Coordinated by Marian Hanna Magnetic and Gravity Methods in Mineral
FOCUS ARTICLE
Exploration: the Value of Well-Rounded
Geophysical Skills
Henry Lyatsky
Lyatsky Geoscience Research & Consulting Ltd., Calgary, Alberta, Canada
The word “geophysics” in oil exploration is often used
synonymously with “seismic”, overlooking many other
fruitful techniques. In mineral exploration and engineering
projects, applicability of seismic imaging is often limited and
other geophysical methods take the front seat.
Gravity and magnetic methods, which are discussed in this
article, are extremely useful in both mineral and oil explo-
ration. Unfortunately, among oil-industry geophysicists and
managers the knowledge and appreciation of these tech-
niques tend to be comparatively thin. Rooted in over-special-
ized college training, a too-narrow focus on only some
geophysical methods impoverishes oil exploration if poten-
tial-field surveys are underutilized. By limiting geophysi-
cists’ ability to switch between oil and mining industries, it
restricts their employment flexibility and career choices.
The multi-faceted exploration market calls for many different
types of geophysical work. Professional associations and
alumni groups need to put pressure on academic institutions
to diversify and round out their curricula. Fluctuating
economic conditions, and future well-being of new gradu-
ates, demand nothing less.
A few basics
Gravity and magnetic geophysical methods are passive. They
rely on no controlled sources but seek out naturally occurring
variations in the earth’s gravity and magnetic fields. For this
reason, some military uses of these surveys have long
included quiet detection of submarines and volatile unex-
ploded munitions.
Metamorphosed, igneous and polydeformed rocks, which
are common subjects of mineral exploration, can be far more
complicated than the stratified rocks examined in the search
for oil and gas. Hard-rock geology presents an explorer with
a mind-boggling array of lithologic, metamorphic and struc-
tural features, which can host an equally mind-boggling
variety of mineral deposits and generate very complex
patterns of geophysical anomalies (e.g., in northeastern
Alberta, Langenberg and Nielsen, 1982; Langenberg, 1983;
Sprenke et al., 1986). In areas with a polyphase deforma-
tional, igneous and metamorphic history, to construct a
simple geophysical model may be impossible. Each locality
and each deposit is different from another, necessitating
detailed field mapping and varied geophysical surveys.
Seismic methods are designed mainly for stratified rocks
with relatively uncomplicated structures. Mineral explorers
rely on a wide range of geophysical techniques including
magnetic, gravity, electrical, electromagnetic and radiometric,
and above all on strong knowledge of hard-rock geology and
on results of local field mapping and exploration drilling.
30 CSEG RECORDER October 2010
By itself, no geophysical anomaly can simply be correlated
with lithology (Lyatsky, 2004). Instead, anomalies arise due to
variations in some specific physical properties of rocks. These
physical properties are a function of the rocks’ entire history
as well as their present state. By itself, an anomaly says
nothing about the nature, lithology or age of its rock source.
Reflection seismic surveys indicate changes in the acoustic
impedance of rocks, especially where these changes occur
across relatively flat-lying boundaries. Lateral variations in
rock density give rise to gravity anomalies, and lateral varia-
tions in rock magnetization produce magnetic anomalies.
Contrary to an occasional misconception, density and magne-
tization are rock properties quite independent of one another.
Vertical changes in rock magnetization and density in a
perfectly flat and layered earth would yield no magnetic or
gravity anomalies, but these geophysical methods reveal
lateral variations and high-angle discontinuities.
Survey and data-gridding parameters are chosen to resolve
all expected useful anomaly wavelengths from the source
under investigation, at minimal cost. At a relatively low cost
compared to seismic surveys, gravity and magnetic tech-
niques can provide geophysical coverage of large and small
areas. In many Canadian regions, fairly sparse but useful
magnetic and gravity grids are available at zero cost from the
federal government. Calibrated with geological knowledge,
gravity and magnetic anomalies can yield an indirect but
extremely useful picture of lateral changes in rock composi-
tion and structural patterns.
Superb and readable guides to the basics of gravity and
magnetic methods for non-specialists were created by
Nettleton (1971) and Goodacre (org., 1986). More elaborate
discussions of these and other geophysical techniques can be
found in various texts, such as Telford et al. (1976). This latter
book on my shelf is much beaten and dog-eared, having trav-
eled to many field camps. A good collection volume on the
uses of gravity and magnetic data in exploration and
research, including case studies, was published by Hinze
(ed., 1985). Along with my own experience and published
work as well as the Canadian Geophysical Atlas (Geological
Survey of Canada, 1990), these books form the basis for the
discussion below.
Gravity Methods
Gravity keeps us on the ground. Without our planet’s gravi-
tational attraction, we and everything else would fly off into
space. Low gravity on the Moon allowed the Apollo astro-
nauts to make their famously effortless high jumps.
Gravity readings on earth are not the same everywhere. The
planet’s rotation and polar flattening are well known and easy
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Magnetic and Gravity Methods…
Continued from Page 30
to correct for, as are the small and predictable diurnal variations
due to tidal forces of the Moon and the Sun. After these and other
corrections, we are interested in map-scale gravity variations
attributable to lateral changes in the density of local rocks.
Gravity anomalies in the Bouguer reduction, used commonly in
land areas, take account of the Earth’s rotation, polar flattening,
the recording field station’s latitude and elevation, and the grav-
itational attraction of the rocks below the station but above sea
level. The terrain correction is applied in areas with non-flat
topography.
More valuable for oil than mineral exploration, in marine and
continental-margin regions the more elaborate isostatic and
enhanced isostatic gravity reductions (Sobczak and Halpenny,
1990) often produce superb results. On a regional scale, useful
results are sometimes obtained by applying a version of the
Bouguer reduction offshore.
The gravity field is reassuringly simple, unipolar and almost
perfectly vertical. The common unit of gravity measurement in
exploration geophysics is milliGal (1,000 mGal = 1 Gal = 1 cm/s2
= 0.01 m/s2). These units refer to acceleration due to gravity, and
the average value at the earth surface is around 980,000 mGal or
9.8 m/s2. By comparison, anomalies in mineral and oil explo-
ration seldom exceed a few hundred milliGals.
Where the rocks underfoot are relatively dense and heavy, their
extra gravitational attraction increases the downward pull and
creates positive gravity anomalies (“gravity highs”). Where the
rocks are light, the gravitational pull is diminished and the anom-
alies are negative (“gravity lows”). One can literally lose weight,
if only very slightly, by moving from a gravity high to a low!
Figure 2. Magnetometer mounted in a “stinger” in the back of a fixed-wing aircraft. Photo by
Henry Lyatsky.
Figure 3. Geophysical recorders mounted in “birds” that can be slung below a helicopter for a
Figure 1. Land gravimeter, leveled by hand. Photo by concurrent survey: VLF in long bird on the left, magnetometer in stubby one on the right. Photo by
Henry Lyatsky. Henry Lyatsky.
Focus Article Cont’d
Airborne gravity surveys sacrifice some precision for rapid
regional coverage; they are useful in frontier petroleum
provinces where large block displacements are expected to cause
big gravity anomalies. More commonly, gravity data are
collected on the ground (Fig. 1) or (in offshore oil exploration) on
board ships, by taking gravimeter readings from station to
station or at a regular interval along ship tracks. In some land
surveys, self-leveling gravimeters are briefly placed on the
ground from a hovering helicopter, and then picked up and
quickly moved to the next station for another reading.
Magnetic Methods
Much more complicated are magnetic methods. Rapid and huge
diurnal variations may arise unpredictably due to an extra-
terrestrial, solar wind of charged particles. The magnetic field
itself is dipolar and usually non-vertical. Rocks can be magnet-
ized in a vast and unpredictable variety of ways, induced or
remanent, primary or secondary. Magnetization can be altered
and lost when rocks are heated, reacquired when rocks cool, and
created, destroyed or changed due to chemical alteration and
other processes.
Certain minerals whose distribution can bear little relation to
bulk lithologic patterns are the usual carriers of rock magnetiza-
tion, whose lateral variations cause magnetic anomalies. The
complexity of the magnetic field and of its anomaly-lithology
relationships often complicates interpretation. Even a simple
rock source can generate indecipherably complex anomalies.
A familiar use of magnetic data in Alberta Basin oil exploration
is to delineate brittle faults in the crystalline basement (e.g.,
Lyatsky et al., 2005). Much more common is the use of magnetic
surveys in mineral exploration.
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Focus Article Cont’d
Magnetic and Gravity Methods…
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Although land magnetic surveys are sometimes made locally,
more usually the surveys are flown with fixed-wing aircraft or
helicopters, with recording instruments in fixed external attach-
ments (Fig. 2) or in slung “birds” (Fig. 3). Helicopters can
provide quick and easy access to remote survey areas, and their
maneuverability is well-suited for small-scale surveys. To
examine the distribution of several rock properties at once, and
because electrically conductive ores are sometimes also
magnetic, aeromagnetic data over mining properties are
commonly flown in conjunction with other geophysical surveys.
Magnetic-data preparation includes the removal of independ-
ently recorded diurnal changes and of the regional geomagnetic
field. Particular attention must be paid to data “leveling” to
avoid apparent corrugation along flight lines.
Ductile shear zones, igneous rock bodies, metamorphic and
structural fabrics, and even protolith discontinuities can also
generate individual magnetic lineaments or impart a grain to an
entire anomaly domain. Such elongated anomalies may be hard
to separate from lineaments due to brittle faults, especially if
they are aligned. Brittle faults and fractures may have strong
magnetic signatures if they are mineralized or contain dikes, but
often their signatures are subtle. Sometimes they cut through the
prevailing structural and anomaly grain. Even small fractures
may be important: in northern Saskatchewan (Tremblay, 1972;
Loutitt, 2008), it is sometimes not major faults but their second-
and third-order splays and conjugate fractures that are associ-
ated with uranium mineralization.

Detrital and chemically precipitated magnetic minerals are

sometimes found in sedimentary rocks, but such minerals tend
to be more common in extrusive and intrusive igneous rocks or
in rocks that were metamorphosed. Distribution and internal
zoning of plutons and volcanics, configurations of metamorphic
zones, and structural patterns in crystalline rocks can be vividly
reflected in magnetic maps.

Some applications
Much of the mineral prospecting in Canada is conducted by
junior companies relying on fickle equity financing in unstable
capital markets. Northern climate severely limits the time avail- Figure 4. Arctic tundra in summer, Coppermine River area above the Arctic Circle
in Nunavut. Photo by Henry Lyatsky.
able for field work (Figs. 4, 5) and the need for air supply in
remote regions multiplies the costs astronomically. Stock-
exchange and land-use rules create additional limitations and
costs. Speed and bang for the buck are of the essence in mining
geophysical surveys.

Magnetic methods are more popular in mineral exploration than Figure 5. Gravity and magnetic field camp, Coppermine River area above the Arctic
gravity, not least because magnetic data can be quickly recorded Circle in Nunavut. This camp was supplied entirely by air from Yellowknife. Photo
from the air and in conjunction with other geophysical surveys. by Henry Lyatsky.
Land gravity surveys, by contrast, may require greater field
efforts (Figs. 1, 5 and 6), more time, and more commitment of
scarce capital. Besides, metal ores can be magnetic as well as elec-
trically conductive, whereas high density of host rocks or limited
deposit volume may leave ore deposits without clear gravity
signatures.

Ductile and brittle structural patterns can greatly affect the loca-
tion of mineralized zones. As in oil exploration (e.g., Babcock,
1973, 1974; Edwards et al., 1998; Lyatsky et al., 2005), of signifi-
cant interest can be the distribution and age of brittle faults and
fractures, capable of conducting mineral-bearing fluids from
which ore deposits are sometimes precipitated.

As in oil exploration, such faults are sometimes identifiable from

magnetic and gravity lineaments. Where brittle faults with subtle
geophysical signatures are a target, data processing and interpre-
tation may be similar regardless of whether the search is for
hydrocarbon or mineral deposits. Faults juxtaposing dissimilar
rocks can create density contrasts detectable in gravity maps, but
gravity data are not always available in mining properties.
Combined with surface geologic mapping where bedrock is
visible through the till, fault detection often relies on identification
of magnetic lineaments. Figure 6. Gravimeter operators in training in Yellowknife.
Photo by Henry Lyatsky.

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32 CSEG RECORDER October 2010

 Focus Article Cont’d
Magnetic and Gravity Methods…
Continued from Page 32

Data processing and interpretation to

detect faults
Proper data processing is designed to highlight the
anomalies of geological interest in a particular map
area, and it involves much experimentation because
it may be hard to know in advance which anomaly-
enhancement methods and parameters will yield
the most useful results. Generically processed map
products sometimes delivered by geophysical
contractors are not always optimal for specific
exploration targets.

Lineament-like artifacts can be created by poor data

processing. In particular, it is desirable to minimize
the use bandpass wavelength filtering (convolution
filters are preferable), because linear artifacts may
arise from Gibbs ringing. The best practice is to keep
processing to a minimum, to avoid fancy “black-
box” techniques, and to rely on mathematically
simple and intuitive procedures. As much as
possible, enhanced anomalies should be easy to
relate back to the original anomaly shapes.
Enhancement of small, low-amplitude and short-
wavelength anomalies generally helps to detect
subtle lineaments.

Good results are often achieved with horizontal-

gradient (Fig. 7) and vertical-derivative maps, some-
times in the second order. Horizontal-gradient
vector maps (Fig. 8; Lyatsky et al., 1991; Lyatsky and
Dietrich, 1998; Edwards et al., 1998) help to resolve
details of anomaly clusters, but have a drawback if
plotted gradient vectors themselves are long enough
to obscure the desirable anomalies. Total-gradient Figure 7. Regional horizontal-gradient magnetic map of central and southern Alberta, with selected
(analytic-signal) maps, which somewhat artificially lineaments highlighted as straight white lines (after Lyatsky et al., 2005).
combine the dissimilar horizontal and vertical gradi-
ents, help to reveal the anomaly texture in potential-field maps
and to highlight discontinuities in the anomaly pattern.

To make vivid local anomaly details, automatic gain control

boosts amplitudes in areas with low anomaly relief. Separation of
local from regional anomalies, avoiding wavelength filters, can be
achieved by fitting to the data a third-order best-fit surface.

Very valuable are shaded-relief maps or shadowgrams (Fig. 9).

This procedure treats a potential-field map as a relief and
computes the shadow pattern that would be created if this relief
were illuminated by the sun from a user-specified angle.

Particularly emphasized are the overall anomaly texture and

individual subtle anomalies. For maximum utility, many shad-
owgrams are normally created for the same data set, with
various “sun angles”.

Unless the maps are crowded, combining color and contour

displays can greatly sharpen the depiction of anomalies.
Geophysical lineaments, desirable in a hunt for faults, are best
picked by hand, by placing a plotted potential-field map on a
table and viewing it at a low angle from many different direc- Figure 8. Horizontal-gradient magnetic vector map of the Queen Charlotte
tions. A lineament can be a straight gradient zone, a linear Islands and Hecate Strait area, British Columbia (segment of the regional map
by Lyatsky et al., 1991). Numbered, heavy black arrows indicate magnetic linea-
anomaly, a break in the dominant anomaly pattern, or an
ments. Light, thin arrows indicate the magnetic horizontal gradient, with arrow
alignment of several local anomalies. As with any geophysical length proportional to the gradient magnitude and arrows pointing “downhill”.

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October 2010 CSEG RECORDER 33

Focus Article
Magnetic and Gravity Methods…
Continued from Page 33
Cont’d
interpretation, magnetic and gravity lineaments
cannot be verified as faults without geological
ground-truthing.

Diversifying Geophysical Education

Many geophysical methods yield fruitful results
by exploring different physical properties of
rocks (Fig. 10). Focusing college curricula on just
some of those techniques to the virtual exclusion
of others limits the young graduates’ career
choices, and it reduces worker pools for
employers. Avoiding early soft-rock or hard-rock
specialization, undergraduate geophysics
programs should produce well-rounded profes-
sionals able to operate in a wide variety of explo-
ration environments and circumstances.

My own career has been greatly enhanced by

acquiring skills, including in gravity and
magnetic methods, marketable in both oil and
mineral exploration and even in earthquake fore-
casting and political analysis. This has opened
the doors to some magnificent field work and
many fascinating projects (Lyatsky, 1996, 2006,
2009; Enachescu et al., 2009).

Excessive specialization in one set of extractable

commodities or exploration techniques is a poor
service to students, employers and taxpayers in
the long run. Local business and professional
groups are raising their voices to diversity college
curricula (Babin, 2010). For the good of us all,
may this call ring clear! R

Figure 9. Shaded-relief magnetic map of central and southern Alberta, “illuminated” from the south with
20-degree “sun” inclination (after Lyatsky et al., 2005).
Figure 10. Piece of weathered ore from a gossan near the Muskox Intrusion, magnetic
enough to hold a refrigerator magnet. A helicopter-borne magnetic survey was conducted in
the area.
References
Babcock, E.A., 1973. Regional jointing in southern Alberta;
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, v. 10, p. 1769-1781.
Babcock, E.A., 1974. Jointing in central Alberta; Canadian Journal
of Earth Sciences, v. 11, p. 1181-1186.
Babin, B., 2010. Mining for exposure; Business in Calgary, v. 20, no. 4, p. 45-48.
Edwards, D.J., Lyatsky, H.V., and Brown R.J., 1998. Regional interpretation of
steep faults in the Alberta Basin from public-domain gravity and magnetic data: an
update; RECORDER (Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists), v 23,
no. 1, p. 15-24.
Enachescu, M., Lyatsky, H.V., Colton, P., Einarsson, P., and Feir, A., 2009
(abs.). Synergistic interpretation of Labrador Sea geophysical data; Canadian
Society of Petroleum Geologists, Canadian Society of Exploration
Geophysicists and Canadian Well Logging Society, Annual Convention,
Calgary, Program, p. 737-740.
Geological Survey of Canada, 1990. Canadian Geophysical Atlas, 15 maps.
Goodacre, A.K. (org.), 1986. Interpretation of Gravity and Magnetic Anomalies
for Non-Specialists; short-course notes; Geological Association of Canada,
Mineralogical Association of Canada, Canadian Geophysical Union, Joint
Annual Meeting, Ottawa, 362 p.
Hinze, W.J. (ed.), 1985. The Utility of Regional Gravity and Magnetic Anomaly
Maps; Society of Exploration Geophysicists, 454 p.
Langenberg, C.W., 1983. Polyphase Deformation in the Canadian Shield of
Northeastern Alberta; Alberta Geological Survey, Bulletin 45, 33 p.
Langenberg, C.W. and Nielsen, P.A., 1982. Polyphase Metamorphism in the Canadian
Shield of Northeastern Alberta; Alberta Geological Survey, Bulletin 42, 80 p.
Loutitt, S., 2008 (abs.). Exploration in the Uranium City area of northern
Saskatchewan; 17th Calgary Mining Forum, Program, p. 44.
Lyatsky, H.V., 1996. Continental-Crust Structures on the Continental Margin of
Western North America; Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, 352 p.

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Lyatsky, H.V., 2004. The meaning of anomaly; RECORDER (Canadian Society of
Exploration Geophysicists), v. 29, no. 6, p. 50-51. Henry Lyatsky is a Calgary-based
Lyatsky, H.V., 2006. Frontier next door: geology of hydrocarbon assessment of sedimentary geophysical and geological consultant
basins offshore western Canada; RECORDER (Canadian Society of Exploration
Geophysicists), v. 31, no. 4, p. 66-75.
who has worked across Canada and inter-
nationally in oil and mineral exploration.
Lyatsky, H.V., 2009. BC’s silent majority key to Queen Charlotte basin oil; Oil & Gas
Journal, v. 107, no. 38, p. 31-34.
He was born in St. Petersburg, Russia and
Lyatsky, H.V. and Dietrich, J.R., 1998. Mapping Precambrian basement structure beneath
the Williston Basin in Canada: insights from horizontal-gradient vector processing of moved to Calgary as a teenager. He holds
regional gravity and magnetic data; Canadian Journal of Exploration Geophysics, v. 34, a B.Sc. in geology and geophysics (1985,
p. 40-48. University of Calgary), and M.Sc. in
Lyatsky, H.V., Haynes, A.K., Brown, R.J., Thurston, J.B., and Lyatsky, V.B., 1991. geophysics (1988, University of Calgary) and a Ph.D. in
Aeromagnetic Horizontal-Gradient Vector Map of the Queen Charlotte Basin Area, British
Columbia; Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 2436 (scale 1:1,000,000). geology (1992, University of British Columbia). He is the
Lyatsky, H.V., Pana, D.I., and Grobe, M., 2005. Basement Structure in Central and author of three books (Springer-Verlag) on the regional
Southern Alberta: Insights from Gravity and Magnetic Maps; Alberta Geological Survey, geology and geophysics of western Canada, two gravity
Special Publication 72, 76 p. and magnetic atlases of the Alberta Basin (Alberta
Nettleton, L.L., 1971. Elementary Gravity and Magnetics for Geologists and Geological Survey) and many papers. He is a member of
Seismologists; Society of Exploration Geophysicists, 121 p.
CSEG, EAGE, MEG, AGU and APEGGA.
Sobczak, L.W. and Halpenny, J.F., 1990. Isostatic and Enhanced Isostatic Gravity
Anomaly Maps of the Arctic; Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 89-16, 9 p.
Henry is a past president of the Mineral Exploration Group,
Sprenke, K.F., Wavra, C.S., and Godfrey, J.D., 1986. Geophysical Expression of the a province-wide mining-industry association in Alberta. To
Canadian Shield in Northeastern Alberta; Alberta Geological Survey, Bulletin 52, 54 p.
avoid the downtown rat-race and congestion, he works
Telford, W.M., Geldart, L.P., Sheriff, R.E., and Keys, D.A., 1976. Applied Geophysics;
Cambridge University Press, 860 p. from home, enjoys the free space of the Alberta outdoors,
Tremblay, L.P., 1972. Geology of the Beaverlodge Mining Area, Saskatchewan; Geological and loves nothing better than an in-depth history book after
Survey of Canada, Memoir 367, 265 p. a good hike in the mountains.

October 2010 CSEG RECORDER 35