Fractal-Based Computation of Heat Source Depths and Temperatures for the Soutpansberg Basin, South Africa

The fractal-based approach was used for computing magnetic depths and temperatures for the Soutpansberg Basin in South Africa. The average depth to the top Zt and basement depth Zo for the Soutpansberg Basin were 4.36 ± 0.28 km, 10.43 ± 0.65 km, respectively. The average temperature at depth Zt was 184.69 ± 7.66 ºC. Magnetic source depths and basal temperatures that were in the Curie point range were determined, to be within 20.35 km to 21.68 km and 549.34 ºC to 585.24 ºC, respectively. Increasing the value of the fractal parameter β from 0 to 4, had an effect of retaining deeper depths and higher temperatures. The fractal parameter values of β > 3 retained Curie point depths and temperatures that indicated basal rock types with an igneous predisposition. The fractal-based approach proved to be an improved technique as compared to the conventional centroid method.