Chapter 7 Electromagnetic Methods 7.1, INTRODUCTION AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND With the exception of magnetics, the electromagnetic (EM) prospecting technique is the most commonly used in mineral exploration. In its usual form the equipment is not suitable for oil search, because it responds best to good electrical conductors at shal- low depth. Nor has it been much employed in civil engineering work, although it is used occasionally to locate buried pipe and cable, for the detection of land mines, and for mapping surficial areas infil trated by contaminants. ‘As the name implies, the method involves the propagation of continuous-wave or transient electro- magnetic fields in and over the earth. There is a close analogy between the transmitter, receiver, and buried conductor in the EM field situation, and a trio of electric circuits coupled by electromagnetic induc- tion, In a few EM ground systems the source energy may be introduced into the ground by direct contact, although generally inductive coupling is used; invari- ably the detector receives its signal by induction. ‘The EM ground method was developed during the 1920s in Scandinavia, the United States, and Canada, regions where the detection of conductive base-metal deposits was facilitated by their large contrast with the resistive host rock and generally thin overburden, The airborne version was intro- duced some 30 years later. Until the early 1960s, practically all EM equip- ment transmitted and received continuously on one Irequency at a time. Such a continuous wave system is said to be operating in the frequency domain (FEM or FDEM). Although several attempts were made, dating back to the 1930s, to transmit transient pulses and detect the ground response during off-time (Statham, 1936; Hawley, 1938), the first successful applications of this type did not appear until 1962. These were the airborne Input (Barringer, 1962), the ‘MPPO-1 ground transient system in the USSR, and the EMP pulse ground equipment of Newmont Ex- ploration (Dolan, 1970). Since the early 1970s, there hhas been a dramatic increase in the development of . such time-domain systems (TEM or TDEM). ‘Almost all EM field sets include a portable power source. However, limited use has also been made of radio transmission stations in the frequency range 100 kHz to 10 MHz and particularly in the very low frequency range (VLF), 15 to 25 kHz. One other field method that can be included with EM, AF- MAG, makes use of atmospheric energy resulting from worldwide thunderstorm activity (§6.2.1), A great advantage of the inductive coupling is that it permits the use of EM systems in aircraft, Airbome EM, usually in combination with other aeromagnetic methods, has been widely applied in mineral exploration reconnaissance and recently in detailed surveys. 7.2, ELECTROMAGNETIC THEORY 7.2.1, Vector and Scalar Potentials ‘The propagation and attenuation of electromagnetic waves were discussed in Sections 6.2.2 to 6.2.5 in connection with the magnetotelluric method, Al- though the frequencies employed in EM prospecting, are somewhat higher than in most MT work, the general theory, limiting assumptions (negligible dis- placement current and spatial phase shift), and boundary conditions are identical in the two meth- ods. In general potential theory it is usually easier to solve problems by starting with the potential and obtaining the field vectors by appropriate differenti- ation. The same rule applies in electromagnetics, where it is convenient to introduce certain potentials from which both electric and magnetic field vectors may be derived. We define the vector magnetic poten- tial A in terms of the magnetic induction vXA=B (7a)344 ‘Then from Equation (6.3) we have vx (E+ dA/at) =0 ‘The vector inside the bracket is irrotational [see Eq. (A31)] and can be expressed as the gradient of scalar potential : E+ aA/at~ -v6 E= -(aA/81 + 06) (72) ‘The term ~2A/2¢ is the induced emt portion of E pile Using Equations (7.1) and (7.2) along with Equa- tions (6.4) and (6.9), we have Vv XU XA + pel 7/817 + 9(89/9t)} = nT (73a) [If external sources are present, J must be replaced by J + d—see Eq, (6.11b).] The electric field E in Equation (7.2) produces a current in a conducting medium such that (see Eq. (6.9)) d= 0E = -0(dA/at + 96) Substituting for J in Equation (7.31) and using Equation (A.25), we obtain 9(0 +A) ~ vA + wef O7A/a0? + ¥( 89/01) + po(@A/at+ 79) =0 (7.3b) Equation (6,6b) states that v -D = Q, Q being the charge density. Using this to eliminate E in Equation (7.2) gives V+ -(8A/d1) = -O/e ‘We now make use of the Lorentz condition (Ward, 1967): (74) Vv Am —(pedg/at + pop) (7.5) (this forces both A and to satisty the same wave equation as H and £). Substituting Equation (7.5) into Equations (7.3b) and (7.4) we get W7A — we d7A/at? - wa dA/at = 0 (7.6) Vp - 2 d6/dr? — podg/dt = —O/e (7.7) ‘Thus we have a pair of potentials, one vector and the other scalar, that in homogeneous media satisfy the same wave equation as the fields, Electromagnetic methods Still another potential, the Hertz vector potential Tis available to define the EM field. It is defined in terms of A and thus: Aw pedll/dr+ poll ec o-n (78) Following manipulation similar to that for A and $, wwe arrive at the expression (Ward, 1967) V3Tl - pe d?M1/00? - poaTl/ar = K (7.9) where K = —P/e, or —M, or zero. P, M are the respective electric and moments per unit volume. The value of K depends on the condi- tions of the system. ‘Although these potentials do not have the physi- cal significance of the scalar potential in gravity or electrostatics, they provide convenient mathematical tools for determining various EM fields, as we shall see in the following sections. The similarity in form between Equations (7.6), (7.7), (7.9), and (6.13) is worth noting. 7.2.2. Description of EM Fields; Biot -Savart Law (3) Goneral ‘The primacy ot soare ls toed in EM prospecting are normally generated by passing alternating or pulsed current through long wires or coils, For simple geometric configurations such as these the resultant fields can be calculated exactly for points in the surrounding region, although this is not generally possible. With FDEM one must mea- sure the disturbing field in the presence of the origi nal primary field, hence it is often necessary to calculate the latter at the receiver in order to elimi- nate, of at least reduce, its effect. With TDEM the primary field is eliminated by source cutoff. In both cases the secondary fields of interest are small in comparison with the primary fields. (6) Biot Savart law; magnetic field of a long wire. Originally stated for static magnetic fields, this law is valid also for low-frequency ac, provided the linear distances involved are much less than the wavelength (§6.2.3). From Equation (3.4) and Figure 7.1 we have OH = (Id!) X n,/4er? In scalar form this becomes AH = Ip{ sec? sin( w/2 — 6)} d¢/4np* sec? g = [cos ¢ db/4ap (7.108)i Electromagnetic theory (out of paper) ‘a Figure 7.1, illustrating the Biot-Savart law. Integrating over a straight wie, the result is H = (1/Anp)(sin — sing) (7.100) If the wire is extremely long (infinite length), ¢ = 1/2, = -#/2, and H= Im (7.10¢) {c) Vector potential of a current element. To get the potential A for a current element Idi, we sim- plify Equation (7.3a) by neglecting all currents (in- cluding displacement currens) except those induced in the conductor. Thus, we set ne 0°A/d1? = 0 (this climinates displacement currents-see discussion of eqs. (6.13b) and (6.14)), and we also set @ = 0. This reduces eq. (7.38) to VxXuxXAnps But v-A=0 from Equation (7.5) when ¢ = 0, hence Equaton (A.25) gives vA nd ‘This equation resembles Poisson's equation in grav- ity and magnetics. It has the following solution for a current element § di Am (n/4n) [ 3dv/r - (u/4n)ftai/r (7) ‘where the line integral (§A.3.4) is over a closed path encircling the element dl of its prolongation, A is the potential at P(x, y, z), and r is the distance from P to dl. 7.2.3. Fields in the Frequency Domain (a) General. In this section we consider propaga- tion of alternating fields from several common trans- 345 mitter sources in free space and over a conductive half-space. The assumption of free space is generally valid because the host rocks surrounding the conduc- tor often are highly resistive. Ward and Hohmann (1988) give an excellent theoretical treatment of electromagnetic fields in EM prospecting. The discussion in Section 7.2.3 is based largely om their paper. (0) Long straight horizontal wire, We take the y axis along the wire. The field is now given by Equa- tion (7.10c) where p? = x? + 27, and H is a vector perpendicular to p at the point P(x, y,z) in the direction given by the righthand rule (Fig. 7.1). The x and z components are HH, [z/2mp? Hi, = Ix/2mp? (7.108) ‘There is also an electric component (Ward and Hohmann, 1988) given by E, = ~junlKo( jke)/2" (7.108) where Ko( jkp) is the modified Bessel function of the second kind of order zero and k is the propagation constant given by KP ope — jopo; in free space o = 0 and K = wages = 6/c2 = (20/A)?, ¢ being the velocity of light in free space, When kp is small, Ko(jke) = ~n( jkp/2) (Abramowitz and Stegun, 1964: 375) and Equation (7.10e) reduces to E, = jot in jkp/2)/2" (7.108) while Equation (7.10d) is unchanged. ‘When the long-wire source lies on the ground (the ‘usual case), Equations (7.10d, ¢, f) are modified because the propagation constant becomes k? = = jue (Ward and Hohmann, 1988). For (kp) small, the components become ‘A, = jkI/2j20, H, = (1 /4x)i0( jx /2) ea c~ When the current is alternating, J in Equations (7.10) should be replaced with Ie~/** but in practice the exponential factor is understood and not written ‘out (however it must be taken into account when time derivatives are involved). Also, we assume that the FDEM fields are H(w), E(w) in contrast to the. F c o Electromagnetic methods Je « Figure 7.2. Geometrical parameters involved in calculating the magnetic field of a rectangular loop. (2) Calculating the field at an internal point; (b) Calculating the field at an external point TDEM fields H(t), E(#) to be considered later (67.26). (c) Large rectangle. The geometry is shown in Fig- ure 7.2. Inside the rectangle the field (which is nor- mal to the paper) at P, produced by the current in segment AE, is from Equation (7.10b) with ¢, = 0, H(AE) = Ising,/40( EP) = I( HP)? /4nr.of, where of, is the area of the rectangle with diagonal 1. Adding the field H(AH), H(AE) + H(AB) = (1/4enst,){( HP)? + (EP)?} = (1/4n)(4/h) ‘Adding the fields of the four subrectangles, we get the total field B= (1/4) Eo) nh (7.128) ‘When P is outside the rectangle, we find Hm (1/49) ri /ati + rh fot =W/st} - rh/sti) (7.12) Within the loop the field varies about 40% over a rectangle concentric with ABCD and one-quarter the area, being a minimum at the center, Outside the loop the field will be mainly determined by the near side of the reetangle, provided the distance from itis considerably less than the distance to the far side. It is important to note that the field in the neighbor- hood of the long wire, or outside a large rectangle and close to one side, falls off inversely as the distance, a relatively slow decrease in intensity. ‘The preceding analysis is for a loop in free space. The case of a rectangle lying on a homogeneous half-space has not been solved up to the present (see also §7.2.64). Both the long wire with and without the ends grounded and the large rectangle or square have ‘been extensively used for generating EM primary fields in FD systems such as Turam, and also for pulse transmission (UTEM, Newmont EMP, SIROTEM, etc.). Dimensions are generally several hundred meters (d) Small horizontal circular coil (vertical magnetic dipole). By using the vector potential we can calcu- late the field at a point in the neighborhood of the loop, not necessarily in its plane or on the axis. The cylindrical coordinate system is shown in Figure 7.3. The cross section of the winding on the loop is assumed to be very small with respect to its radius Because the current is confined to a circular path there is only one component of A, Ay. Then do = ad@ dp dz, J, = I/dp dz, and Equation (7.11) sim- plifies to Ar . A 7 cos #ig(p) do ie . Bg acosg dp 4aly (gf 4 2 + a? — 2apcosg)Electromagnetic theory Figure 7.3. Field of a small circular coil at a point outside the plane of the loop. If we assume that p* + z? >» a? and expand the denominator, we obtain BT pre acosd “nae Gay ap cos} xb -apay ee “}e slate wen" (133 Now we can get the magnetic field using Equation (A36) (see 84.4) WUxXALT 1 a(pAy) : # { ° a ‘} 2 ~ ea loh +22 A) (7.14a) where |, and i, are unit vectors slong the p and z axes. Thus the magnetic field has two components: one in the p direction and the other in the 2 direc- ion: H, = 31831 p2/4e( p+ 22)? 18st(22? — pt) /4a( p+ 27)°7 (7.140) (7.146) 4, where 8f'= wa?, the area of the loop. There is also an electric field component £,, obtained from Equation (7.2) with the potential ¢ = 347 0; inserting the time factor exp(—jwt), we have B, = —94,/at = jopl Bot pe" /aa( pt + 22)? (7.144) However, its effect is small compared to the mag- netic fields. All three components may also be expressed in spherical coordinates as H,, Hg, and E, [the last being identical to E, in Eq. (7.14d)]. Because Hf? + Hy = H+ H? and z = rcos8, p= rsind, we get H, = 2H,/(2cos@ ~ sin@ tan@) = 2H,/3sin® Hy = H,/(2c0s 6 cot @ — sin8) = H,/3.cos 8 Thus, H, = 1836 cos 6/20 (7.14e) Hy = 1820 sinO/bnr? (7.141) Ey = jopl 8st sin@/4nr? (7.14) ‘There are three limiting cases of interest in regard to the H fields: (i) p= 0,508 = O and the field is axi H, =H, = [8st/2n2 (7.14h) (ii) z= 0,80 6 = #/2 and the loop and field are coplanar: Hy = ~Hy= ~183t/40p (714i) ‘These are approximations because we took (¢? + 2*) » a?; the error, however, is less than 3% if either z or p is larger than 7a. Replacing the latter in the original expression for 4, and setting p = z = 0, we find the field at the coil center to be (ii) H,~I/2a H,=0 (7.14)) Clearly the small coil is equivalent to an oscillat- ing magnetic dipole lying in the z axis at the origin with magnetic moment given by m= [8s e™™". Furthermore its shape is not significant, provided a <0.14p (or 0.142); for a square loop (H,),-0 * [8st 4p? 11 is also of interest that the z compo- nents in Equations (7.14h) and (7.14i) resemble the Gauss A and B positions (§3.2.3) with m in Equa- tion (3.15¢) replaced with 184/49. « The dipole field intensity, then, falls off with the inverse cube of the distance; compared to the long- wire systems, the intensity decreases much faster. However, it should be kept in mind that both are approximations. The straight wire is assumed to be considerably longer than the perpendicular distance to the station at which the field is measured, whereas48 the closed-loop dimensions are considerably smaller than its distance from the field station, If the source loop, instead of being in free space, is lying on homogeneous ground, the field compo- nents in Equations (7.14b, c, d) become (Ward and Hohmann, 1988:211~2) in cyctindrical coordinates H, = ~( 1890K2/4—p) { h(Likp) Ki( L7kp) ~n( Like) Ko( ike) (7-148) H, = (18sxf/2akp?) (9 - (9 + 9jkp 4p — jk?) eM} (7.141) E, = —( 183t/2nop") {3 — (3 + 3ikp ~kp ye) (7.4m) where the propagation constant (§7.2.3b) k = (wpe — jope)'/? = (—jopeo)'/? over homogeneous ground, J,(} jkp) and K,(} jkp) are modified Bessel functions of the first and second kinds of order n (Pipes and Harvill, 1970), For (kp) * 0, the above equations become H, = —( 18k? /\6mp) (71.en) H, = ~( 183/40?) (7.140) E, = ( 18stk?/4nog?) (7.14p) Using reasonable values such as p = 100 m, o = 0.01 S/m, we find that the magnitudes of all three components in Equations (7.14n, 0, p) are smaller than those in free space by a factor of about 10~*. The vertical magnetic dipole is widely used in ground systems. (e) Horizontal magnetic dipole. This type of source is commonly used in vertical-loop fixed- transmitter and broadside ground units (§7.4.2b, ¢) and in airborne systems. The results for propagation in free space are easily obtained. We take the coil in the xz plane with its center at the origin; the expres- sions for the components are then obtained by re- placing z in Equations (7.14b, c, d) with y. When the coil is on homogeneous ground, the components are (Ward and Hohmann, 1988) H, = 38stxy/40 (7.14) Hi, = [8sf(2y? — x2) /anp® (7.141) H,= ~jongolBaty/6me = (7.148) where f= x? + 27, Tn all the preceding magnetic field sources we hhave also assumed only one turn of wire, If there are Electromagnetic methods Figure 7.4. Field of a short vertical wire at a distant point. turns, the calculated fields are increased by a factor of n in all cases. (f) Vertical straight wire (vertical electric dipole). One other artificial source of EM waves that has been employed in prospecting should be considered here. This is the high power VLF (very-low- frequency) transmission in the range 15 to 25 kHz, which is normally used for air and marine navi tion, There are, of course, many RF stations avail- able as well, but the frequencies are considerably higher (500 kHz and up) and the power lower than the VLF sources, so that the range and depth of penetration are limited. ‘The VLF antenna is effectively a grounded verti cal wire, several hundred meters high. Consequently it is much shorter than a transmission wavelength, which, for a frequency of 20 kHz, is 15 km. Whereas the small loop is equivalent to a magnetic dipole, the short wire behaves as an electric dipole. There are several possible modes of radiation from this type of antenna, but in the low-frequency range and at distances considerably greater than a wavelength, the propagation is a combination of ground wave and sky wave, The former travels over the earth's surface, whereas the sky wave is refracted and reflected by the ionized layers in the upper atmosphere (50 km and higher) to return to ground. At large distances from the antenna the VLF waves appear to be propagated in the space between the spherical reflecting shell formed by the earth surface and the lower ionosphere. The attenuation is com- paratively small in both surfaces. From Figure 7.4 it is apparent that the electric dipole is quite like the magnetic dipole if we inte change the E and H components of the wave, that is, there are two components of electric field, E, and E, in spherical coordinates, and one magnetic com-Flectromagnetic theory ponent H, in the azimuth. The vector potential of a current element £8/ can be found from Equation (7.11); in spherical coordinates, Aw pl ble-""i,/4er = pl ble~*""(cos Gi, — sin Big) /4nr where the current flow in the dipole length 8/ is along the z axis, = t- r/c = t — r(e)'”, and ¢ is the velocity of light = 3 x 10° m/s. The scalar portion, ¢', composed of the scalar potential plus an extra term caused by phase difference in the time- varying potential, becomes $= 181 cos O( w/er + 1/r?) e-/"* /Amew. Using Equations (7.1), (7.2), and (A.38), we find E= -v¢' - A/ar -(a6'/ar + 9A,/at)i, —( 09’ /r80 + BA,/at) ig H=(v xA)/p = [ (ry) /ar - 84,/08}i,/ur, (7.158) ‘These expressions produce one magnetic and two electric components: H, = 181 sinOe~**""( ju/cr + 1/r?) /4m* (7.150) E, = 181cos Be" X(1/er? ~ j/wr?) /2me (7.15¢) x( Jw/etr + Ler? ~ j/wr?) /ame (7.154) The three components may be converted to cylin- drical coordinates as in Section 7.2.34. For example, using Equation (A.36) and neglecting terms in 1/r?, 1/r? (note that r? = p* + 2? in Fig. 7.3), E, = 3jupl B1zpe"™" /an( p+ 22)? (7.150) E,=0 (7.15 H, = jo(pe)'7 181 pen" /4n( p? + 22) (7.158) These formulas are more complete and more complex than those for the magnetic dipole, and they contain terms in 1/r, 1/r? as well as 1/r?. Clearly the VLF system is designed for long-distance transmission; the so-called radiation fields or far ‘fields, varying as 1/r, are significant when the induc- tion and static fields (near fields), varying as 1/r* and 1/r°, have become negligible. Consequently, we 349 consider only the first term inside the brackets in Equations (7.15b, d) and assume that E, = E, ~ Oat great distance. ‘The preceding development may be carried out for Equations (7.14e, f, g) (Stratton, 1941; Smythe, 1950). Apart from the dipole moments and a phase shift of 9/2 (indicated by +/; see §A.7), for all terms, Equations (7.14g) and (7.15b) are identical, and Equations (7.15c) and (7.15d) are the same as Equations (7.14e) and (7.14f) if the latter are multi- plied by (1/we) and H and E interchanged. How- ever, because the magnetic dipole is very rarely used for transmission beyond a few kilometers, only the near-field term is significant. Because the amplitude of VLF fields decreases only as 1/r and the station output power is large (100 to 1,000 kW), it is possible to detect these sources over continental distances, occasionally nearly half way around the world. ‘At great distances from the source, E, is negligi- ble and E would appear (o be nearly vertical; at the ground~air boundary, however, there is a consider- able horizontal component in the direction of propa gation. The magnetic field lines are horizontal circles concentric about the antenna; at distances of several hundred kilometers this field is practically uniform over, say, a few square kilometers, and is at right angles to the station direction. Figure 7.5 compares the magnitude of primary fields from the various sources described in this section: VLF transmitter, long wire, square loop, and circular coil. These were calculated from Equa tions (7.10b), (7.14), and a modification of Equation (7.156), following, that allows for attenuation: 18! 2ar =1.5x10-57/2 (7.158) where A, r, and 8/ are in kilometers. The curves are drawn for the following parameters: 1. VLF transmitter power = 10° W, frequency = 20 kHz, antenna current = 5,000 A, and height = 300 ft (100 m). 2. Long-wire power = 1,000 W, current = 3 A, and Jength = 4,000 ft (1,200 m). 3, Square-loop power = 300 W, current = 3 A, sec tion area = 36 £7, (3.3 m?), and turns of wire = 100. 4, Circular-loop power = 5 W, current = 100 mA, diameter = 3 ft (1 m), and turns of wire = 1,000. ‘These values correspond roughly to (1) VLF, (2) Turam, (3) vertical-loop dip-angle, and (4) horizon- tak-loop systems used in EM field work.350 Electromagnetic methods 10 ww 1 mao inane fom source Figure 7.5. Comparison of magnetic fields produced by various sources. 7.2.4, Combination of FD Fields (a) General, So far we have described the propaga- tion, attenuation, and generation of alternating mag netic fields. We have seen that such fields can be initiated by various current configurations and atten- vated more or less depending on their frequency and the conductivity (and permeability) of the medium through which they travel. In Section 6.2.3 it was also noted that the EM field was shifted in phase on encountering a rela- tively good conductor. In fact, this conductor be- ‘comes the source of a secondary field, which differs im phase from the primary field, while having the same frequency. Hence a suitable detector in the vicinity will be energized by both the primary and secondary flelds simultaneously. The existence of the secondary field, indicating the presence of a subsur- face conductor, may be established with respect to the primary field by a change of amplitude and/or phase in the normal detector signal. Some EM sys- tems measure both quantities; some respond to one co the other. (b) Amplitude and phase relations. The character of the secondary magnetic field is best illustrated by consideration of the coupling between ac circuits. We assume a trio of coils having inductance and resistance and negligible capacitance; the first is the primary source, the second is equivalent to the con- 1 Me kn: ‘ a} ‘ he 2 fh, Figure 7.6. Electric-circuit analogy for EM system. ductor, and the third is the detector (Fig, 7.6). The primary EM field at a point near the conductor (coil 2), resulting from a current i, flowing in the first coil, is given by H, = Ki, = KI, sinot where K depends on the geometry of the system, the area and number of turns of the primary coil, and attenuation of the wave, ‘As a result of this field, coil 2 has an emf induced in it that lags behind the primary field by #/2; thus, wae MI, en ME = — OMI, coset = eMI, sin( wt - #/2) = -joMH,/KElectromagnetic theory 351 Hsing Figure 7.7. Vector diagram showing phase shift between H, and H (§A.7) where M= Myc = mutual inductance (see §7.2.5) between coils 1 and 2. Then the current lowing in coil 2 will be ine /t = M(t, + jal) where 2, = (7, + jwL,) is the effective impedance of the conductor of resistance 7, and inductance L, The secondary field near the detector (coil 3) as a result of this current will be er K’jwMH, io RN” KG, job.) —K'MH, (jor, + wL,) K(7? + 17) ~K'MH,(Q? + jQ) i+ OF (7.16a) where K’ is @ constant similar to K and Q = oL,/r, is the figure of merit. ‘The primary field at the detector coil will be Hy = Ki, = KI, sinat = KH, /K where K” is similar to K and K’. Thus the relative magnitude of the fields at the detector is 4, 4, re a oe \"@ — +2, RL\A+ey (1+ 0%)" K’M 1 Sor 7.16b) K'L, (141/07) : Because the ratio K’M/K"L, is generally very small, the ratio H,/H, is small, regardless of the value of Q. The phase difference between primary and sec- ondary fields is, ) = (5 + *) (7) where tang = wL,/r,, The lag in phase of #/2 is due to the inductive coupling between coils 1 and 2, whereas the additional phase lag $ is determined by the properties of the conductor as an electrical cir- cuit. That is, in( wt — (4/2 + 9) = ~K'T,cos wt ~ $) ‘The phase shift is most clearly illustrated by the vector diagram in Figure 7.7. (In this diagram the mognitude of H, with respect to H, is greatly exag- gerated.) The resultant of H, and H, is H,. From this diagram and Equation (7.17), it can be seen that when we have a very good conductor, Q=wL,/r, + 00 and 6 1/2. In this case, the phase of the secondary field is practically 180° (m) behind the primary field. For a very poor conductor wL,/r, + O and @ + 0; the secondary field lags 4/2 behind the primary. Generally H, is somewhere be- tween /2 and m (90° and 180°) out of phase with ‘A, The component of H, 180° out of phase with H, is H, sing, whereas the component 90° out of phase is Hcos¢. In EM parlance, the 180° out-of-phase fraction of H, is called the real or in-phase compo- nent. The 90° out-of-phase fraction of H, is called the imaginary, out-phase, ot quadrature component ‘These terms originated in ac circuit theory and, fact, there is nothing imaginary about the quadrature ‘component. From Figure 7.7 we get the important relation {sce Eq. (A.472)] tang = [4m (H,}/Re(H,}] (718)352 (€) Elliptic polarization. ‘The detector in an EM field system, generally a small coil with many turns of fine wire, measures the secondary field produced by a subsurface conductor, in the presence of the primary field. Consequently, the detected signal is combination of the primary and one or more sec- ondary fields. In general the combination is a mag netic fleld that is elliptically polarized. From the previous section we can write H,=Asinwt sod H, = Boos at ~ ¢) where A and B are functions of the geometry of the transmitter, conductor and detector, Because co0( wt — $) = 008 wt 008 $ + sin wt sing = (1-3/4)? cose +H, sing/A =Hy/B we get ‘Hp oH} 2H Hsing ‘AB ate = cost that is, m me ae tee ae Most ” Bcos?¢ BH tine ‘AB cos? (719) ‘This equation is of the form Lt which is the equation of an ellipse. We have made two simplifying assumptions in obtaining the equation. The first is that H, and H, are orthogonal in space, which is not generally true. However, if the angle between H, and H, is a # 1/2, these vectors may be resolved in two orthogo- ‘Bal components, say H,=H,+ Hcosa and H,=H,sine 2Mxz + Nx? = 1 in which case the expression for H, and H, is more complicated and has constant terms, but is still the equation of an ellipse, ‘The second assumption was that H, is due to the current in only one conductor. This is not necessarily the case; however, a combination of vectors of dif- ferent amplitudes, directions, and phases, resulting, from currents in several conductors, can be resolved into a single resultant for H,. Electromagnetic methods Consequently the superposition of fields produces, a single field that is elliptically polarized, the vector being finite at all times {although H, and H, be- come zero at wt= ne and (2n + I)n/2, respec- tively] and rotating in space with continuous ampli- tude change. Its extremity sweeps out an ellipse. This ellipse may lie in any space plane, although the plane will normally be only slightly tilted off horizontal or vertical. This is because the major axis of the ellipse is determined by H,~ because it is usually much larger than H,— and the primary field is normally either horizontal or vertical in EM sys- tems. ‘There are two special cases of Equation (7.19) of considerable importance. Figure 7.7 is again helpful in visualizing these situations. (@ @ = 1/2. Equation (7.19) then reduces to 4, Ry og BH, ‘AH, =0 (4-2) -0 or aH, —an, which is a straight line through the origin of the coordinates, having a slope +B/A. This case corre- sponds to a very good conductor, because on tantoL,/, = 0/2 or, because tan} = co, ao ‘The ellipse of polarization has collapsed into a straight line. (i) $ = 0. The ellipse equation simplifies to ate which signifies a poor conductor because 1, >> wh, when @= 0, In the unlikely event that A= B as well, the combination of H, and H, results in circu- lar polarization. Obviously a detector coil can always be oriented so that it lies in the plane of polarization, when a true null signal would be obtained. Some of the early EM methods were based on this fact; the dip and azimuth of the polarization ellipse and its major and minor axes were measured. On the other hand, if the detector coil is rotated about its vertical or horizontal diameter, it will not always be possible to find a perfect null position, because the plane of the coil will not, in general, coincide with the plane of the ellipse. There will however, be a minimum signal at one coil orienta- tion,Electromagnetic theory 7.2.5, Mutual Inductance (a) General theory. It was noted in the discussion of phase shift that the inductive coupling between electrical circuits is proportional to the coefficient of mutual inductance M. This parameter can be used to some effect in determining the signal amplitude at the receiver due to both the transmitter and conduc- tor. It has already been employed to estimate the ‘current induced in the conductor as the result of the primary field. If we can simulate the transmitter and receiver coils and the conductor by simple electric circuits, it may be possible to calculate the mutual inductances that couple them. Consider the coil system illus- trated in Figure 7.6, in which the mutual inductances between transmitter and conductor, conductor and receiver, and transmitter and receiver are, respec- tively, Myc, Mcp, and Mrp. Tt was shown previously (§7.2.4b) that the current i, induced in the conductor by the transmitter is ‘elated to the transmitter current by the expression SoMrcl, _ Mre (Q* +J2)ip 1+ bo eye, ~~ 1, where Q= wL,/r, was a figure of merit for the conductor circuit. Current i,, in turn, will induce an emf in the receiver coil given by jen My ? + jQ)ii een = ~eMcn i, = ene a (e+e 0) * At the same time the primary field induces an emf in the receiver ra = ~joMzri, Because the secondary or anomalous field is mea- sured in the presence of the primary field, we have fcr MenMrc { Q? + iQ ern Mraly ( 2) ae Mutual inductance may also be written in terms of the coupled self-inductances: Men ™ Ken( Eyl)? Myc = re LL)? Mzn = krx( Lrg)’ where key is the coupling coefficient between con- ductor and receiver and so forth, L7- is the transmit- 353 ter loop inductance, and Lg is the receiver loop inductance, Then we can write Equation (7.20a) in the form kre ( 9? +J2 kre \ 1+ Q ) (7.206) Although this eliminates L, in the first part of the expression, it does not simplify the first ratio much because the k values, like the M values, involve complicated geometry of the system. Equation (7.20b) does indicate, however, that this ratio, some- times called the coupling parameter, is usually a very small quantity because kp will tend to be much larger than the two coefficients in the numerator. ‘That is to say, the transmitter and receiver are cou- pled through ‘air, which means the attenuation is practically zero. In some FDEM field layouts, the source and detector coils are purposely oriented to reduce the direct coupling, whereas in others the decoupling is accomplished by electrical means. Tn any case, the mutual inductances between the various components within the range of the magnetic field are a controlling factor in EM systems, Conse- ine M for simple simulate field situa- tions, as an aid in interpretation. ‘The mutual inductance M,, between two circuits 1 and 2 is defined as the total flux ,, through cireuit 1, produced by unit current in circuit 2. Thus, dy = f vXArdy St A where S, is any surface terminating on circuit C,, and the last result came from Stokes’ theorem [Eq. (A.29¢)]. From Equation (7.11) we have This gives the general Newnann formula for mu- tual inductance: Ma- $> ~ EIST ante where dé, dé are elements of length in circuits 1 and 2, r is the distance between dé, and dé, and @ is the angle between dé, and dé. a, dh +dt, atc 7 (7.218)354 o o Figure 78. Calculating mutual inductance Electromagnetic methods of various geometrical figures. (3) Two parallel straight lines, (b) Coaxial circles. (c) Copfanar circles. (d) Circle and long straight wire. In many cases it is necessary to integrate numeri- cally to get a particular answer from this general formula, However, several simple circuits can be worked out exactly. These are illustrated in Figure 7.8 and the formulas are given in the following text. Units are microhenrys and meters. () Two parallel wires of equal length. Let the length be ¢ and the distance apart s. Then, m= 0.2¢{In{ o/s + (1 + ¢7/57)'7} ~(1+32708)'7 + se] (7.218) When ¢/s > 1, this can be modified to give 2 M=0.2¢| uo = -1 : ee s\tid +H0- (a) +3 3a) “3A 2e | More complicated forms of straight conductors may be found in Grover (1962). (i) Two coaxial circles. M is a function of a, b, and s, the radii and separation, which varies with a parameter k, given by k= [(a— 6)? +37] /[(a + 6)? + 5?) which is found in tables (Grover, 1962). When s > 104 oF 106, M = 0.2na?wb?/s? © 0.20B/s? = 207b7/s? (7216) sf, @ being areas of the circles. (ii) Two coplanar circles. When r >> a, b, M = -Olna*ab?/r) = -0.108/r) = —a%b?/r3 (7.214) ‘Again, more complicated arrangements of the circles are dealt with in Grover. iv) Circle and long straight wire. Let a long straight wire intersect at right angles the extension of a diameter of the circle of radius a, If the plane of the circle makes an acute angle a with the plane through the diameter and the long wire, and if s is the distance between the wire and the center of the circle, then M = 4n x 10°2{s seca ~ (7 sec?a - a?)'} (7.21) and when s/a > 5, this is simplified to 2x 10-%a? 0,002.9" i ee (ait) sseca sseca (b) Self-inductance, Values of L for the straight wire and circle are given by L,, = 0.2¢[In(2¢/p) ~ 0.75) (7.22a) L, = 4 X 10~%a[in(8a/p) — 2] (7.220) where p is the wire radius, and ¢, a are as shown in Figure 7.8, Self-inductance for several regular figures may be written 1 = 024 {In(41,/0) ~ x] (7.220) where 1, is the perimeter of the figure and x is a constant related to the shape; generally x < 3.Electromagnetic theory In all these formulas the values of M are in- creased by NN, and L by N? if these are the number of turns on the various circuits. Although M_ and L are easily determined for the regular figures of the transmitter and receiver antennae, it is a difficult problem to simulate the conductor. Because we normally do not know the current-flow cross section, it is necessary to oversimplify the equivalent circuit. (0) Numerical example. To illustrate the magni- tude of the coupling factor, (Men Mre)/(MraL,), in Equation (7.20a), consider the case of a horizontal- loop system (§7.4.3c) straddling a long, thin vertical conducting sheet that outcrops at the surface as in Figure 7.9. We assume that the transmitter and receiver coils are identical (cross section = A), the distance / between their centers being less than ¢, the length of the sheet, and that the ratio ¢/p = 2,500. ‘The principal effect of the sheet is due to its upper edge; hence to a first approximation we can consider the sheet as a horizontal wire of length ¢ at the surface. Using Equations (7.214, f), and (7.224), we get for the coupling factor in Equation (7.20a) 0.002077 FP -("ia") (aca) Z (sammy) = 10-*(1/2) < 10-4 MrcMen Mra, ‘Thus the signal response has been reduced by the factor 10 or more. (4) Conductor response. Returning to Equation (7.20b), the second factor on the right-band side depends only on the conductor and the frequency (because Q = wL,/r,). In this situation @ is known as the response parameter of the conductor, whereas ‘the complex ratio (Q? + jQ)/(1 + Q?) is called the response function ot induction number. Plotting the response function against Q, we get two curves for the real and imaginary parts of the function: A= Q@/(1 +) and B= 0/1 +0") where A and B are real. This plot is shown in Figure 710. ‘This example, of course, is oversimplified because it represents a wire loop. However, more realistic models of a sphere, thin sheet, or half-space are quite similar, 355 Top of sheet 1irike tonath Figure 7.9. Coupling factor of horizontal-toop system over @ long vertical sheet conductor. ‘When @Q is very small, both real and imaginary parts of the function are very small. The ratio of secondary to primary response in the receiver will be _ iQkenkre kre fcr fre This is the case of a poor conductor. As Q in- creases, the imaginary part increases at a faster rate at first and its magnitude is larger than the real fraction until Q = 1, when they are both equal to 0.5. Beyond this point the imaginary part decreases until, at large values of Q, it is again zero, Mean- while, the value of A increases to an upper limit of unity when @ is large, or fcr! ernl which is the maximum value for a very good conduc- tor. When the value of Q is quite small the phase angle of this function is #/2; when Q = 1, itis 30/4 after which it increases to m for a very good conduc tor, that is, the secondary signal is opposed to the primary, In the range 0 < Q < 1 the imaginary or quadra- ture component is larger than the real component, whereas from 1 sing + A, 2H} and a A, sina = —* cos: sina i, o364 ‘Thus the required vector has approximately the same amplitude as H, and is shifted in phase by (r= a). For a very good conductor, H,=(H,-H,) and a=0 whereas for a very poor one, 7.4, EM FIELD SYSTEMS FOR GROUND SURVEYS 7.4.1. General A great variety of methods is available for EM fieldwork. These can be divided into ground and sirborne systems and subdivided according to type, FD or TD, and actual measurement made, such as polarization ellipse, intensity and phase components, and so on, There are in addition many techniques developed 30 or 40 years ago that have gone out of style or have been superseded by improved version: these will not be considered to any extent. An enor- mous amount of information on state-of-the-art EM equipment may be found in the annual summaries by Peter Hood in the Canadian Mining Journal since the late 1960s (Hood, 1967 and following years). 7.42. Frequency-Domain Systems; Dip-Angle Measurements (a) General, There are several field systems that measure, in effect, the direction of the combined primary and secondary fields at a receiver station. ‘Whether they employ a natural or artificial source for the primary field and whether this source is fixed ‘or movable, they all come under the heading of dip-angle measurements, because the tilt of the de- {ector coil about a horizontal axis is recorded as the station reading, Furthermore, all the systems employ 4 primary field that is approximately horizontal. ‘The dip-angle systems remain very popular in EM work, in spite of their limitations, primarily because the equipment is inexpensive and simple to operate and the technique is rapid and works quite well over steeply dipping sheet-like conductors, which are common geological features. The fixed-trans- mitter unit and AFMAG are also capable of a rea- sonably large penetration depth. (b) Fixed vertical-loop transmitter, This is the old- est of the methods, developed in the 1920s and still used quite widely. The transmitter coil, which may Electromagnetic methods ‘be square, triangular, or circular, usually has a few hundred turns with effective area of the order of 2 n?, The coil stands vertical and is free to rotate in the azimuth. The power source usually delivers sev- eral bundred watts, ‘The receiver coil, consisting of many turns of fine wire wound either on an open frame 50 cm in diameter or on a ferrite core, is connected to a tuned high-gain amplifier with headphones, or occasionally ‘ameter, in the output. Provision is made for measur- ing the tilt angle of the coil. Figure 7.14 shows the operating procedure. Tra- verses are made by moving the receiver along lines approximately normal to geologic strike. Station in- tervals are usually 15 to 60 m. For each receiver setup, the transmitter coil is rotated to point at the. receiver station (that is, its plane is in the transmit- ter-receiver line so that the primary field at the receiver is horizontal), either on a prearranged time schedule or on receipt of a signal given by shouting ot by walkie-talkie. The receiver is then tilted about the T-R axis for a minimum signal and the tilt angle is recorded. Operations may be speeded up by hav- ing two receiver sets; in this event, the second opera- tor must occupy a station on the same axis at the same time as the first receiver (Fig. 7.14). It is apparent that in the absence of conductors the minimum will be obtained with the receiver coil horizontal, because this represents zero-coupling ge- ometry with respect to the transmitter coil. This would also be true when the receiver coil was di- rectly over a rather narrow conductive zone, because the secondary field would have no vertical compo- nent, Characteristic profiles over this type of conduc- tor are shown in Figures 7.30 and 7.314. The tilt angle either side of the conductor is such that the coil axis points toward the conductor until the re- ceiver has moved a considerable distance away from it Range of receiver operation depends mainly on the size of the transmitter loop and power source. In practice the maximum T-R separation may be 200 to 400 m. There is also a minimum separation of about 6 to 120 m; at smaller spacing it is difficult to obtain a minimum signal. Obviously there will be other situations as well when the minimum will be poorly defined, because there is no arrangement for balancing out the quadrature component. The profiles in Figure 7.30 contain considerable information about the conductor. The crassover point (that is, the point where the dip angle changes sign) locates the top of the body, the slope near the crossover is an indication of its depth, as is the maximum dip angle, plus or minus, The symmetry of the profile is a clue to its dip, as can be seen in Figure 7.30.