Application of the finite element method to gravity data case study: Western Turkey

Gravity anomalies always include the total effects (combination of the structures which have different densities and depths) of the study area and beyond. And the well-known non-uniqueness of potential field modelling may lead to very different interpretation results.The finite element method (FEM), which has been used in potential field interpretation for decades, makes complex problems to be solved easily and accurately. The first step of FEM is to identify the elements and then to decide on the boundary of the solution space. In this step, the solution space is divided into elements. After determination of the geometrical structure of the solution space, the most suitable elements should be chosen for this geometrical structure. The agreement between the geometry and the elements is quite important for the convergence to the best possible solution.In this work, the methods of trend analysis, filtering, analytical continuation and FEM were applied to a theoretical model and to gravity data from western Turkey to produce the regional and the residual anomalies. The results were compared and it was found that the FEM produced more accurate results than other methods did.