Detection of major geological structures in the Eastern offshore of India using Geosat altimeter data

Satellite altimetry can be used to infer subsurface geological structures analogous to gravity anomaly maps generated through ship-borne survey. The Eastern offshore was taken up for analysis using Geosat Exact Repeat Mission (ERM) altimeter data. A methodology is developed to use altimeter data as an aid to offshore hydrocarbon exploration. Processing of altimeter data involves corrections for various atmospheric and oceanographic effects, stacking and averaging of repeat passes, cross-over correction, removal of deeper earth and bathymetric effects, spectral analysis and conversion into free-air gravity anomaly. The final processed results were derived for Eastern offshore in the form of prospecting geoid and gravity anomaly maps and their spectral components. The highs and lows observed in those maps were derived in terms of a number of prominent megastructures e.g., gravity linears, 85°E and 90°E ridges, the Andaman trench complex etc. Satellite-derived gravity profiles along 12°N latitude match well with the existing structures.