Spectral study of the Bouguer anomaly map of a rift valley and adjacent areas in Central India

The spectral study of the Bouguer anomally map of Central India suggests an uplifted crust-mantle interface under the Mahandi graben. This study has delineated three subsurface levels of anomalous masses at the respective depths of 23 km, 8 km, and 2 km apparently representing the Moho, an intermediate discontinuity in the sialic part of the crust and the basement, respectively. Model study of the Bouguer anomaly along a profile suggests a typical continental graben type subsurface structure with a low density depression in the sialic part of the crust between 8 and 18 km supported by an elevated upper mantle of intermediate density (3.4 g/cm³) varying in depth from 25 km to 55 km. The depths of the inferred interfaces in case of Bundelkhand granite are 32 km, 11 km, and 1.5 km, which might represent the Moho, the base of intruded granite massif, and some shallow compositional variation. Similar studies in case of Vindhyan basin have brought out three discontinuities at the respective depths of 16 km, 6–4.5 km, and 2.4 km. The first horizon at the depth of 16 km probably represents the interface between the granitic and the basaltic part of the crust. The 6–4.5 km is the depth of the basement, with the 2.4 km interface separating Bijawar rocks from Vindhyans wherever they are present. A generalized inversion of a profile across a positive belt of Bouguer anomaly representing the subsurface Bijawar rocks support the above result.