A gravity study of the precambrian rocks in the malumfashi area of Kaduna State, Nigeria

Gravity measurements in the Malumfashi area of Nigeria show large negative Bouguer anomalies ranging from — 33 mGal to — 65 mGal and free-air anomalies distributed about a mean of +15 mGal. A regional anomaly ranging from about −56 mGal in the southwestern part to about −44 mGal in the northeastern part of the area is tentatively correlated with a gradual thinning of the crust from southwest to northeast.Negative residual anomalies in the area correlate well with granite bodies thus confirming the acidic (low density) nature of the Older Granites. Positive residual anomalies of values up to about +12 mGal are associated with the schist bodies in the area. From two-dimensional modelling using approximate density values, it is estimated that the schists in the area vary in thickness from 4 to 5 km and the granite bodies have thicknesses of the order of 4 km.High-gravity gradients of up to 6 mGal/km at some contact areas between the schists and granitic bodies are attributed to sharp contacts and magmatic sloping is thought to be the most likely mode of emplacement of the granites in the area. The Bouguer anomalies observed over the schists have a maximum of only − 34 mGal. These values are considered too low to allow the existence of more mafic rocks at depth and the schists in the Malumfashi area are therefore believed to have evolved in an ensialic environment.     

西藏朗县秀沟铬铁矿高精度重磁勘探效果

2010年笔者完成了西藏朗县秀沟工区1∶5 000高精度重磁勘探,重力测量总精度达0.069 4 mGal。根据岩矿石物性特征建立了铬铁矿地球物理模型与找矿标志。局部重力高异常0.1～0.6 mGal、宽度几十米至一二百米,并且磁异常中等强度、反向磁化的重磁异常组合特征是识别铬铁矿的标志;局部重力高异常带与环状镶边的正磁异常带的组合特征是识别超基性岩带的标志。运用小波分析提取铬铁矿与超基性岩体局部重磁异常,倾斜角(tilt-angle)法识别岩体边界,Paker法密度填图及2.5D交互反演推断了蛇纹石化橄榄岩的范围及14个铬铁矿与矿化体的重磁远景异常,其中6个远景异常已经得到证实。指出在西藏进行铬铁矿勘探,不仅要求野外施工精度高,而且要求室内处理解释工作精细,应充分运用各种数据处理的新方法技术,才能够获得良好的地质效果。     

菲律宾Zambales蛇绿岩套的再研究：对其特提斯来源的启示

A number of geological studies have already been conducted on the Zambales Ophiolite Complex (ZOC), a north-south trending complete ophiolite sequence exposed in the western portion of Central Luzon, Philippines. Previous works recognized the ZOC as being made up of two blocks, the Acoje and the Coto, acting as an arc-back arc pair sometime during the Eocene.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987113000546

In the eastern part of the Indian shield,late PaleozoiceMesozoic sedimentary rocks of the Talchir Basin lie precisely along a contact of Neoproterozoic age between granulites of the Eastern Ghats Mobile Belt(EGMB)and amphibolite facies rocks of the Rengali Province.At present,the northern part of the basin experiences periodic seismicity by reactivation of faults located both within the basin,and in the Rengali Province to the north.Detailed gravity data collected across the basin show that Bouguer anomalies decrease from the EGMB(wt15 mGal),through the basin(w 10 mGal),into the Rengali Province(w 15 mGal).The data are consistent with the reportedly uncompensated nature of the EGMB,and indicate that the crust below the Rengali Province has a cratonic gravity signature.The contact between the two domains with distinct sub-surface structure,inferred from gravity data,coincides with the North Orissa Boundary Fault(NOBF)that defnes the northern boundary of the Talchir Basin.Post-Gondwana faults are also localized along the northern margin of the basin,and present-day seismic tremors also have epicenters close to the NOBF.This indicates that the NOBF was formed by reactivation of a Neoproterozoic terrane boundary,and continues to be susceptible to seismic activity even at the present-day.     

Structure of the lithosphere below the southern margin of the East European Craton (Ukraine and Russia) from gravity and seismic data

The present study was undertaken with the objective of deriving constraints from available geological and geophysical data for understanding the tectonic setting and processes controlling the evolution of the southern margin of the East European Craton (EEC). The study area includes the inverted southernmost part of the intracratonic Dnieper-Donets Basin (DDB)–Donbas Foldbelt (DF), its southeastern prolongation along the margin of the EEC–the sedimentary succession of the Karpinsky Swell (KS), the southwestern part of the Peri-Caspian Basin (PCB), and the Scythian Plate (SP). These structures are adjacent to a zone, along which the crust was reworked and/or accreted to the EEC since the late Palaeozoic. In the Bouguer gravity field, the southern margin of the EEC is marked by an arc of gravity highs, correlating with uplifted Palaeozoic rocks covered by thin Mesozoic and younger sediments. A three-dimensional (3D) gravity analysis has been carried out to investigate further the crustal structure of this area. The sedimentary succession has been modelled as two heterogeneous layers—Mesozoic–Cenozoic and Palaeozoic—in the analysis. The base of the sedimentary succession (top of the crystalline Precambrian basement) lies at a depth up to 22 km in the PCB and DF–KS areas. The residual gravity field, obtained by subtracting the gravitational effect of the sedimentary succession from the observed gravity field, reveals a distinct elongate zone of positive anomalies along the axis of the DF–KS with amplitudes of 100–140 mGal and an anomaly of 180 mGal in the PCB. These anomalies are interpreted to reflect a heterogeneous lithosphere structure below the supracrustal, sedimentary layers: i.e., Moho topography and/or the existence of high-density material in the crystalline crust and uppermost mantle. Previously published data support the existence of a high-density body in the crystalline crust along the DDB axis, including the DF, caused by an intrusion of mafic and ultramafic rocks during Late Palaeozoic rifting. A reinterpretation of existing Deep Seismic Sounding (DSS) data on a profile crossing the central KS suggests that the nature of a high-velocity/density layer in the lower crust (crust–mantle transition zone) is not the same as that of below the DF. Rather than being a prolongation of the DDB–DF intracratonic rift zone, the present analysis suggests that the KS comprises, at least in part, an accretionary zone between the EEC and the SP formed after the Palaeozoic.     

Terrain correction computations by spherical harmonics and integral formulas

This contribution investigates three methods for terrain correction computations. Two integral formulas proposed by Moritz and by Vaníc̆ek and Kleusberg and a spherical harmonics presentation developed to the third power of terrain elevation by Nahavandchi and Sjöberg have been used in this study. The comparison of these approaches shows large differences in a test area in Sweden. The range of the Vaníc̆ek and Kleusberg's direct terrain correction (−36 to 21 mGal) is substantially larger than Moritz (0 to 17 mGal) and spherical harmonics (−550 to 259 μGal) approaches. The indirect effect ranges from −4.8 cm to 8.7 cm in integral formula while it is found to be 4.2–6.9 cm by spherical harmonics presentation. Numerical results also show that some long- wavelength contributions might be missing in integral formulas while they are present in spherical harmonics method. However, some short wavelength features are obviously missing in spherical harmonics method. We conclude that a compromise between these two methods has to be in order. The new formula has to represent both local information and long-wavelength contributions.     

Seismic velocity structure and gravity anomalies: a comparison

The question was examined as to whether the same gravity anomaly is produced for a range of crustal velocity structures all of which produce similar seismic record sections. The results indicate that the maximum errors in the computed gravity anomalies for the various velocity structures is around 20–30 mGal for some models and is around 50 mGal for many others. A major source of error is underestimating the effect of a seismic low-velocity zone which is at one end of the correct velocity structure and which was not detected by several of the interpretations presented at a recent workshop. If no low-velocity layer is included, the error in the gravity anomaly is 30 mGal. The choice of a particular velocity-density relationship does not seem to be a serious problem in the analysis, except for the case of the low-velocity zone, as long as we use a continuous velocity-density curve.     

The crustal structure of the Guayana Shield, Venezuela, from seismic refraction and gravity data

We present results from a seismic refraction experiment on the northern margin of the Guayana Shield performed during June 1998, along nine profiles of up to 320 km length, using the daily blasts of the Cerro Bolívar mines as energy source, as well as from gravimetric measurements. Clear Moho arrivals can be observed on the main E–W profile on the shield, whereas the profiles entering the Oriental Basin to the north are more noisy. The crustal thickness of the shield is unusually high with up to 46 km on the Archean segment in the west and 43 km on the Proterozoic segment in the east. A 20 km thick upper crust with P-wave velocities between 6.0 and 6.3 km/s can be separated from a lower crust with velocities ranging from 6.5 to 7.2 km/s. A lower crustal low velocity zone with a velocity reduction to 6.3 km/s is observed between 25 and 25 km depth. The average crustal velocity is 6.5 km/s. The changes in the Bouguer Anomaly, positive (30 mGal) in the west and negative (−20 mGal) in the east, cannot be explained by the observed seismic crustal features alone. Lateral variations in the crust or in the upper mantle must be responsible for these observations.     

Formation of diapiric structure in the deformation zone,central Indian Ocean: A model from gravity and seismic reflection data

Analyses of bathymetry, gravity and seismic reflection data of the diffusive plate boundary in the central Indian Ocean reveal a new kind of deformed structure besides the well-reported structures of long-wavelength anticlinal basement rises and high-angle reverse faults. The structure (basement trough) has a length of about 150 km and deepens by up to 1 km from its regional trend (northward dipping). The basement trough includes a rise at its center with a height of about 1.5km. The rise is about 10 km wide with rounded upper surface and bounded by vertical faults. A broad freeair gravity low of about 20 mGal and a local high of 8 mGal in its center are associated with the identified basement trough and rise structure respectively. Seismic results reveal that the horizontal crustal compression prevailing in the diffusive plate boundary might have formed the basement trough possibly in early Pliocene time. Differential loading stresses have been generated from unequal crust/sediment thickness on lower crustal and upper mantle rocks. A thin semi-ductile serpentinite layer existing near the base of the crust that is interpreted to have been formed at mid-ocean ridge and become part of the lithosphere, may have responded to the downward loading stresses generated by the sediments and crustal rocks to inject the serpentinites into the overlying strata to form a classic diapiric structure.     

Gravity and height changes in the ocean-continent transition zone in western Colombia

Crustal studies in western Colombia, by deep seismic, gravity and geomagnetic surveys, during the last two decades have revealed an extremely anomalous crustal structure as compared to the South American Andes further south. Strong gravity gradients and differences in seismic velocities showed a transition from oceanic to continental character between the Western and Central Andes.

Measured gravity and height variations of opposite sign and lengths of 50 to 100 km on three east-west running profiles correlate surprisingly well with the typical positive Bouguer anomaly of the Western Andes which represents an isostatic instability. A gravity decrease of 0.5–1.0 mGal on two profiles and an increase on an intermediate one and corresponding ratios of gravity to apparent height variations of nearly −20 mGal/m are interpreted as consequences of deep-seated density variations. They may be related to collision tectonics and recent obduction processes between aseismic ridges riding on the Pacific Nazca plate and the continent.     

CRUSTAL CONFIGURATION OF NW HIMALAYA: EVIDENCES FROM THE ISOSTATIC AND FLEXURAL ANALYSIS OF GRAVITY DATA

CRUSTAL CONFIGURATION OF NW HIMALAYA: EVIDENCES FROM THE ISOSTATIC AND FLEXURAL ANALYSIS OF GRAVITY DATA     

Seismicity, gravity anomalies and lithospheric structure of the Andaman arc, NE Indian Ocean

The Andaman arc in the northeastern Indian Ocean defines nearly 1100 km long active plate margin between the India and Burma plates where an oblique Benioff zone develops down to 200 km depth. Several east-trending seismologic sections taken across the Andaman Benioff Zone (ABZ) are presented here to detail the subduction zone geometry in a 3-D perspective. The slab gravity anomaly, computed from the 3-D ABZ configuration, is a smooth, long-wavelength and symmetric gravity high of 85 mGal amplitude centering to the immediate east of the Nicobar Island, where, a prominent gravity “high” follows the Nicobar Deep. The Slab-Residual Gravity Anomaly (SRGA) and Mantle Bouguer Anomaly (MBA) maps prepared for the Andaman plate margin bring out a double-peaked SRGA “low” in the range of − 150 to − 240 mGal and a wider-cum-larger MBA “low” having the amplitude of − 280 to − 315 mGal demarcating the Andaman arc–trench system. The gravity models provide evidences for structural control in propagating the rupture within the lithosphere. The plate margin configuration below the Andaman arc is sliced by the West Andaman Fault (WAF) as well as by a set of sympathetic faults of various proportions, often cutting across the fore-arc sediment package. Some of these fore-arc thrust faults clearly give rise to considerably high post-seismic activity, but the seismic incidence along the WAF further east is comparatively much less particularly in the north, although, the lack of depth resolution for many of the events prohibits tracing the downward continuity of these faults. Tectonic correlation of the gravity-derived models presented here tends to favour the presence of oceanic crust below the Andaman–Nicobar Outer Arc Ridge.     

Subsurface structure derived from detailed gravity and magnetic investigations along the Pala-Maneri traverse of the Main Central Thrust,NW Himalaya

A detailed, integrated gravity and magnetic study across the Main Central Thrust (MCT) along the Pala-Maneri traverse in Uttaranchal, NW Himalaya was carried out. The gravity data was acquired using a CG-3 gravity meter with an accuracy of 0.005 mGal, while magnetic data was acquired using a proton precession magnetometer with a station interval of 20 m. Data was collected along a 11.7 km, NE-SW traverse from Pala to Maneri along the proposed route of a hydroelectric headrace tunnel. The measured variation in the gravity field was approximately 70 mGal, with two prominent highs recorded at distances of 0.5 km, 7.5 km and lows at 3.0 km, 10.5 km from Maneri. The gravity highs can be attributed to presence of high-density rocks along the thrust planes. The sharp gravity low recorded at 10.5 km distance possibly indicates a sympathetic fault of the MCT that is highly saturated with fluids (water). The broad gravity low between 2.5 km and 4.0 km distance is likely to represent the gravity signature of the MCT itself. The measured variation in the magnetic field was approximately 285 nT. The associated gravity and magnetic signatures located several faults along the traverse including presence of the MCT at Kumaltigad.     

中国南海卫星重力数据Butterworth滤波处理

通过对重力模型数据进行Butterworth滤波处理,发现该方法对高频噪声具有很好的滤波效果。对Geosat和ERS—1卫星提供的重力数据进行了网格化和Butterworth滤波处理,得到中国南海自由空气重力异常值为-42~89 m Gal。经与GRACE卫星提供的数据进行比较,发现该方法得到的结果具有更好的精度和分辨率。     

Flexural modeling of the neoproterozoic Araguaia belt,central Brazil

Flexural modeling of bending of the southern and southeastern borders of the Amazon lithospheric plate under the western border of the Goiás Massif and western Parnaı́ba basin was constrained by 1070 gravity stations between 5°–14°S and 46°–52.5°W. Topography and aeromagnetic data were also used to estimate the loads of the Araguaia thrust belt. A sequence of Bouguer gravity anomaly lows (−80 to −40 mGal) is located over the Araguaia thrust belt and Cenozoic sediments of the Ilha do Bananal basin. Bouguer anomalies over the Amazon craton, to the west of the thrust belt, are higher than −20 mGal. Towards the east, over the Goiás Massif, the São Francisco craton and the Paleozoic to Mesozoic Parnaı́ba basin, anomalies range from −70 to −20 mGal. Comparison between topography and gravity along profiles perpendicular to the cratonic borders and across the Araguaia thrust belt shows that the long-wavelength gravity anomalies are best explained by bending of the Amazon plate caused by loads such as the observed topography, the thrust-sheets of the Araguaia belt and the remnants of ancient island-arc system in the Goiás massif. The thickness of the Araguaia thrust belt together with the Cenozoic sediments was estimated using aeromagnetic data and it ranges from 6 to 8 km. This load was used to calculate the minimum effective elastic thickness T_e for the Amazon plate. T_e=80 km was estimated by comparing the observed Bouguer anomalies with the gravity anomalies caused by bending of the crust-mantle interface of a broken elastic plate model. These results support the proposition that the Araguaia belt formed during the collision and suture of the Amazon and the São Francisco lithospheric plates, in late Proterozoic times.     

The boundary between stable and unstable shelf in Iraq as inferred from using ideal gravity to elevation ratio

The line of complete compensation, the ideal value for the ratio of gravity to elevation (?0.11 mGal/m) in Iraq, is obtained using gravity data derived from 477 stations. This line is found to separate the stable shelf from unstable shelf. It is also confirmed with the western limit of the basin as shown on the structural map that is constructed at the base of Al-Fath (L-Fars) formation (M. Miocene). The obtained line coincides with the thinnest crustal line shown on the crustal thickness map of Iraq. It is believed that this line may also define the thinnest sedimentary cover in Iraq. The obtained result can be a useful template for a tectonic view of Iraq.     

Interpretation of high-accuracy gravity exploration data by mathematic programming

Nonlinear (exponential) regularities of the variation in the density of the rocks from coeval sedimentary complexes are presented. A series of direct and inverse tasks with and without consideration of the vertical density gradient were solved for the detailed and high-accuracy gravity exploration typical of petroleum geology. It was concluded that an increase in accuracy of a gravity survey better than ±0.20 mGal is of doubtful value if there is no possibility to create and account for the petrodensity dependences σ(Z). The lateral variability of the lithophysical properties of petroleum complexes of local objects is characterized. Algorithms of mathematic programming and the method of 3D geodensity modeling of the objects searched for using seismic exploration are suggested. The inverse linear tasks of high-accuracy gravity exploration are solved by a near-real model universal in complexity, which allowed us to reveal and contour noncompact (highly porous) lithofacies. Within the accepted model, the 3D task of the high-accuracy gravity exploration was solved for the Verkhnenysh gas condensate deposit in Sakhalin.     

航空重力异常估计方法研究

探讨、研究了航空重力异常估计方法,基于卡尔曼滤波平滑技术,研制了航空重力异常估计软件。研究表明:采用该软件进行重力异常估计,与引进的GT-1A系统软件的数据处理结果相比,其差值的标准偏差在1 mGal之内。     

Gravity Field and Subsurface Geometry of the Kalpatta Granite, South India and the Tectonic Significance

The Kalpatta granite, of Pan-African age occurs in the southern granulite terrain of Peninsular India. Bouguer anomaly map of the Kalpatta and adjoining areas reveals a gravity low of 8–10 mGal centered over the Kalpatta granite and a minor low of 4–6 mGal over the adjacent Ambalavayal granite pluton. The residual anomaly map prepared for the Kalpatta granite has been utilized to obtain depth extent and 3-D geometry of the pluton. The analysis suggests that the Kalpatta granite is an elliptical and somewhat pear shaped body with horizontal dimensions of 6–11 km and extending to a depth of 6.5km, has steeply inward dipping contacts and the shape seen on the surface continues throughout its depth. The smooth oval shape could indicate low ductility contrast, deeper level of emplacement and permissive nature of the pluton. The 3-D depth model indicates an oblique section with much deeper levels exposed in the south, in other words, the crustal block encompassing the pluton has suffered a NNW tilt during uplift after the emplacement. It is further inferred that there was no post intrusive shape modification, the NW tilting of the region and denudation gave rise to the present outcrop pattern of the body.     

Variscan Sn–W–Mo metallogeny in the gravity picture of the Krušné hory/Erzgebirge granite batholith (Central Europe)

Late Variscan wolframite (± molybdenite) and cassiterite–wolframite greisen, skarn and vein deposits occur in a close spatial association with the granites of the Krušné hory/Erzgebirge batholith (KHEB) in Central Europe. We examined the distribution of the deposits in relation to the gravity field affected by Late Variscan granites using the data from previous gravity and metallogenic studies. Late Variscan granites are differentiated into earlier biotite monzogranites (low-F granites) and later biotite or lithium mica syenogranites (high-F granites) in accordance with the previous classifications. All the outcrops of granites in the KHEB region and their hidden continuation are confined to the Bouguer anomaly contour of − 20 mGal. The Sn–W–Mo (rare metal) deposits and occurrences are within the gravity contour of − 30 mGal with the exception of the Grossschirma stratiform tin deposit in the Freiberg polymetallic ore district. We constructed a geological model based on the gravity data along two profiles across the KHEB showing the position of some rare metal deposits and of outcropping and hidden granite bodies. The models show that the overlapping of earlier and later granites is in the areas of the most intense regional gravity minima. These coincide with the Eastern Volcano-Plutonic Complex (Altenberg minimum), which encloses large volumes of felsic extrusives, microgranite dikes and granites, and the Western Plutonic Complex (Eibenstock minimum), with small volumes of felsic dikes and predominance of earlier and later granites, with no extrusives preserved. There is no distinct relationship between the masses of Late Variscan granites and the distribution and the sizes of associated W ± Mo and Sn–W deposits. We prefer the idea that rare metal mineralization was formed by hydrothermal fluids derived from outside of presently outcropping granites. It originated in two cycles: one connected with the formation of earlier granites producing W ± Mo associations and the other one associated with later granites connected with Sn–W mineralization. Mineralizing fluids were probably generated by mantle–crustal interaction in the crust near the mantle–crust boundary as also indicated by lamprophyric intrusions coeval with the Late Variscan granitic magmatism.