Processing and interpretation of magnetic data in the Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian Sea: A review

With the rapid development of aeromagnetic (primarily uncrewed) methods for measuring the magnetic field, the possibility of detailed magnetic research in hard-to-reach mountainous areas, forested areas, swamp areas, desert areas, and water areas has emerged. The conditions for interpreting the magnetic field are most difficult due to the vector nature of the magnetic properties of rocks, the wide range of their properties, and the presence of residual magnetization. The physical and geological conditions of the territory of Azerbaijan are characterized by rugged terrain relief, inclined magnetization (~58°), and complex geological environments. Along with using a probabilistic approach, deterministic methods for solving inverse and direct problems of geophysics become of great importance since it is possible to identify relatively extended reference boundaries and analyze magnetic anomalies from separate bodies of relatively simple shape. The article briefly outlines the main stages of processing and interpreting magnetic data under complex environments. The theoretical examples discussed include a block diagram of various disturbances, interpretive models of thin and thick beds, an intermediate model, a thin horizontal plate, and a horizontal circular cylinder on the flat and inclined surfaces under inclined magnetization conditions. The process of assessing magnetization on sloping terrain relief is shown. The presented field examples for the Caucasus Mountains show the quantitative interpretation of aeromagnetic data at the Big Somalit and Guton sites (southern Greater Caucasus, Azerbaijan), a deep regional profile through the Lesser and Greater Caucasus, magnetic field studies in the area around the Saatly superdeep borehole (Middle Kur depression between the Greater and Lesser Caucasus), and 3D magnetic field modeling at the Gyzylbulag gold deposit (the Azerbaijani part of the Lesser Caucasus). In the Caspian Sea, we demonstrated the use of an information parameter to identify faults in the Bulla hydrocarbon field (Gulf of Baku) and, for the first time, obtained the relationship between the generalized aeromagnetic data (2.5 kilometers over the mean sea level) and the central area of the mud volcanoes distribution in Azerbaijan.