Enhanced resolution of geological structures from magnetic data: an example from the Abitibi Greenstone Belt of Northern Ontario

Structural information about that portion of the economically important Destor–Porcupine Deformation Zone and its associated faults, which lie buried under many metres of Clay Belt sediments in the region north of Matheson, Ontario, must rely principally on interpretation of geophysical data. In this area, the Archean greenstones of the Abitibi are crosscut by at least three generations of strongly magnetic diabase dykes. The predominant dyke set, the Matachewan, trend north–south, orthogonal to structures in the greenstones. Directional horizontal derivative analysis of the total magnetic field, which has a much sharper angular cutoff than that provided by standard Fourier-based filters, provides a method for separating the magnetic contributions from these two sources. This analysis revealed the existence of a previously unidentified fault (the Winslow fault) located to the north of, and parallel to, the economically significant Pipestone Fault. We also define a second new fault, the Carr fault, that is intimately associated with the existence of a buried felsic intrusive complex in Carr Township. Possible associations between these faults and previously known faults defined from surface mapping programs are explored.