Avaliação da influência do eletrojato equatorial na interpretação de dados magnetotelúrico bidimensionais

Abstract

The magnetotelluric field in equatorial regions violates the plane wave condition due to a strongly concentrated electrical source of current in the ionosphere, called equatorial electrojet. In this thesis, it is analized the magnetotelluric reponses of electrical sources in order to simulates the effects of the equatorial electrojet. There were used two types of sources: an infinite current line and a gaussian distribuition of current density along one the horizontal cartisian coordenates. The apparent resistivities were computed using the Cagniard relationship and compared with the plane wave results. It was also carried out a comparison of the phase of the surface impedance for all three types of sources (plane wave, gaussian electrojet an line source). The differential equation of the models with lateral inhomogeneities were solved by the secundary field technique using the finite element method. The results show that the electrojet has minor influence in the MT responces (apparent resistivity and phase) of shallow geological structure. However, the effect can be very large in the case of deep strutures (more than 5000 m), mainly if their resistivities are larger than 100 Ωm. Therefore, the influence of the equatorial electrojet must be taken in consideration in the interpretation of the magnetotelluric data from sedimentary basins and from crustal studies.