A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF SOME AEROMAGNETIC MAPS FROM THE NORTHWESTERN CANADIAN SHIELD

Abstract

Autocovariance and power‐spectral techniques are applied to aeromagnetic maps from the District of MacKenzie, Northwest Territories, Canada, to obtain trend directions and other structural information. Such trends are representative of the geologic structures creating the magnetic anomalies, and they are subjected to structural analysis. Results of computations for four maps 17×17 miles in size and one profile 185 miles long show good agreement with the known geological structure of the region. These analyses predict a dominant structural trend from S 18° W to N 18° E and two associated conjugate shear directions. In addition, an unexplained basic periodicity with a wave length of 15 miles is shown. This type of statistical analysis is suggested as a new tool for the extension of geologic data into inaccessible or covered regions.