Magneto-telluric determination of upper mantle conductivity structure at Victoria, British Columbia

Abstract

Magneto-telluric data were obtained at Victoria over a very wide range of periods (2 s to 86 400 s). Only the data up to 15 000 s periods were used for interpretation of conductivity structure, since telluric data at longer periods were dominated by ocean-tidal effects; spectral analysis of one year's data was used to demonstrate the tidal effects. The telluric signals are strongly polarized in the whole frequency range, indicating an anisotropy in surface conductivity.The data indicate the existence of a finite conducting layer 10 ± 3 km thick and resistivity 100–125 ohm-meters, at a depth of 65 ± 5 km. A high resistivity zone (of the order of 4000–5000 ohm-meters) lies below this layer. There is no evidence for any further conducting zones down to a depth of at least 750 km.