A gradient method for interpreting magnetic anomalies due to horizontal circular cylinders,infinite dykes and vertical steps

A new method of interpreting magnetic anomalies of arbitrarily-magnetised horizontal circular cylinders, dipping dykes and vertical steps is presented. The method makes use of both horizontal and vertical gradients of the magnetic field of the model under consideration, rather than the observed magnetic anomaly. Vertical and horizontal gradients are calculated from the observed anomalies, and plotted one against the other to find out the locus of tip of the resultant gradient vector. This locus is a symmetrical curve for each of the three models mentioned above. The properties of these curves are used to deduce the various parameters of these models and the direction of magnetisation.     

Crustal structure and sedimentation history over the Alleppey platform,southwest continental margin of India:Constraints from multichannel seismic and gravity data

The Alleppey Platform is an important morphological feature located in the Kerala-Konkan basin off the southwest coast of India. In the present study, seismic reflection data available in the basin were used to understand the sedimentation history and also to carry out integrated gravity interpretation. Detailed seismic reflection data in the basin reveals that:(1) the Alleppey Platform is associated with a basement high in the west of its present-day geometry(as observed in the time-structure map of the Trap Top(K/T boundary)),(2) the platform subsequently started developing during the Eocene period and attained the present geometry by the Miocene and,(3) both the Alleppey platform and the Vishnu fracture zone have had significant impact on the sedimentation patterns(as shown by the time-structure and the isochron maps of the major sedimentary horizons in the region). The 3-D sediment gravity effect computed from the sedimentary layer geometry was used to construct the crustal Bouguer anomaly map of the region.The 3-D gravity inversion of crustal Bouguer anomaly exhibits a Moho depression below the western border of the platform and a minor rise towards the east which then deepens again below the Indian shield. The 2-D gravity modelling across the Alleppey platform reveals the geometry of crustal extension,in which there are patches of thin and thick crust. The Vishnu Fracture Zone appears as a crustal-scale feature at the western boundary of the Alleppey platform. Based on the gravity model and the seismic reflection data, we suggest that the basement high to the west of the present day Alleppey platform remained as a piece of continental block very close to the mainland with the intervening depression filling up with sediments during the rifting. In order to place the Alleppey platform in the overall perspective of tectonic evolution of the Kerala-Konkan basin, we propose its candidature as a continental fragment.     

Characteristic curves for interpreting gravity anomalies of vertical cylinders and horizontal circular discs

Characteristic curves for the complete interpretation of a wide range of parameters of a vertical cylinder and a horizontal circular disc are presented. It is established that the distance of the inflexion point on the gravity profile of a vertical cylinder from the point of maximum anomaly [i.e. the origin] is approximately equal to the radius of the vertical cylinder, thus enabling one to demarcate the boundary of the vertical cylinder directly from the contour map based on the cluster of contours. Two gravity profiles, one across an anomalous zone in central Alberta, Canada and the other over Borsad area, India are interpreted by the curves presented and the results are shown.     

Random harvest： an anthology of editorials

Over the past two decades, whenever a copy of Journal of Geological Society of lndia has reached my hand, the first thing I have done is read the editorial. No matter what their topics are, these essays are never dull but lively and precise presentations of various earth science issues facing the developing countries and oftentimes the world as well.Coming from the pen of Dr. B. P. Radhakrishna,