GEOPHYSICS, VOL. 53, NO.3 (MARCH 1988); P. 386-401, 18 FIGS.
Downloaded 11/19/20 to 177.23.36.63. Redistribution subject to SEG license or copyright; see Terms of Use at https://library.seg.org/page/policies/terms
Titanium geophysics: The application of induced polarization
to sea-floor mineral exploration
Jeffrey C. Wynn*
ABSTRACT
Titanium is abundant in the Earth's crust, but it can
be economically extracted from only a limited group of
minerals, principally rutile (Ti0 2 ) and ilmenite
(FeTi0 3 ), both found mainly in fossil beach-complex
placer deposits. Both minerals have only a weak mag-
netic susceptibility, insufficient to permit correlation be-
DOI:10.1190/1.1442472
tween magnetic surveys and known titanium-rich de-
posits. However, ilmenite shows an unusually strong
induced-polarization (IP) response, whereas the IP re-
sponse of rutile is relatively weak. IP spectral signatures
for ilmenite acquired in laboratory and field settings are
also distinctly different from those of other polarizing
materials, for instance pyrite.
A nonfloating, towed-streamer IP system was de-
signed and deployed in surveys off the coasts of Virginia
and Georgia. When the cable lies on the sea floor, calcu-
lations indicate that only about 8 percent of the injected
current actually finds its way into the underlying sedi-
ment. Partly because of this high transmitted-current to
injected-current ratio, a stationary-streamer IP noise en-
velope of about 2-4 milliradians (mrad) phase shift and
a towed-streamer noise envelope of 4-6 mrad were mea-
sured. Two surveys were undertaken, one of which cov-
ered about 30 traverse km of the Atlantic continental
shelf (ACS) and crossed two vibracore sites where geo-
logic control could be obtained. Many IP anomalies
were observed, with some ranging as high as 20 +
mrad; about one-third of the shallow bathymetric lows
(probable paleochannels) showed anomalous IP results.
Modeling suggests that these anomalies may have been
INTRODUCTION
Titanium has strategic significance worldwide because of its
importance in marine, aerospace, and chemical industries.
Until recently, geophysical methods have seldom been applied
to exploration for titanium. In its metallic form, it has better
corrosion resistance to seawater than does stainless steel.
Manuscript received by the Editor April 13, 1987; revised manuscript received August 17, 1987.
*U.S. Geological Survey, 927 National Center, Reston, VA 22092.
This paper was prepared by an agency of the U.S. government.
386
caused by significant heavy-mineral placer bodies con-
taining as much as 20 percent ilmenite. Identification of
an anomaly in towed-streamer (conventional IP) mode
data will probably be possible only if the deposit con-
tains more than 1 to 2 weight percentage of ilmenite.
Attempts to use the spectral IP method to identify
ilmenite directly with the marine IP streamer in a
stationary sampling mode gave equivocal results. Al-
though the spectral IP method appears to work well on
land, in the marine application the ilmenite was present
in only small quantities at the vibracore sites investi-
gated, and the resulting weak signal was partially
masked by the noise present in the IP measurement. To
make spectral measurements, the streamer must be posi-
tioned accurately over a polarizing source. This task is
difficult, because the deposits tend to be made up of
numerous discrete, kilometer-long bodies, perhaps no
more than 50 m wide and usually only 5 to 15 m thick.
Such deposits cannot be adequately tested by a vibra-
core survey designed to sample every 300 or 1000 m,
even if the survey is augmented with a high-resolution
seismic profile.
This work suggests that the large IP response of il-
menite may permit rough quantification of sea-floor
placer mineral sources from a ship borne platform while
the ship is in motion. Polarizing mineral species might
even be identified by using spectral IP measurements.
Applications of the technology to identifying other
marine mineral deposits, such as smokers at ocean-floor
spreading centers and cobalt-rich manganese crusts, are
logical extensions of this research.
Aerospace industries make extensive use of titanium because
of its light weight, high strength, and high melting point. The
chemical industry, where protection against corrosion is neces-
sary, uses titanium alloys nearly everywhere for tubing, valves,
pumps, and other plant components, as well as for pigments in
paints (Klemic et aI., 1973).
Although titanium is abundant in the Earth's crust, it can
 Titanium Geophysics-A Marine IP Study
be extracted economically from only a limited group of
titanium-bearing minerals, principally rutile (TiO z) and ilmen-
ite (FeTi0 3 ) . These minerals are most easily recovered from
fossil beach-complex placer deposits [Lynd et aI., 1954;
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Garnar, 1980; Force and Lynd, 1984]. Fossil placer deposits
containing economic amounts of titanium minerals are found
on the eastern and southeastern U.S. continental margins, and
in Australia, South Africa, and Sierra Leone, among other
places. In addition to titanium oxides, heavy placers usually
include thorium-bearing and rare-earth-bearing monazite,
platinoid metals, and zircon, as well as other potentially eco-
nomic constituents.
In the eastern United States, placer heavy minerals pri-
marily include ilmenite, rutile, and zircon (a refractory min-
erai). Along with other weather-resistant minerals having high
specific gravities, placer heavy minerals have concentrated
along fossil beaches, alluvial flood plains, and recent shore-
lines. Accessory minerals include rare-earth-bearing minerals
(among them monazite, a thorium-rich, rare-earth phosphate),
gold, alumino-silicates, zircon, and garnet. They are produced
as economic byproducts during concentration at mills.
Major U.S. onshore titanium deposits are located in coastal
plain sediments of New Jersey, the Carolinas, Georgia, and
Florida. Thick and widely distributed fluvial and marine sand
bodies on the U.S. Atlantic continental shelf (ACS) are poten-
tial sources for large additional quantities of valuable heavy
minerals. Some sediment-surface grab samples taken offshore
DOI:10.1190/1.1442472
during a 1985 reconnaissance survey have yielded as much as
3 percent ilmenite (Grosz et aI., 1986). Some vibracores ob-
tained in the Cape May, New Jersey, area have confirmed
ilmenite concentrations as high as 8 percent (A. E. Grosz,
Pers. comm., 1986).
Grosz and Escowitz (1983), Wickremeratne (1986), and
others have shown that there is a strong potential for very
large reserves of titanium-bearing placer minerals in the sedi-
ments of continental shelves. Descriptions of onshore deposits
suggested that these marine placers would be relatively acces-
sible, typically at or slightly below the sea floor. In general,
they would likely be associated with beach-complex (beach,
dune, inlet, washover-fan, and barrier-island) features. These
features commonly are readily identifiable with shipborne
bathymetry. Until recently, geophysical methods were seldom
applied to the exploration for titanium. Nevertheless, all of
these lines of evidence suggest that marine IP surveys could
contribute substantially to the possible identification and per-
haps even quantification of titanium resources offshore.
This paper summarizes previous work on geophysical pro-
specting for onshore and offshore heavy-mineral deposits and
describes the design and deployment of a nonfloating towed-
streamer IP system tested off the coasts of Virginia and Geor-
gia. This research has broad potential application to the ex-
ploration for other sea-floor minerals beyond the oceanic
shelves. It also provides a basis for direct sampling that could
greatly improve mineral resource-assessment programs of the
U.S. Geological Survey, as well as those of other government-
funded agencies worldwide.
PREVIOUS GEOPHYSICAL WORK ON TITANIUM
Nonelectrical work on titanium on land
HIstorically, the standard exploration approach for onshore
placer heavy-mineral deposits sought to identify geomorpho-
387
logical features thought to represent fossil beach complexes.
Once identified, these features were evaluated by drilling and
detailed mineralogic and geochemical studies. The only geo-
physical methods ever used to a significant degree were
ground total-count and spectral gamma-ray methods and lim-
ited IP studies. Seismic refraction methods could identify
buried stream channels, but I am unaware of any examples
from titanium exploration.
Thorium-rich monazite is commonly associated with rutile
and ilmenite; hence, radiometric methods can be used to iden-
tify these minerals. Force et al. (1982) and Grosz (1983) have
shown in the southeastern United States that both airborne
total-count and ground spectral gamma-ray radiation surveys
are useful adjuncts to exploration for placer deposits rich in
heavy minerals. Successful application of the radiometric
method depends, however, on the monazite content (and the
monazite's thorium content) of surficially exposed con-
centrations. The above experiments indicate that a sand cover
3 to 5 ern thick effectively masks the radiometric signature of
monazite-containing deposits and prevents their detection by
airborne surveys. Ground surveys can sometimes detect radio-
active species to depths of as much as tens of centimeters,
depending upon such local factors as moisture content of the
soil and atmospheric pressure. Airborne radiometric surveys
would not detect offshore deposits because of the masking
effects of the water.
Magnetic susceptibilities of ilmenite from northern Florida
were measured in the laboratory and found to be much less
than stoichiometric values {c.L, Carmichael, 1982); the suscep-
tibility of rutile was found to be almost nonexistent. The few
magnetic profiles I've collected over economic deposits
showed nothing correlatable with the mineralization. This
lack of correlation is due in part to the low susceptibilities and
in part to the very low percentages (2 to 3 percent) of ilmenite
in bodies being actively mined.
Induced polarization work on titanium on land
IP measurements by Robson and Sam path (1977) on mill
concentrate stockpiles in Australia gave strong responses for
the magnetic (ilmenite) fraction of the concentrates, but a very
weak response for other concentrates, presumably including
rutile and zircon. Robson and Sampath's electrical IP surveys
on economic ore deposits proved inconclusive, but they did
note that magnetic induced polarization (MIP) data correlated
well with heavy-mineral concentrations. They credited this
correlation to the higher resolution obtained with MIP on
very shallow (less than 5 m) and thin ilmenite-rich layers. They
also found that field magnetic surveys in the Jerusalem Creek
area of New South Wales gave no significant anomalous re-
sponses over heavy-mineral deposits.
Other IP work on related titanium minerals includes that of
Elliot and Guilbert (1975), who reported unusually strong IP
responses (over 100 mV' slV chargeability) in ilmenite-rich ig-
neous rocks in southern California. These values are signifi-
cantly higher than responses for rocks containing sulfides of
similar volume percentages. Using careful laboratory follow-
up, Elliot and Guilbert attributed this response to elongated
and extremely fine hematite plates in exsolution intergrowth
lamellae in ilmenite.
Lawton and Hochstein (1980), in laboratory and field stud-
ies in Australia, observed that both the density and the mag-
netic susceptibility of titano-magnetite (8 percent TiO z, 3 per-
 388
cent MgO, and 3 percent A12 0 3 ) sands increased monotoni-
cally with volume concentration. They concluded, however,
that "no significant induced-polarization (IP) response could
be observed even for mixtures of almost pure titanomagnetite"
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(their experiments were conducted using different concentra-
tions of titanomagnetite with feldspathic quartz sands).
Wynn and Grosz (1984) and Wynn et aI. (1985, 1987)
showed that in the southeastern United States, the dominant
titanium-bearing polarizing species is ilmenite and that rutile
is essentially nonpolarizing. They further showed that there is
an approximately linear correlation between the percentage of
ilmenite and the IP effect (Figure 1). Furthermore, ilmenite has
a distinctive IP spectral shape on an Argand diagram (a dia-
gram where the real component of IP data is plotted
frequency-by-frequency against the imaginary, or 90 degrees
out-of-phase component), a feature also observed in field
measurements (Figure 2). This spectral shape on the Argand
diagram is important and is discussed in more detail later (c.f.,
Wynn et aI., 1985, 1987).
PREVIOUS OFFSHORE ELECTRICAL MEASUREMENTS
The electrical resistivity method has been widely used to
map units beneath the sea floor. Schlumberger et aI. (1934),
who mapped bedrock beneath a harbor in Algiers, were prob-
100
DOI:10.1190/1.1442472
80
-
'"C
Q;$
~
- S
tt:
.~
..c:l
00I
CD
fI.l
Q;$ 40
~ the streamer was designed to be towed on the bottom and to
20
00 10 20
PERCENTILMENITE
FIG. 1. Relationship observed between ilmenite content and IP
phase angle, measured in laboratory and short-dipole (on-
shore) stockpile experiments. The two curved lines bracket the
expected repeatability of the phase angle versus ilmenite cali-
bration function. Adapted from Wynn et aI. (1985, 1987).
Wynn
ably the first to publish electrical resistivity results. Subse-
quent papers describing other efforts at marine resistivity
measurements include those by Volker and Dijkstra (1955),
Terekhin (1962), Marke (1965), Amimoto and Nelson (1970),
Bogoslovsky and Ogilvy (1974), Francis (1977), and Sebulke
(1978). Corwin (1983, 1985) and Corwin et aI. (1985) demon-
strated with modeling and coring that vertical sounding infor-
mation comparable in quality to that acquired on land can be
acquired in a marine environment, even while the survey
vessel is underway. Francis (1985) described resistivity
measurements made near the East Pacific Rise from the sub-
mersible Cyana. He reports that pillow lavas ranged from 40
times more resistive than seawater to two orders of magnitude
less resistive, the latter case being due to the presence of sul-
fide minerals beneath the pillows.
Recently, experiments have been conducted with electro-
magnetic (EM) systems in the offshore environment. Con-
stable et at. (1986) devised a towable system that injects as
much as 300 A into the seawater from a transmitter dipole
towed along the ocean floor. A receiver using Ag-AgCI elec-
trodes is towed independently behind the transmitter and
depths of penetration in excess of 200 m are apparently possi-
ble. Edwards et aI. (1985) demonstrated some preliminary re-
sults from a vertical-electrode dipolar EM system and the
theoretical responses for various EM coil configurations and
different subbottom resistivities. Edwards and Chave (1986)
described a transient dipole-dipole method for mapping sea-
floor conductivity. Cox et aI. (1986) also reported on the use of
EM systems to probe the ocean lithosphere.
Scott et aI. (1983) pioneered the use of a surface-towed IP
streamer in a marine environment. The initial IP results of this
system were reported as discouraging because of high noise
levels. Scott (Pers. comm., 1985) indicated that improvements
in the system's signal-to-noise ratios have permitted subse-
quent acquisition of useful IP data in a less conductive, lacus-
trine environment.
THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
MARINE IP AND SPECTRAL IP SYSTEM
System configuration
Figure 3 shows the configuration of the towed-streamer
marine IP system I developed and initially deployed off the
Virginia coast in 1985. Because of resolution considerations,
sample only as deep as a vibracore could verify. Figure 4 is a
schematic diagram of the onboard instrument layout. A trans-
mitted signal as strong as 5 A can be injected into the sea-
water using a Crown' amplifier controlled by a calibration
signal from a Zonge Engineering and Research I GDP-12
data-acquisition system. This signal reaches the seawater
through 14 gauge wires inside a 13-conductor Belden' tele-
vision cable. The electrodes are stainless steel wire wrapped
around the cable for about 20 ern at two locations 10 m apart.
Some corrosion was observed in these electrodes after several
hours of injecting a 4 A signal into the seawater. The use of
titanium electrodes should largely solve the corrosion prob-
lem; using the end product of a survey to find the target
would be an interesting irony.
'Use of manufacturers' names in this publication is for descriptive
purposes only and does not constitute endorsement by the U.S. Geo-
logical Survey.
 Titanium Geophysics-A Marine IP Study 389
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-.05

Frequencies
5
~
/ "" 1

40 2 4 0.125

o f-----------------------I

.0 2 +--.,...--,-------,..-,..------,..-,---,--.-----,--.----.-.-----,--,--.------i
,86 0.1111 0.9 0.92 0.94 0.96 0.98 1.0Z
NORMALIZED REAL COMPONENT
DOI:10.1190/1.1442472

FIG. 2. An Argand or Cole-Cole diagram showing an IP spectral signature acquired over an economic ilmenite-bearing
deposit in northern Florida. The dipole spacing is 5 m, and the frequencies increase toward the left, ranging from 0.125
to 88 Hz. Compare with Figures 16, 17, and 18.

Transmitter Electrodes
y STAIN L~~~ ESTEEL

j,. /' Receiver Electrodes

10 Ag-AgCI
~~ ELECTROOES
7
0 111 ! \
~s I11~J /Drogue Rope
'T S /1)..../
COMMON - MOOE REJECTION
DIFFERENTIAL PRE- AMP

The Towed J.P. Streamer

FIG. 3. Deployment configuration of the IP streamer system dragged on the bottom. Note that the streamer is designed
to be towed at the sediment-water interface and not to float.
 390 Wynn
Three geophysical electro-kinetograph (GEK) Ag-AgCI
nonpolarizing marine electrodes (Filloux, 1967) are used to
receive the signal. Stringent noise-reduction techniques must
be used to minimize cable cross-talk, including dual grounded-
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coaxial cables in the streamer and common-mode rejection
amplifiers in both preamplifier and main amplifier stages.
Signal stacking and averaging were used in the initial deploy-
ment off the Virginia coast, but they were not used off the
Georgia coast because they were found to degrade the signal
during a moving-streamer measurement (Wynn and Grosz,
1986). The electrode configuration used was a lO-m dipole-
dipole array (three receiver electrodes and two transmitter
electrodes). Modeling suggested that this spacing would
sample the sediments only as deep as a shipboard vibracore
could verify, permitting a good match in exploration depths
and good horizontal resolution.
The cable itself was weighted lO m in front of the foremost
transmitter electrode with a lO kg torpedo weight, and a
drogue rope was added to the end to stabilize movement as
the configuration is towed. Receiver electrodes and the cable
FLUKE 8020A
DOI:10.1190/1.1442472
DIGITAL VOLTMETER
IN
VOLTAGE
DIVIDER ..
CROWN ::t == = = =1I:AND lOX
PRE AMP
AMPLIFER
OUT
0/1.1/1.- LINK
3,5.0.
SHUNT
CURRENT MONITOR
CH I
SHIP
GROUND
-2-5 AMPS_
SCHEMATIC OF THE DATA-ACQUISITION SYSTEM
FIG. 4. Data-acquisition instrument configuration used on board the ship of Figure 3. Not shown is an additional stage
of common-mode-rejection preamplification that takes place at the electrode end of the streamer.
take-out modules were wrapped with 1 em thick plastic mat-
ting and fiber tape to protect all components from abrasion.
Slits cut in the sides of the electrode matting assured electrical
contact between seawater and the GEK electrodes.
Modes of operation
The system was designed to operate in three different
modes. The first application measures the ilmenite content of a
vibracore directly by using electrodes punched through the
plastic casing. After about 20 minutes of current injection with
a microampere-level laboratory IP sampling system, I used
the linear relationship in Figure 1 to estimate the core's ilmen-
ite content. Normal mineral evaluation of a vibracore requires
splitting, photographing, and sieving, followed by use of a
Humphries spiral (an inertial water-based slurry, gravity-
separation device) and finally bromoform. This process takes
about 9 hours and is both time-consuming and dangerous,
emphasizing one obvious advantage of the IP method.
The second application measured IP spectra with a station-
TEKTRONIX 212A
DUAL-TRACE
OSCILLOSCOPE
'1::=:;:::+:::
GDP-12
DATA - ACQUISITION
SYSTEM
ANALOGS
ODD
CCJ
GROUND
CCJ
CJCJ
o o
CO-AX TO RECEIVER ELECTRODES
 Titanium Geophysics-A Marine IP Study
ary array draped on the sea floor. The first attempt at spectral
IP measurements in 1985 was unsuccessful because oper-
ational limitations did not permit deployment of the station-
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ary cable away from the 50 m, metal-hulled research vessel.
Because the water depth was only 8 m, the signal was satu-
rated by the overwhelming presence of the ship (Wynn and
Grosz, 1986). An attempt to measure IP spectra in 1986 was
somewhat more successful (described below).
The third application measured phase angle and resistivity
continuously while the ship was underway. Calculations by
the microprocessor-controlled data-acquisition system put
some restrictions on the sampling rate. As a result, this mode
can sample the sea floor once every 4.3 to 14.1 m (for 2 to 6.5
knots, respectively) for a transmitted waveform of 1 to 4 Hz.
The 1985 preliminary deployment of the cable showed several
weak, narrow anomalies using a double-stacked, 1 Hz wave-
form over an 8 krn profile; but the noise level made identifi-
cation of ilmenite doubtful (Figure 5).
Filloux (1967) pointed out that electrode noise grows dra-
matically at low frequencies (roughly as l/.f below I Hz).
Consequently, during the 1986 experiments I used a 4 Hz
signal to reduce the electrode noise and a single stack to avoid
smearing the signal. Due to the calculation time required by
the acquisition microprocessor, the sea floor was effectively
sampled once about every 3.5 s, about every 6.5 m at 3 knots.
A stationary, on-the-bottom streamer, continuous-mode IP
DOI:10.1190/1.1442472
test suggested that the system had a noise envelope of about
2-4 mrad (Figure 6). This noise level became 4-6 mrad when
the streamer was towed (Figure 7). An onboard satellite and
LORAN system provided continuous navigation information
accurate to about 100 m during the towed-streamer operation.
START
220 Leg 1 End
200
;g
§ tivity data (plotted here multiplied times 10 in order to use the
'c3" 180
z
-e
75.77
'"
en
-c
75.76
;I:
0-
0 0.5 1.0
KILOMETERS
220
END
leg 5 Start
200
180 75.83 75.82
LONGITUDE IN DECIMAL DEGREES
FIG. 5. IP data from a streamer towed continuously during the
1985 USGS cruise off the Virginia coast. Note that in these
data the constant phase shift caused by the streamer's 150 m
length has not been removed. The noise in the data can be
largely attributed to the low (1 Hz) measurement frequency
and the fact that only 1.5 A of signal were used. The weak
anomaly was degraded or smeared out by stacking two wave-
forms at each measurement while the ship was underway at
6.5 knots.
391
Towed-streamer experiments
Data collection.-Figure 8 shows the path of the 1986 ex-
perimental sea trials off the coast of Georgia, ACS. The ship
used was the wooden-hulled R/V Kit Jones, operated by the
Mississippi Minerals Resources Institute (M.M.R.I.). The exact
latitude and longitude information is withheld as confidential
data, because the experiment was conducted in cooperation
with, and with the assistance of, a mining company actively
conducting vibracore sampling in the area. I was able to con-
duct two IP spectral measurements (stationary streamer) at
vibracore sites called F-15 and G-16; the squares in Figure 8
represent locations where exact latitude and longitude infor-
mation was acquired. The "16 Mrad " and "IP #2" arrows
represent segments of the profile shown and discussed below.
The bathymetric map for this area shows that paleobeach
features tend to strike about N30oE.
Figure 9 shows a typical example of towed-streamer data
obtained when the cable was on, or very close to, the sea floor.
The towing speed was about 5.6 km/hr (3 knots). The line
drawn through the data points is a LOWESS (robust, least-
squares-weighted, 15 s window) filter described by Cleveland
(1985). About halfway through the 7.5 km profile shown here,
two negative (reduced phase lag) excursions are apparent in
the data. Shortening the electrode separation would normally
be expected to decrease the measured phase lag and these
negative-going changes are in the right direction. Through
experimentation, I have been able to show that negative ex-
cursions of about 12 mrad like this one can be induced by
making abrupt changes in the ship's direction; as expected, I
have been unable to induce a positive excursion by changing
the tow direction.
Because the profiling began after the occupation of site F-15
(Figure 8), I was able to acquire towed-streamer data only
from its immediate vicinity and over site G-16. Figure 10
shows the profile data over site G-16. If 12 to 14 mrad is
considered the background value (including a constant re-
sidual from the cable), the amplitude of the anomaly over the
vibracore site is almost down to the noise threshold. The resis-
same scale as the IP data) are shown on the lower part of this
and subsequent figures. As one can see in this and following
figures, the resistivity profiles were consistently featureless. Al-
though the IP data can be correlated very closely with the
bathymetry acquired simultaneously, repositioning the
streamer at the exact latitude and longitude of the vibracore
site is difficult. I estimate that the reoccupation of the G-16
site could be off by as much as 200 m in any direction due to
the inherent limits in precision of the navigation system and
the additional uncertainty about the location of the streamer-
mounted electrodes due to currents.
Vibracore site G-16 was initially chosen as a likely test
location because visual examination of the vibracore showed
15 percent opaque minerals. The IP data showed only a small
amount of ilmenite and were, therefore, very discouraging.
Subsequent chemical analysis of the vibracore showed that
most of the opaque minerals were phosphorites, however, and
only about 1 percent of the top 6 m of sea floor was composed
of ilmenite. Therefore, the IP results are reasonable.
A number of substantially stronger IP anomalies had been
encountered earlier on the same profile. One of these is shown
in Figure 11. The large anomaly on the right side of the figure
 392 Wynn

20 -- ------~_----- ---- - - - 0_. ._ _. _ - _ . _ - -

18
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16
14

--
"0
t';$
~
12
10
S
'-"
8

~
..... 6
RESISTIVITY X 10 (O·m) 0
fJ3
I
Q)
4
'::-~"-';)--E>--+~--{>-~~+-i'-+~+-~~ ~ ~ '" 0& '" o$~
UJ. 2 o 0 0 0
~Q-fLs-
PHASEo
t';$ Et-Q--D-----8- - · 0 0 0
..cl
c, 0 . .IDI:;o;:=::=::::fD~o:::o:::::El--a---D

-2 o
-4
-6
-8
-10

o 50 100
DOI:10.1190/1.1442472

SECONDS
FIG. 6. Single-stack stationary-streamer noise check for a 4 A, 4 Hz transmitted waveform. The streamer was deployed
130 m out from a wooden dock in the salt-water (tidal) zone of the Wilmington River, Georgia, site of the Skidaway
Oceanographic Institute.

30
28
26
24

--
"0 20
OJ
~
22
o

E- 16
18

ct:
.....
..cl 14
00.I
Q) 12
UJ.
OJ
..cl 10
P-l
8
6 RESISTIVITY X 10 (O·m)
4
2
0
0 100 200 300 400

SECONDS
FIG. 7. Single-stack towed-streamer noise check for a 4 A, 4 Hz transmitted waveform. The streamer was deployed 130
m behind a wooden-hulled ship on the Georgia Atlantic continental shelf (ACS).
 Titanium Geophysics-A Marine IP Study 393

correlated exactly with a shallow trough-like feature in the

GEORGIA ACS bathymetry (shown). This anomaly is about 16 mrad in ampli-
r tude and only about 40---50 m wide. If site G-16 can be as-
sumed to represent a 1 percent ilmenite anomaly, then a mini-
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~G-16 mum of 3 to 4 percent ilmenite might be expected at the site of

/' N
the 16 mrad anomaly. No pyrite has been observed in vibra-
p
I
A
cores in this area, and the local ratio of total heavy minerals
to ilmenite in grabsamples and vibracores suggests a total
~ heavy-mineral content of at least 10 percent. Modeling (see
...,
;::l LEG 2

:g F-15 G-15
below) suggests that the ilmenite content could be substan-
~ tially greater.
"...... <-- 16 mrad An additional profile was collected (leg 4) in an attempt to
0
0 IP ..2--> correlate any additional targets with anomalies found on leg 2.
LEG 1 Figure 12 shows a segment of leg 4 taken from approximately

-. /J
>---
G-14
0.010 Longitude
FIG. 8. The path of (he R/V Kit Jones during the USGS
experiments on the Georgia ACS, June 1986. Exact location
information remains proprietary. Leg 1 began after vibracore
site F-15, and legs 2 and 4 are approximately parallel, 0.5 to 1
kilometer apart, in a north-south direction. Paleobeach fea-
tures on the sea floor strike approximately N30oE. Arrows
DOI:10.1190/1.1442472
S60cW of the 16 mrad anomaly found on leg 2; this location is
5 km ----< approximately along the strike of paleobeach features from
the site of the 16 mrad anomaly. An anomalous response of
about 13-14 mrad was in fact encountered (labeled IP #2),
but its source is only about 15 m wide, and there was no
trough observable in the bathymetry beneath it (the sea floor
was flat). It is nevertheless encouraging to see that an anomaly
can be correlated along strike.
Data modeling.-In order to try to understand the anoma-
lies encountered, I obtained a finite-element computer pro-
gram from Stephen Mudge (Pers. comm., 1985) of Goldfields

indicate data segments shown in Figures 11 and 12. Exploration, Australia. The program, originally derived from

30
28
26

24
22
tool km « o
~20
j 18
o
o IPPHASE
o
16
~
....... 14
f13
~ 12
~ 10
~ 8
o
~g 0
6
o
4
o
2 RESISTIVITY X 10 (O.m) o
o
DECIMAL LATITUDE
FIG. 9. Typical towed-streamer IP data acquired on the Georgia ACS. The squares represent data points, and the curve
through them is a LOWESS filter with a 15 s (approximately 30 m) weighted window; 230 mrad of the constant IP
shift caused by the 150 m cable length has been removed. The negative excursions in the middle are caused by
adjustments to the ship's heading.
 394 Wynn

30
28
G-16 Vibracore Site
15% Opaques
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26
24
2% Heavies
1% Ilmenite
-
"'g
22
20 10
- S 18
r.....t: 16
8 0

ffi I
Q)
14

f1.l 12
cd
~ 10 0

8
!2J 0
...200 meters-«
6
4
2 RESISTIVITY x 10 (O.m)
0
DECIMAL LATITUDE
DOI:10.1190/1.1442472

FIG. 10. Part of the IP profile over vibracore site G-16, leg 2. The top 6 m of sediment in core G-16 contained 15
percent opaque minerals, 2 percent heavy minerals, and 1 percent ilmenite.

30
28 o ~1O% Heavies?
26 1-100 meters- 3-4% Ilmenite?
o (minimum)
24
o
-22
-e
~ 20
S 18
ct: 16
.....
...c:::
rFt14
Q)
~ 12
...c:::
~ 10

8
l~fr.;,," . Ii j':" . . ,./':;', , ' ,. ;,'1' ';":,',1 !,.'"
6 .,',
~>:;t',TIit__ • .. ,...~,· .~"-1'-~
.I ", '->-'--'..:'o~.-
, "'1' 5' meters -,--".-. -¥
'--,;o,;,_~.;,.,.i;,;l;i
_ -...

4 -4Jl:,t:.OOOI'>f.'6/v,tJ:.!JI::l~:,tJ,t:>l:I:N"b./:;6tY'MI\N::.I\N::.AM!l66!1M!lN::.!lMI\M6.t:AI\~

2 RESISTIVITY X 10 (0· m)
o
DECIMAL LATITUDE
FIG. 11. A 16 mrad anomaly (labeled 16 mrad in Figure 8) encountered on leg 2. This anomaly is coincident with a
shallow trough-like feature in the bathymetry (shown).
 Titanium Geophysics-A Marine IP Study 395

30
28
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26
24

-1 22

20
IP PHASE
e 18

..
0000
.:t 16 o
o o
..:::
rI'1 14
0
o
I
~ o o
<Il 12 o o
tIS
..::: 10 t-- 60 meters --I
o
~
8
6
4 0<> 0 <>0 <> o 0 ¢o <> o <><> o o c o o <><>000<> o<>¢ 000 0

2 RESISTIVITY x 10 (n. m)
0
DECIMAL LATITUDE
FIG. 12. An anomaly of 13-14 mrad (labeled IP#2 in Figure 8) encountered on leg 4, S600W down the strike direction
DOI:10.1190/1.1442472

of the texture of the local bathymetry from the 16 mrad anomaly shown in Figure 11. Note that the filter (continuous
solid curve) is designed to exclude wavelengths smaller than 50 m.

Luis Rijo (1977), was subsequently modified by L. Bennett and GEORGIA ACS TOWED-STREAMER IP MODELS
Art Raiche, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research
Organization (C.SJ.R.O) Australia, later by Stephen Mudge,
AIR
and finally by me to adapt it to a marine application. /,,99999 a-m
Figure 13 represents a series of models over several different
WATER
polarizing bodies. In each model, the polarizing body crops ,,0' 0.35 a-m
15 m
out at the sediment surface. The body is assumed to range
from 5 to 20 m in thickness, as do onshore economic deposits t 5 m! Polarizer SEDIMENT
,,0,2.0 u-rn
in northern Florida. Resistivities for water, sediments, and un- 15 m :
--*--- L' --'

derlying carbonate basement were taken from Corwin (1983,

1985). Depths were taken from bathymetry acquired along
I-- 40 m ----.j
with the IP data (see Figure 11). 20
For most of the models, the inherent polarizability (IHP) of
the body was set at 100 mrad, the largest value that Wynn et
al. (1985, 1987) considered to be in the linear range of ilmenite
10 ~ ""
content versus polarizability. This value is equivalent to about
18 to 20 percent ilmenite on land in northern Florida and II
would give an apparent polarizability (to surface IP measure- Curve Polarizer IHP Thickness Electrode Flying Height
160 mrad 20 meters at sea floor
ments) of 60 mrad or greater for a surficial, IS m thick body.
The highest modeled apparent polarizability obtained for the
marine environment was 10.6 mrad for an IHP of 100 mrad.
-.- 100 mrad 15 & 20 meters at sea floor

-6- 400 mrad 5 meters at sea floor

Increasing the IHP to 160 mrad increased the apparent polari-
-0- 100 mrad 5 meters at sea floor
zability to only about 13 mrad.
Increasing the thickness of the body from 5 to 15 m in- -c- lOD mrad 5 meters 5 meters above

creased the apparent polarizability from 7.5 to about 10 mrad,

FIG. 13. Finite-element models of the towed-streamer apparent
and increasing the thickness from 15 to 20 m had no further IP effect for a polarizing placer body of varying thickness and
effect. This modeling suggests that the streamer having 10 m two different electrode flying heights above the seawater-
dipole spacing samples no deeper than about 7 to 10 m. The sediment interface.
 396
streamer was deliberately designed this way because a vibra-
core can sample only the top 6 m of sediment.
Clearly, to obtain the 16 mrad anomaly observed in Figure
II would require substantially greater than 4 percent ilmenite,
Downloaded 11/19/20 to 177.23.36.63. Redistribution subject to SEG license or copyright; see Terms of Use at https://library.seg.org/page/policies/terms
the value suggested above on the basis of a single vibracore.
Alternatively, and not unreasonably, a relationship between
polarizability and percent ilmenite different from that shown
in Figure I (obtained for Pleistocene to Holocene placer sam-
ples in northern Florida) might hold. Determining what ilmen-
ite contents are indicated by anomalies of different sizes re-
quires gathering more vibracore and towed-streamer IP data,
an option currently beyond reach for at least another year.
Interestingly, the modeling indicates that burying the elec-
trodes beneath the polarizing body in the higher resistivity
sediment (having resistivity of 2 n· m) would increase the ap-
parent polarizability enormously (48 mrad for an IHP of 100
mrad and a thickness of 5 m). This increase results from 50
percent of the current being injected into the polarizing body.
Calculations indicate that with the electrodes on the seawater-
sediment interface, only about 8 percent of the current actu-
ally gets into the sediment; the rest is short-circuited through
the seawater. Flying the electrodes 5 m above the seawater-
sediment interface reduces the apparent polarizability by
about 40 percent over that obtained with the streamer on the
seawater-sediment boundary. The measured IP effect falls off
drastically for a streamer more than 5 m (a half-dipole) above
DOI:10.1190/1.1442472
the polarizing body. For this reason, and because typical de-
posits are narrow, a floating streamer having a larger dipole
spacing would not be effective.
The above discussion highlights the importance of the
streamer location with respect to the seawater-sediment inter-
face. One would intuitively expect that a 6.5 knot towing
speed would pull the streamer up close to the water-air inter-
face, in spite of the depressing effect of the 10 kg torpedo
weight. This higher towing speed might have caused the larger
noise and weaker anomalies observed in the data in Figure 5.
The lower noise levels and higher anomaly strengths of Figure
11 can probably be attributed to the lower towing speed
(about 3 to 3.5 knots) and single-waveform stack approach
used off the Georgia coast.
Several incidental facts suggest that the streamer was in
contact with the sea-floor bottom during the Georgia ACS
survey. There was extensive abrasion of the fiber-tape wrap-
ping on the streamer, especially around the take-out modules
and the GEK electrodes, and shell hash was captured in the
slits of all the plastic matting. Additionally, the cable was not
seen breaking the water surface while under tow. These facts
each suggest that the cable was at least intermittently in con-
tact with the sea floor. To answer the cable-location question
definitively, it will be necessary to position divers along the
towpath or to affix a television monitor to a cable-depressor
fish. An interesting alternative suggested by a reviewer would
be to position several pressure transducers along the streamer
and monitor the depth continuously in real-time by using
some of the unused wires remaining in the cable.
Stationary-streamer spectral IP experiments
Figure 2 is an example Argand diagram for data acquired
on land over an ilmenite deposit. Entire pseudosections show-
ing these characteristic spectra have been observed over il-
menite mineralization in field experiments (Wynn et al., 1985,
Wynn
1987). Figure 14 is a schematic diagram of the equipment used
to acquire IP spectra in the laboratory. Figure 15 is a mon-
tage of three IP spectra obtained from placer concentrates in
the laboratory (from Wynn et al., 1985, 1987). Figure 15 dem-
onstrates one of the strongest IP responses I've ever en-
countered; the resistivity changes by more than a factor of two
over the frequency range 0.125 to 88 Hz. Note that the rutile
concentrate and tailings sample have spectral shapes very
similar to that of the ilmenite on the Argand diagram. This
similarity is probably due to the residual ilmenite left in the
"rutile" concentrate and tailings.
Spectra obtained with placer samples both in the laboratory
and in the field are very similar, persistently showing a peak
imaginary component in the vicinity of 4--10 Hz in the pres-
ence of ilmenite. This persistent IP spectral behavior is appar-
ently diagnostic, since it hasn't been observed in pyrite-
enriched samples or in field conditions where pyrite is known
to exist.
For readers familiar with spectral inversion, a single-
dispersion Cole-Cole model was fit in a least-squares sense to
the IP spectral curve of Figure 2; the resulting parameters and
fit are shown in Figure 16 (Walt Anderson, Pers. comm.,
1985). A discussion of this fitting procedure, and an expla-
nation of the Cole-Cole model, may be found in Anderson and
Smith (1986). Because of the success in identifying an appar-
ently diagnostic IP spectral curve in laboratory and onshore
field experiments, I hoped to find an analog at sea by using
spectral IP measurements with the seaborne stationary cable.
Figures 17 and 18 show IP spectra obtained over vibracore
sites G-16 and F-15, respectively. To acquire these spectra, the
ship was positioned at the approximate locations of the pre-
viously acquired vibracores. The bow anchor was dropped
and let out 200 m; the cable was then lowered off the stern,
and the anchor was drawn in 200 m again. This pulled the
ship forward into the current a sufficient distance to enable
the cable to be stretched out full length and straightened. A
harmonic analysis data-acquisition program was carried out
using 0.125, 1, and 8 Hz fundamental frequency square waves
(Wynn et aI., 1985, 1987) and a 4 A transmitted signal. Posi-
tional accuracy for reoccupying the original vibracore sites is
estimated to be no better than 100 to 200 m due to limitations
in the navigational system and to the currents.
Both of the spectra of Figures 17 and 18 show very weak
polarization effects, barely above the noise threshold (noise on
this normalized Argand diagram is about 0.01 to 0.02 in both
real and imaginary directions). It is interesting that the spec-
tral shape from location F-15, initially presumed to be the
more barren of the two vibracore sites, shows a slightly larger
horizontal excursion, which on land correlates with greater
ilmenite content. The F-15 spectral shape is also more sug-
gestive of spectra observed on land and in the laboratory
(Figure 2) for ilmenite, although it is very weak and noisy. The
towed streamer data acquisition began immediately adjacent
to and south of the F-15 site and not exactly over it. Many
short-wavelength, moderate-amplitude anomalies in the im-
mediate vicinity of F-15 suggested numerous small accumula-
tions of polarizing materials in that area. The weak imaginary
component at the lower frequencies in Figure 18 suggests that
the weakly polarizing source at F-15 is not pyrite (Ostrander
and Zonge, 1978).
It is probable that dilution effects, such as those described
by Wynn et al. (1985, 1987), have caused these spectra to be as
 Titanium Geophysics--A Marine IP Study 397

weak as they are, especially since only 8 percent of the trans-
mitted current actually penetrates the sediments, and most of
this would be expected to focus in the top 2 or 3 m. Further
research on marine spectral IP will require extended stacking
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of iron sulfides. Rutile, the iron-free oxide of titanium, has a
much weaker IP response that may be caused by small
amounts of residual ilmenite remaining after the separation
process at a mill. There is some evidence that the weak IP

and averaging, as well as a significant towed-streamer IP
anomaly that we can test. Reoccupying previous vibracore
sites when the evidence suggests typical targets less than 100
m in cross-strike dimensions is not likely to be productive
unless better navigation equipment is used.
CONCLUSIONS
The IP response of ilmenite is quite strong, apparently
greater than the response observed for similar concentrations
response of rutile may be caused by small mechanically insep-
arable inclusions of ilmenite that the processing mills cannot
remove. Ilmenite dominates the titanium placer-mineral as-
semblage in the southeastern United States, whereas rutile
predominates in most of the beach-complex deposits of west-
ern Australia. Nevertheless, evidence so far suggests that IP
measurements do have some utility even in mapping the Aus-
tralian rutile-dominated mineral assemblages.
Ilmenite has a distinctive IP spectral signature, charac-
terized by a curved shape and a maximum imaginary compo-

DUAL-TRACE
OS CILLO SCOP E

(CONTROLLING LINK)

DECADE
RESISTANCE
BOX o
POWER
--+-
--+- GD P-12
DOI:10.1190/1.1442472

-+-- DATA- ACQUISITION

--+- SYSTEM

REFER-
CONSTANT ENCE
CURRENT GROUND
SOURCE

OUTPUT
DOD
o CJ
o CJ
~D

CH I o 0 o

CH 2 -CHI-- CH 2

BRONZE ELECTRODES

ACRYLIC CONTAINER

(NOT TO SCALE)

LABORATORY PLACER MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

FIG. 14. A schematic diagram (not to scale) of the laboratory setup used to measure the IP spectral signatures of placer
samples. This is discussed in some detail in Wynn et al. (1985, 1987).
 398 Wynn

0,2
0,1 HZ PHASE =98,0 MRAD
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0,1-1.0 HZ PFE= 16,6 %

GREEN COVE SPRINGS ILMENITE CONCENTRATE

8Hz

~ 0,1

=
88 Hz

...z-<
I.,:i
TRAIL RIDGE RUTILE CONCENTRATE
8 Hz

-<
... 88 Hz a,125HZ
::P1 TAILINGS a,125Hz
0,0
0,5 0,6 0,7 0,8 0.9 1,0
REAL

-0,1

FIG. 15. Argand or
centrates, as well as
ilmenite showing by
responses are due to
DOI:10.1190/1.1442472
Cole-Cole diagram of typical spectra obtained in the laboratory with ilmenite and rutile con-
tailings (from Wynn et aI., 1985, 1987). Note the similar characters of the different spectra, with
far the strongest IP effect. It is probable that some, if not all, of the rutile and tailings IP spectral
residual ilmenite remaining in the rutile concentrate and tailings.

SINGLE-DISPERSION Cole-Cole MODEL

Least-Squares Fit
RO = 1.05
m = .18

-=
-e
Tau
c =
.094
.36

S
...
.:::
...c: 10
2
00.
I
Q,)
(fJ

...c:=
~

l L -_ _.1.--_L--l.--l.-..L..Ju-',LL_ _-L_-L--l---J-..l.....LL..LL-_ _.J-_.L-....L....L..L..JL..L.LJ

10 -1
10 10
o 10 10
2

FREQUENCIES (Hz)
FIG. 16. I P Phase data taken from Figure 2, showing the least-squares fit to a single-dispersion Cole-Cole model of the
IP effect. Note that this is a phase angle-versus-frequency curve, not an Argand diagram. The parameters of the best-fit
Cole-Cole model are shown at the top of the figure; note that the time constant (r) suggests a peak frequency (for
phase) of about 10 Hz. The data were obtained using a 5 m dipole-dipole over unconsolidated sediments that averaged
over 1500 BQ· m, so there is no measureable electromagnetic coupling in the data; the notch at 56 Hz is due to 60 Hz
noise.
 Titanium Geophysics-A Marine IP Study 399

0.1
0.09 -
0.08 -
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0.07 -
0.06 -
0.05
~
Z 0.04 - Frequencies
~ ~B8
s 0.03
0.02
-
-
/

i)
~
0.01 -
0
C,,) -0.01 -
0- 0 .0 2 -
~ -0.03 -
~
-0.04 -
-0.05 -

-0.06 -

-0.07 -

-0.08 -
-0.09 -
-0.1 I

0.8 0.9 1.1 1.2

REAL COMPONENT
DOI:10.1190/1.1442472

FIG. 17. Argand or Cole-Cole diagram of the stationary-streamer IP spectral shape acquired with the marine IP
streamer over the G-16 vibracore site, Georgia ACS. This spectral signature is dominated by the moderate noise
normally seen in marine IP data because there is very little, if any, IP effect.

0.1

O.OB -
0.06

~
0.04 Frequencies
0.02 2~ \
-I- ~_2-5-------j
/
)j 0

0 -0.02 -
0
0 -0.04 -

g -0.06

-O.oB
-

-0.1 -
-0.12

-0.14 -
-0.16 -
-0.18 -
-0.2 -+------r----,-----r-----r---,----,----
I I I

0.75 0.85 0.95

REAL COMPONENT
FIG. 18. Argand or Cole-Cole diagram of the stationary-streamer IP spectral shape acquired over the F-15 vibracore
site, Georgia ACS. This spectral signature has a noise level similar to that of Figure 17, but shows a stronger signal
component. Compare with Figure 2, the spectral signature of ilmenite acquired on land.
 400
nent between 5 and to Hz on an Argand or Cole-Cole dia-
gram. Because the working medium is seawater, operating at
sea brings with it the disadvantages of strong electrode cor-
rosion and electrical current channeling along the cable. These
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disadvantages are offset by the strong ilmenite response, by
the unusually shallow burial of deposits of these placer min-
erals, and by the fact that it is not necessary to implant elec-
trodes while working in a highly conductive environment like
the ACS. Due to the fortuitous connectivity of seawater, it is
theoretically possible to cover more terrain offshore with IP
measurements using a towed cable in two weeks than has been
done onshore-worldwide-in the last 30 years. This pre-
sumes, of course, that the cable components are not ripped off
or otherwise damaged by being towed along the bottom.
The limited geophysical work done both on land and at sea
indicates that the actual deposits of placer heavy minerals are
not broad, low-grade features as implicitly envisioned by pre-
vious auger-based and vibracore-based studies. Instead, they
appear to be composed of numerous discrete bodies, some of
which may contain as much as 10 to 20 percent ilmenite.
These bodies could be as narrow as 15 to 50 m across their
strike. Conventional vibracore sampling over these features is
thus expected to give biased results, depending upon location,
essentially by sampling the spatial dimensions at a rate below
the Nyquist frequency. Thus, a vibracore program is almost
useless without extraordinary good fortune or 50 m centers-
DOI:10.1190/1.1442472
or a marine IP survey to locate precise targets.
Computer modeling of towed-streamer IP data indicates
that proximal bottom towing is necessary, even for a mineral
as polarizable as ilmenite. Keeping the cable at or close to the
bottom is difficult; for deep water, keeping the cable down will
require more work in developing an appropriate cable-
depressor fish capable of draping the sediment topography.
Cable cross-talk, seawater exclusion, and signal boosting will
become significant engineering problems for the longer cables
necessary for targets in seawater deeper than 100 m. The
possibility of using marine IP to search for and quantify other
ocean-floor mineral deposits, including sulfide-rich smokers
and cobalt-laden manganese crusts, is a logical extension of
the work done so far with titanium.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The accomplishments described in this paper owe much to
the large number of capable specialists that the author was
able to draw upon. Andrew Grosz and Eric Force of the U.S.
Geological Survey contributed much geologic information
and insight. Tom O'Brien (u.s.a.s., Woods Hole) helped con-
struct the IP streamer used on the Atlantic continental shelf.
Roy Fields (u.s.a.s.) helped with the initial experiments off
the Virginia coast, and Bob Woolsey, Dorothy Bargeron, and
Dave Fridge of the Mississippi Mineral Resources Institute
are the reason why the Georgia data were collected suc-
cessfully. These last four each gave up a night's sleep in order
to assist with the data acquisition.
Ken Zonge of Zonge Engineering and Research wrote the
software used in the stationary-cable and towed-cable efforts.
Ken also offered much helpful advice on improving the signal-
to-noise ratio. Stephen Mudge of Goldfields Exploration in
Australia kindly supplied a finite-element computer program
later modified for modeling marine IP measurements. Walt
Anderson (u.s.a.s.) ran the least-squares fit on the IP spectral
Wynn
data for me. Emil Seginak (U.S.G.S.) drafted several of the
figures used in this paper, and Jerry Bradley (u.s.a.s.) de-
signed and built a preliminary version of the streamer pre-
amplifier.
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