Geomagnetic field anomalies over the Lombok Island region: an attempt to understand the local tectonic changes

Abstract

During the last years, several investigations on the earthquakes and related tectonic structures along the Java Trench have been conducted. In this study, we focus on the Lombok Island—West Nusa Tenggara (Indonesia), which lies between the centres of the highest intensity of contiguous negative–positive geomagnetic anomalies in this region. The geological and tectonic structures, however, are not known in detail for this island, whereas a better knowledge of these conditions could lead to better estimate the potential earthquake risks and thus a possible improvement of the existing early warning system. We have performed a ground-based geomagnetic survey at 56 stations in the Lombok Island during October–November 2006 for a detailed mapping and interpretation of geomagnetic anomalies related to the geological and tectonic characteristics. The 2D and 3D magnetic maps show a general geomagnetic anomaly pattern in the Lombok Island which consists of repeated contiguous negative–positive anomalies. Two forward models have been proposed for a profile connecting a strongest apparent dipolar structure. The first model assumes a uniformly magnetized sphere as the source of the anomaly, and could be interpreted as a specific local structure composed by a quite large magnetic body. The second model considers several rocks with different susceptibilities and magnetizations, and could be interpreted as a discontinuity in the geological structures. This model agrees with the local geological surface conditions and the known large scale regional tectonic structure. Therefore, it is used to interpret our results in terms of tectonic characteristics, which suggests the potential existence of a new tectonic element (e.g. a local normal fault) in this region.