Mapping basement structures in the northwestern offshore of Abu Dhabi from high‐resolution aeromagnetic data

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper presents a case study of mapping basement structures in the northwestern offshore of Abu Dhabi using high‐resolution aeromagnetic data. Lineament analysis was carried out on the derivatives of the reduced‐to‐the‐pole magnetic data, along with supporting information from published geologic data. The lineament analysis suggests three well‐defined basement trends in the north–south, northeast–southwest, and northwest–southeast directions. The reduced‐to‐the‐pole magnetic data reveal high positive magnetic anomalies hypothesized to be related to intra‐basement bodies in the deep seated Arabian Shield. Depth to basement was estimated using spectral analysis and Source Parameter Imaging techniques. The spectral analysis suggests that the intruded basement blocks are at the same average depth level (around 8.5 km). The estimated Source Parameter Imaging depths from gridded reduced‐to‐the‐pole data are ranged between 4 km and 12 km with a large depth variation within small distances. These estimated depths prevent a reliable interpretation of the nature of the basement relief. However, low‐pass filtering of the horizontal local wavenumber data across two profiles shows that the basement terrain is characterized by a basin‐like structure trending in the northeast–southwest direction with a maximum depth of 10 km. Two‐dimensional forward magnetic modelling across the two profiles suggests that the high positive magnetic anomalies over the basin could be produced by intrusion of mafic igneous rocks with high susceptibility values (0.008 to 0.016 SI.