1887
Volume 22, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 0812-3985
  • E-ISSN: 1834-7533

Abstract

Laboratory studies of the temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity of rock materials can be used to relate electrical conductivity to temperature in the Earth. Electrical conductivity models advanced for central and southeastern Australia are compared with profiles predicted from such laboratory measurements, and are then used to generate representative magnetotelluric response curves. The response curves differ sufficiently to give confidence in their use to detect gross conductivity changes at depth. Observed data from Broken Hill and Ivanhoe, NSW, are interpreted to indicate a temperature contrast in the upper mantle of some 200°C between these two sites (hotter to the east beneath Ivanhoe). The temperature at these large depths is a vital factor in constraining models of crustal underplating and intrusion.

© 1991 ASEG
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1991-03-01
2026-01-18

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References

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  4. Duba, A., Heard, H. C, and Schock, R. N. (1974). ‘Electrical conductivity of olivine at high pressure under controlled oxygen fugacity’. J. geophys. Res., 79, 1667-1673.
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  7. Lilley, F. E. M., Woods, D. V., and Sloane, M. N., (1981a). ‘Electrical conductivity from Australian magnetometer arrays using spatial gradient data’. Phys. Earth Planet. Inter., 25, 202-209.
  8. Lilley, F. E. M., Woods, D. V., and Sloane, M. N., (1981b). ‘Electrical conductivity profiles and implications for the absence or presence of partial melting beneath central and southeast Australia’. Phys. Earth Planet. Inter, 25, 419-428.
  9. Oldenburg, D. W., (1981). ‘Conductivity structure of oceanic upper mantle beneath the Pacific Plate’. Geophys. J. R astr. Soc, 65, 359-394.
  10. Sato, H., Sacks, I. S., and Murase, T, (1989). ‘The use of laboratory velocity data for estimating temperature and partial melt fraction in the low velocity zone: comparison with heat flow and electrical conductivity studies’. J. geophys. Res., 94, 5689-5704.
  11. Tyburczy, J. A., and Waff, H. S., (1983). ‘Electrical conductivity of molten basalt and andesite to 25 kilobars pressure: geophysical significance and implications for charge transport and melt structure’. J. geophys. Res., 88, 2413-2430.
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): Broken Hill; geothermal profiling; Ivanhoe; magnetotellurics

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