New Application of Finite Element Method to Seamount Magnetism

Abstract:

Geomagnetic method can be utilized in a wide range of applications, including investigation of small-scale near-surface targets and characterization of large-scale geologic structures. In particular, marine magnetic studies involve with various interpretation approaches to constrain geophysical information regarding the depth of a particular seamount, its size and shape, and the orientation and magnitude of its magnetization. The accuracy of the estimated information is normally governed by the quality and amount of available data and by the sophistication of the employed modeling techniques. Here we aim to advance geomagnetic modeling approaches using the interactive finite element solver, COMSOL Multiphysics, and improve the degree of detail that can be obtained from the measured magnetic field. First, we carried out benchmark tests by comparing the computed results using the analytic solutions for simple bodies. We built two types of synthetic models with rectangular and sphere shaped ore bodies having high intensity of magnetization and we changed magnetized direction in each calculation. Comparisons of FEM-based results with the analytic ones exhibited good agreement in general. Second, marine magnetic data obtained at seamounts can be very crucial to determine the age and location of seamount formation. Traditional magnetic methods often assume the uniformly magnetized seamounts to simplify computational efforts. However, the inner structures of seamounts constrained by seismic data show a clear distinction between the dense core and edifice layers. Here we divide the seamount into the dense core and edifice layers in a synthetic model, assign different magnetization direction and intensity to them, and optimize these parameters by minimizing differences between the observed and numerical computed data. These examined results will be valuable to understand seamount formation processes in detail. In addition, we discuss FEM-based magnetic models to mimic the simplified growth stages of seamount and their effect on magnetic modeling.