Interpretation of Aeromagnetic Data to Locate Buried Faults in North of Zanjan Province, Iran

Zanjan Province is located in the North of Iran and known for its great mineral exploratory interest in zinc, lead and Fe, among others. In the years of 2011 and 2012, the geological survey of Iran performed an airborne magnetic survey over the whole of the province for the geological purposes. The horizontal gradients and the 3-D Euler deconvolution have been applied to the aeromagnetic data from the North part of the Province to delineate the subsurface lineaments. Determination of the magnitude maxima of the horizontal gradients of the residual magnetic intensity field allowed the production of a structural map showing the fault systems for the study area. The suggested source depths are in the range of 800 to 4000 m. These results reveal deep tectonic features, which up to date were unknown. This work emphasizes the importance of the role of the magnetic method and analysis to better understand the geological structures.