Structural Mapping of Kakobola and Its Surroundings by Analyzing Geomagnetic Data

Abstract

This study focuses on the Kakobola region and its surroundings where cavities discovered in its basement may represent a major risk for the hydroelectric dam erected on the Lufuku River near the Kakobola city and the civil engineering works in the study area. In order to deepen the studies related to this understudied region and provide decision-makers with information that will enable them to make the necessary and appropriate decisions regarding the development of this area, a study based on the analysis of geomagnetic data was carried out using certain methods revealing more shallow than deep structures, and others highlighting the limits of both shallower and deeper structures. Total magnetic anomalies and reduced to equator (RTE) magnetic anomalies were used to map the subsurface of the Kakobola region and its surroundings. In order to detect the edges of magnetized structures, the horizontal gradient magnitude (HGM), the analytic signal (AS), the horizontal gradient of tilt angle (HGTA), the tilt angle (TA), the theta map (TM), the enhanced total horizontal derivative of the tilt angle (ETHDR), the tilt angle of the horizontal gradient (TAHG), and the tilt angle of analytic signal (TAAS) were used. The study area is characterized by two areas of low values of magnetic anomalies and two other sources of high magnetic anomalies located in the bed and the neighborhood of the two major rivers in the region. The shallow sources of magnetic anomalies are lying in the bed and the vicinity of the same rivers in the study area. The magnetic sources in the study area are connected and almost linear. Several magnetic lineaments identified in this region by different methods present several preferential directions, but the most predominant directions are NE-SW, NW-SE, W-E and NE-SW.