A RECONCILIATION OF MATHEMATICAL MODELS FOR SPONTANEOUS MINERALIZATION POTENTIALS1

Abstract

AbstractTwo methods for computing spontaneous mineralization potentials in the region external to the source body are reviewed. The first of these is a long‐established technique in which the causation is assumed to be a distribution of simple current source on the boundary of the mineralization. The second is a more recent technique which assumes a surface distribution of current dipole moment (double layer) along the boundary of the source body.The former technique is a special case of a more general spontaneous potential (SP) model in which the source is a density of current dipole moment (current polarization) distributed throughout the mineralization. As far as the potentials in the region external to the source body are concerned this current polarization can be simply related to an equivalent double layer source function, i.e. the potential discontinuity produced over the boundary of the mineralization by an equivalent double layer model.This simple relationship suggests an integral equation technique for the exact numerical solution of boundary value problems appropriate to the polarization model for spontaneous mineralization potentials. The technique is applied to exploring the justification of interpreting mineralization self‐potentials by the traditional approach.