Source biases in midlatitude magnetotelluric transfer functions due to Pc3-4 geomagnetic pulsations

The magnetotelluric (MT) method for imaging the electrical conductivity structure of the Earth is based on the assumption that source magnetic fields can be considered quasi-uniform, such that the spatial scale of the inducing source is much larger than the intrinsic length scale of the electromagnetic induction process (the skin depth). Here, we show using EarthScope MT data that short spatial scale source magnetic fields from geomagnetic pulsations (Pc’s) can violate this fundamental assumption. Over resistive regions of the Earth, the skin depth can be comparable to the short meridional range of Pc3-4 disturbances that are generated by geomagnetic field-line resonances (FLRs). In such cases, Pc’s can introduce narrow-band bias in MT transfer function estimates at FLR eigenperiods (~ 10–100 s). Although it appears unlikely that these biases will be a significant problem for data inversions, further study is necessary to understand the conditions under which they may distort inverse solutions.[graphic not available: see fulltext]