Lithospheric structures across the Qiman Tagh and western Qaidam Basin revealed by magnetotelluric data collected using a self-developed SEP system

Geophysics offers an important means to investigate the physical processes occurring inside the earth. In particular, since the 1960s, electromagnetic (EM) methods have played important roles in mineral exploration and engineering investigation. Such investigation requires extensive data acquisition and experimental analysis based on geophysical techniques. However, high-performance geophysical equipment, particularly EM exploration equipment, has been dominated by large geophysical companies from the United States, Canada, Germany, and other European countries for decades. This has limited the development of deep exploration technology in China. Recently, we have developed a high-resolution acquisition system with a wireless control unit and a high-power transmitting system for surface EM prospecting (SEP). The new system has been tested in the high-intensity, noisy environment in Jian-sanjiang area, Heilongjiang Province. We then conducted a field survey on the western edge of Qaidam Basin, Qinghai Province. A highly conductive anomaly was found in the upper mantle below the Qinmantage Mountains, which indicates a possible northward fluid channel that runs from below the Qinmantage Mountains to the bottom of the western crust of the Qaidam Basin. Identification of this significant feature was made possible by the new SEP for its better resolution than the previous systems. Also, geophysical analysis confirmed that the thick Cenozoic sediments of the Qaidam Basin are underlain by rigid Precambrian basement rocks and are characterized by a series of folds. The resistivity profile indicates that the Qaidam Basin was formed due to the folding structures in the northern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau which provided an additional evidence for the uplifting of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.