301 (Udi), 302 (Nkalagu), 312 (Okigwe) and 313 (Afikpo), and lies between latitudes 5o30’0’‘-6o30’0’‘ and longitudes 7o0’0”-8o0’0”. The whole area was divided into 25 overlapping blocks of 37.2km2 each and a 2D energy spectral analysis was carried out. Total magnetic intensity data was subjected to filtering and analytical techniques to determine the structural pattern, mineralization potential, depth to the basement, variation in the sedimentary thickness. The structural map generated using the vertical derivatives shows that the major structural orientation of the area is in the ENE-WSW trend and the minor trend is the NW to SE direction widespread all over the area. These structures are as a result of the various near-surface magnetic intrusion within the study area. The spectral analysis result shows two depth layers, the deep and the shallow depth, the depth to magnetic basement for the deep anomalous source ranges from 3.3km to 4.8 4km with an average depth of 3.99km, while the depth to shallow magnetic sources ranges between 0.46km to 0.67km and an average of 0.56km within the area. The mineralization pattern in this area follows the ENE-WSW direction.

Magmatic arcs, ophiolite belts and sedimentary basins in Anatolia interpreted from magnetic data

<p>Maps of depth to magnetic basement and crustal average susceptibility for the Anatolian plateau and adjacent regions are calculated by applying a spectral method to the magnetic data. The first map provides information on the shape of the sedimentary basins and the latter map is used for tracking magmatic arcs and ophiolite belts, which are covered by sediment and/or overprinted by different phases of magmatism and ophiolite emplacement. This is possible because magmatic and ophiolite rocks generally have the highest magnetic susceptibility values, and the huge contrast to sedimentary rocks makes magnetic data very useful.</p><p>The results shows a heterogeneous pattern associated with a mosaic of the many continental blocks, Tethyside sutures, magmatism and former subduction systems in Anatolia. Major basins such as northern part of the Arabian plateau, Black Sea basin, Mediterranean Sea basin and central Anatolian micro-basins are highlighted by very deep magnetic basement. Shallow magnetic basement is generally prominent in eastern Anatolia, and may represent that large amounts of magmatic rocks were emplacement during the convergence and compression of the Arabian plate, whereas a sporadic and asymmetric pattern of sedimentary basins in western Anatolia may have developed in the frame of the extensional regime. The average susceptibility map reveals extension of the Pontide magmatic arc in the north of Anatolia, following the coastline of the Black Sea. The average susceptibility indicates magmatism or ophiolite emplacement around the Kirşehır block. A 400 km long NW–SE elongated average susceptibility anomaly extends from south to NW of the Kirşehır beneath the Quaternary sediments, while the depth to magnetic basement indicate more than 6 km sediments. We speculate that this anomaly indicates a covered magnetic arc or a trapped part of oceanic crust. The westeward extension of the Urima-Dokhtar magmatic arc (UDMA) from the Iranian plateau fades away towards to Central Anatolian plateau. It suggest a geological boundary around the border between Iran and Turkey, which caused different magmatism between the two sides. A near zero magnetic anomaly in the Menderes massif region in the southwest of Turkey indirectly suggests a high geothermal gradient and hydrothermal activity that reduce the susceptibility of the rocks. This observation is in agreement with the crustal thinning and many geothermal fields of the Menderes massif.</p>

Fast 3D magnetic inversion of a surface relief in the space domain

We have developed a fast 3D regularized magnetic inversion algorithm for depth-to-basement estimation based on an efficient way to compute the total-field anomaly produced by an arbitrary interface separating nonmagnetic sediments from a magnetic basement. We approximate the basement layer by a grid of 3D vertical prisms juxtaposed in the horizontal directions, in which the prisms’ tops represent the depths to the magnetic basement. To compute the total-field anomaly produced by the basement relief, the 3D integral of the total-field anomaly of a prism is simplified by a 1D integral along the prism thickness, which in turn is multiplied by the horizontal area of the prism. The 1D integral is calculated numerically using the Gauss-Legendre quadrature produced by dipoles located along the vertical axis passing through the prism center. This new magnetic forward modeling overcomes one of the main drawbacks of the nonlinear inverse problem for estimating the basement depths from magnetic data: the intense computational cost to calculate the total-field anomaly of prisms. The new sensitivity matrix is simpler and computationally faster than the one using classic magnetic forward modeling based on the 3D integrals of a set of prisms that parameterize the earth’s subsurface. To speed up the inversion at each iteration, we used the Gauss-Newton approximation for the Hessian matrix keeping the main diagonal only and adding the first-order Tikhonov regularization function. The large sparseness of the Hessian matrix allows us to construct and solve a linear system iteratively that is faster and demands less memory than the classic nonlinear inversion with prism-based modeling using 3D integrals. We successfully inverted the total-field anomaly of a simulated smoothing basement relief with a constant magnetization vector. Tests on field data from a portion of the Pará-Maranhão Basin, Brazil, retrieved a first depth-to-basement estimate that was geologically plausible.