Mapping possible subsurface granitic bodies in the northeastern Taiwan mountain belt using the VLF-EM method

Large gneiss bodies have been reported in the metamorphic complex in northern and eastern Taiwan for decades. Some of them are cut or intruded by granitic pegmatite dikes. However, increasing evidence suggests that the gneiss bodies are more likely to be granites or meta-granites. To validate the existence of the granites/meta-granites and propose their potential distribution in the metamorphic complex of northeastern Taiwan, a geological reconnaissance along with a crooked long-distance VLF-EM survey line of 19 km and a 4.4 km controlled experimental line were conducted in the Hoping geological area of the northeastern Taiwan mountain belt. The VLF-EM data were initially processed by using the Fraser linear filter and a nonlinear filtering method based on the ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) technique to enhance the signal and to evaluate the data quality. A skin-depth added Karous–Hjelt filter was performed to generate the equivalent current density model. With the aid of the 3-D topographic representation, the equivalent current density model clearly indicates that a vast area of granites/meta-granites in the survey area is highly possible. In spite of a large uncertainty of the pseudo-quantitative model, the geological implication of our finding agrees with the tectonic framework that Taiwan and the adjacent southern Ryukyu arc system could be part of the rifted China continental margin before the collision of the Luzon and Ryukyu arcs started in late Cenozoic.

► Crooked long-distance VLF-EM survey lines were conducted in northeastern Taiwan.
► Nonlinear filtering method is incorporated into the data processing.
► Results indicate that a vast area of granitic bodies in the survey area is possible.
► Taiwan could be part of the rifted China continental margin.