Aeromagnetics of southern Alberta within areas of hydrocarbon accumulation

In this study the Cypress Hills aeromagnetic survey of southern Alberta has been used to deduce if any relationship exists between hydrocarbon pools and the observed total magnetic field. To examine this hypothesis it was necessary first to eliminate a large percentage of the signal that is believed to have originated from other geological, cultural and instrumentation sources. Separation of individual source contributions was defined on the basis of amplitude and wave number. The result is a magnetic image where the features of interest have amplitudes that are predominantly in the single digit to sub-nanoTesla range. Several features of the resulting residual magnetic field seem to be common to a majority of the hydrocarbon pools. These commonalities are: (1) the long axis of the pool appears to be coincident with the strike of the basement-sourced magnetic signal. (2) Hydrocarbon pools encompass areas of broad low amplitude magnetic anomalies.(3) Cross-cutting fractures or faulting systems are located within areas of a majority of hydrocarbon pools. (4) Pools are associated with linear and/or curvilinear magnetic lineaments a great number of which have topographic expression.