Charles C. Walls

B. Sc. Honours Thesis

Magnetic Anomalies
Near Ore Bodies and Mineralized Zones
in the Troodos Ophiolite of Cyprus

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The Troodos ophiolite in southwestern Cyprus has been a major producer of copper since the Bronze age. As such, the area has been studied and mapped extensively, and most known mineralized areas have been studied. Preliminary magnetic work with careful analysis and interpretation shows some promise of being able to characterize these areas.

Accordingly, a model is developed for the magnetic structure in the vicinity of massive sulfide ore bodies. The magnetic anomaly for this three dimensional model is calculated at several altitudes. 2.5 dimensional magnetic modelling is compared to actual survey data.

The results show that a typical anomaly consists of a northwest high coupled with a pronounced southeast low centered on the mineralized body. Total anomaly magnitudes measured at ground level are approximately one thousand gamma for a non-magnetic cylinder surrounded by rock with a magnetization of 10 x 10·4 emu/cm3.
The anomaly magnitudes are approximately an order of magnitude less at low-level aeromagnetic altitudes.

An attempt was made to apply these results to aeromagnetic data, which is available for most of the area of interest. Several major problems were encountered with this data. Explanations for these problems were investigated. After examining the strengths and weaknesses of these methods, an attempt is made to identify promising areas for future magnetic work.

Keywords:
Pages: 75
Supervisor:  James Hall