Global-to-Cartesian 3-D EM modeling using a nested IE approach with application to long-period responses from island geomagnetic observatories

There is a significant interest in constraining the mantle conductivity beneath oceans. One of the main sources of data that can be used to reveal the conductivity distribution in the oceanic mantle are time-varying magnetic fields measured at island geomagnetic observatories. From these data local electromagnetic (EM) responses are estimated and then inverted in terms of conductivity. The challenge here is that island responses are strongly distorted by the ocean induction effect (OIE) originating from the lateral conductivity contrasts between the conductive ocean and resistive land. OIE is generally modeled by global simulations using relatively coarse grids (down to 0.25 degree resolution) to represent the bathymetry. Insufficiently accurate accounting for the OIE may lead to the wrong interpretation of the observed responses. We study whether the small-scale bathymetry features influence the island responses. To address this question we developed a global-to-Cartesian 3-D EM modeling framework based on a nested integral equation approach, which allows to efficiently account for the effects of high-resolution bathymetry. Two geomagnetic observatories, located in Indian (Cocos Island) and Pacific (Oahu Island) Oceans, are chosen to study the OIE in long-period responses. Numerical tests demonstrate that accounting of the very local bathymetry (down to 1 km resolution) dramatically change modeling results. Remarkably, the anomalous behavior of the imaginary parts of the responses at Cocos Island, namely, the change of sign at short periods, is reproduced by using highly detailed bathymetry.