Effects of localized source currents on magnetotelluric responses of a flat earth and spherical earth

Shifts in magnetotelluric (MT) responses owing to localized source currents should be considered when visualizing deep subsurface resistivity structures such as the earth mantle. The earth is not flat but spherical; nevertheless, non-uniform geomagnetic temporal variations arising from localized source currents are evaluated on the basis of components in a Cartesian coordinate system. To address this issue, this study assesses the difference in source bias within MT responses of a flat earth and spherical earth. Apparent resistivity and phases are calculated by setting the time period and conductivity of the earth interior to 200/2000 s and 0.001 S/m, respectively, and by changing the vertical and horizontal distances between the source current and an observation station. A deviation in the biased MT responses of the flat earth and spherical earth is not observed although both shift strongly from the true values. We can thus treat the source bias in a Cartesian coordinate system although it originally arises in a spherical coordinate system.

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