1887

Abstract

Summary

A principal difficulty with the inversion of gravity data is the inherent non-uniqueness that exists in any geophysical method based upon a static potential field: since the gravity field is known only on the surface of the earth, there are infinitely many equivalent density distributions beneath the surface that will reproduce the known field.

However a proper manipulation of the recorded gravity anomaly together with an adequate choice of the model representation can turn the inversion of the potential-field data into a valid ally for the basement delineation as witnessed by a large number of publications.

Under certain assumptions, the method for the estimation of the depth of the basement can be adapted for salt-base delineation: this approach enables an integrated earth model building workflow that exploits the potential-field data library of the client to complement and, if needed, to disambiguate the seismic image.

A synthetic example based on a complex salt province is used to illustrate the modelling and inversion process, together with its outcomes.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/papers/10.3997/2214-4609.201700977
2017-06-12
2024-03-28
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Chakravarthi, V. and Sundararajan, N.
    [2007] 3D gravity inversion of basement relief - A depth-dependent density approach. Geophysics, 72(2), I23–I32.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Cordell, L.
    [1973] Gravity analysis using an exponential density-depth function-San Jacinto Graben, California. Geophysics, 38(4), 684–690.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Garcia-Abdeslem, J.
    [1992] Gravitational attraction of a rectangular prism with depth-dependent density. Geophysics, 57(3), 470–473.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Li, Y. and Oldenburg, D.W.
    [1998] 3-D inversion of gravity data. Geophysics, 63(1), pp.109–119.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Oldenburg, D.W.
    [1974] The inversion and interpretation of gravity anomalies. Geophysics, 39(4), 526–536.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Okabe, M.
    [1979] Analytical expressions for gravity anomalies due to homogeneous polyhedral bodies and translations into magnetic anomalies. Geophysics, 44(4), 730–741.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Pujol, J.
    [2007] The solution of nonlinear inverse problems and the Levenberg-Marquardt method. Geophysics, 72(4), W1–W16.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Saad, A.H.
    [2006] Understanding gravity gradients - A tutorial. The Leading Edge, 25(8), 942–949.
    [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/papers/10.3997/2214-4609.201700977
Loading
/content/papers/10.3997/2214-4609.201700977
Loading

Data & Media loading...

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error