Clarifying geological structure for coal and marsh gas development using magnetotelluric method

Abstract

Magnetotelluric (MT) and audio-magnetotelluric (AMT) methods were applied to clarify the deep geological structure in a coal-mining area in Kushiro, southeastern Hokkaido, Japan. These methods are effective in surveying to deep. Onedimensional inversion was applied to the measurement data obtained in the MT and AMT surveys to estimate the resistivity distributions in the study area. In addition, the one-dimensional inversion method was improved to obtain accurate results by including a smoothing factor and Akaike's Bayesian information criterion. The inversion method revealed that the lowresistivity zones at depths between 100 and 120 m below sea level correspond with the Yubetsu coal-bearing formation and clay layer, and the thickness of Cretaceous strata was estimated to be more than 4000 m. Finally, the dip of the Osotsunai fault was estimated.