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Numerical Modeling of Marine Self-Potential from a Seafloor Hydrothermal Ore Deposit

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Abstract

The redox field generated by electrically conductive minerals is one of the main constituents of self-potentials. It can be explained by electrochemical reactions in which conductors participate. The location and outline of seafloor hydrothermal ore deposits can be detected using marine self-potential anomalies that can be approximated through a marine geobattery model. The numerical modeling of marine self-potentials could be the foundation of corresponding data inversion and interpretation and improving the application effect of the self-potential method in detecting seafloor hydrothermal ore deposits. In this study, the inert electrode model and the on-land geobattery model are introduced to build the marine geobattery model, and the finite-infinite element coupling method is derived to deal with the truncated boundary problem effectively. Also, two tests are conducted to study the effect of model parameters on ground self-potential anomalies. A seafloor sulfide deposit model is built to study the self-potential characteristics. The numerical modeling results suggest that the precision and efficiency of the coupled method are superior to that of the traditional finite element method. Self-potential anomalies are greatly affected by medium resistivity, complex terrain, and amplitudes of embedded redox fields. Gradient changes in embedded redox fields do not cause significant self-potential anomalies but lead to mutations of current sources. The self-potential anomaly from the sulfide deposit model shows that the self-potential method can be effectively used to explore seafloor hydrothermal deposits that accompany negative self-potential anomalies above the ore bodies. The coupled method is quite suitable for multi-source models such as self-potential models.

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Funding

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 41874145, 72088101).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geosciences and Info Physics, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China

    Jing Xie, Yi-an Cui, Meryem Fanidi, Lijuan Zhang, Youjun Guo, Yijian Luo & Jianxin Liu

  2. Hunan Key Laboratory of Non­Ferrous Resources and Geological Hazard Detection, Changsha, 410083, China

    Jing Xie, Yi-an Cui, Meryem Fanidi, Lijuan Zhang, Youjun Guo, Yijian Luo & Jianxin Liu

  3. Key Laboratory of Metalorganic Prediction of Nonferrous Metals and Geological Environment Monitoring (Central South University), Ministry of Education, Changsha, 410083, China

    Jing Xie, Yi-an Cui, Meryem Fanidi, Lijuan Zhang, Youjun Guo, Yijian Luo & Jianxin Liu

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  1. Jing Xie
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Xie, J., Cui, Ya., Fanidi, M. et al. Numerical Modeling of Marine Self-Potential from a Seafloor Hydrothermal Ore Deposit. Pure Appl. Geophys. 178, 1731–1744 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-021-02720-3

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