The first magnetotelluric image of the lithospheric-scale geological architecture in central Svalbard, Arctic Norway

Abstract

Magnetotelluric data, collected from 30 stations on Spitsbergen as part of a reconnaissance geothermal resource assessment along a profile with 0.5Á3-km spacing in 0.003Á1000-s period range, were used to develop a lithospheric-scale two-dimensional (2D) resistivity model, heretofore unavailable for the region. Inverting the determinant of the impedance tensor in 2D, we found the smoothest model fitting the data within a specified tolerance level. We justified the model by perturbing it, performing sensitivity analysis and re-running the inversion with a different algorithm and starting models. From our final model, we constructed a crustal-scale stratigraphic framework, using it to estimate the depth of major geological features and to locate structural deformations. The 2D resistivity model indicates a shallow low resistive (B100 Vm) PaleozoicÁ Mesozoic sedimentary sequence, varying laterally in thickness (2Á4 km), obstructed by a gently dipping PermianÁCarboniferous succession (!1000 Vm) east of the Billefjorden Fault Zone. Underneath, a (possibly Devonian) basin is imaged as a thick conductive anomaly stretching !15 km downwards. Beneath a deformed PaleozoicÁMesozoic successions, an uplifted pre-Devonian shallow basement (!3000 Vm) is revealed. We estimated a thin lithosphere, in the range of ca. 55Á100 km thick, that could explain the area's elevated surface heat flow (ca. 60Á90 mW/m