AEROMAGNETIC AND GEOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION OF A SECTION OF THE APPALACHIAN BELT IN CANADA

Abstract

Studies were made of total field aeromagnetic data over an area covering a section of the Appalachian belt in eastern Canada. This area is bounded by latitudes 45 °N and 47°40′ N and longitudes 62°30′ W and 67 °W. The residual magnetic values were filtered analytically in order to accentuate the effects of regional tectonic trends in the area. The second vertical derivative values were evaluated for outlining the contacts of magnetized geological formations with a reasonable degree of accuracy. Results of the analysis of the Bouguer anomaly map for the area seemed to correspond well with the tectonic trends indicated by the aeromagnetic data. Sixty-five anomalies were chosen from the residual and filtered maps to determine the following parameters of the causative bodies: (1) intensity of polarization; (2) direction-cosines of the polarization vector; and (3) depths to the top and bottom of the bodies.The picture of the pre-Carboniferous basement, as inferred from aeromagnetic data, is that of a valley and ridge configuration characterized by a series of subparallel, elongated basement blocks with relative vertical displacements. The basement blocks are bounded by major fault systems, known or inferred, mostly of pre-Carboniferous age. These blocks are aligned mostly in the direction of major tectonic trend in the area. The details of subsurface Basement topography are discussed on the basis of the results of interpretation of aeromagnetic data. Most interesting of all is a belt of high magnetic intensity running roughly in a NW–SE direction over the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Prince Edward Island. It has been suggested that this belt is caused by a pre-Taconic topographic high, or alternatively, by a pre-Carboniferous basement high bounded by fault zones subparallel with the fault system under the Cabot Strait.