Influence of the probe dimensions on the display of the low-frequency dispersion of the earth’s electromagnetic properties for measure-ments in marine waters up to 100 m deep

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to show the effect of the probe dimensions on the display of the low-frequency dispersion of the geological formations’ electromagnetic properties in transient measurements by electric lines in the axial area of the source for the water areas up to 100 m deep. The study analyzes the change in the transient signal, the finite difference, and the transform (the ratio of the above two) as a function of the length of the source (a horizontal grounded electric line (AB) 50 to 2,000 m), the receiver (a three-electrode electric line (MON) 50 to 2,000 m), and the distance between their centers (spacing) 100 to 4,000 m. The values obtained from the conductive and conductive polarizing models are compared for the identical probes installed at the same depth. The grounded electric line is located within the conducting medium with a conductive polarizable base. The conducting medium is associated with the seawater thickness in the marine shelves up to 100 m deep. The conductive polarizable base is a geological environment (earth) covered with a layer of water. The polarizability of the base is registered by introducing frequency-dependent electrical resistivity by the Cole-Cole formula. The calculations show the display of different transient components associated with the transient buildup and the earth’s low-dispersion properties caused by both galvanic and eddy currents. These components manifest themselves differently for the probes with different dimensions of the source line, receiving line, and spacing. Based on the calculations, it can be argued that in the time range from 1 ms to 16 s, at the probes that have different dimensions and are immersed in the water layer up to 100 m thick, the signal changes depending on the immersion depth for “small” installations (AB of 50 and 100 m), while there is no such dependence for the rest of the probes used in the calculations (AB of 250, 500, 1,000, and 2,000 m).