Structural implications of potential field data on Southeastern North America

Abstract

Abstract The fault system of Eastern Piedmont could be extensive in the East of the USA. Debates remain regarding the sutures zone, contacts and faults between terranes, especially underneath the coastal sediment. However, in this study, a new interpretation of the structures and contacts of the southeastern margin was based on regional land gravity anomaly and magnetic anomaly maps. To delineate and investigate the subsurface geological structures in the southern Appalachian belt and underneath the coastal sediment that covers the southeastern half of the study area, the gravity and magnetic maps were subjected to several filter techniques. The anomalies maps were enhanced by applying the reduction to pole (RTP), analytical signal (AS), tilt derivative (TDR), horizontal gradient (HG), direction filter and power spectrum techniques. The power spectrum filter was applied to separate the regional-residual anomaly. The results of regional anomaly maps display elongate high amplitude anomalies lie in the south that are related to deep-seated igneous mafic intrusive and basaltic lavas emplacement. The directional filter was used to eliminate the sutural trend of the Jurassic dikes that intruded the study area. The result displays the structural contacts clearly after removing the anomalies of the Jurassic. Finally, the edge detection filters (TDR, HG, AS) from the gravity and magnetic maps helped in mapping the anomaly contact of the subsurface bodies. The apparent structural signature of the interpreted contacts confirmed the presence of these structural features in all edge detection methods.