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Gravity Method - Non Seismic Method

Gravity surveying measures variations in the gravitational field at Earth's surface. Gravity is influenced by mass distribution and density variations within the Earth. Gravity decreases with increasing latitude and elevation due to Earth's oblate spheroid shape and centrifugal forces. Gravity also varies with time due to tides and atmospheric/hydrologic changes. Density anomalies below the surface cause local gravity variations that can be mapped to infer subsurface geology. The geoid is an equipotential surface that approximates mean sea level.

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Dana Hlaine Htet
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41 views

Gravity Method - Non Seismic Method

Gravity surveying measures variations in the gravitational field at Earth's surface. Gravity is influenced by mass distribution and density variations within the Earth. Gravity decreases with increasing latitude and elevation due to Earth's oblate spheroid shape and centrifugal forces. Gravity also varies with time due to tides and atmospheric/hydrologic changes. Density anomalies below the surface cause local gravity variations that can be mapped to infer subsurface geology. The geoid is an equipotential surface that approximates mean sea level.

Uploaded by

Dana Hlaine Htet
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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QAB4103

1. GRAVITY METHODS
Non-seismic method
Topics
A. Principles of gravity
B. Gravity of the earth
C. Gravity instruments
D. Field operations
E. Gravity data processing
F. Gravity interpretation
Introduction

 We all feel and see gravity’s effects:


 Weight (i.e. a force) & downward
acceleration

 Gravity survey - Measurements of the


gravitational field at a series of different
locations over an area of interest.

 The objective in exploration work is to


associate variations with differences in the
distribution of densities and hence rock
types (Sheriff, 1994).
Application
Early attempt: Galileo Galilei
 Not just an astronomer The Falling Bodies
Experiment
 Realized that projectiles travel in parabolic paths

 Motion is a vector quantity which can be


separated into horizontal and vertical
components
 Described and quantified pendulum motion

 Pioneering work in gravity


 Realized that gravity causes bodies to fall
towards Earth
 All bodies fall at the same rate
 Leaning Tower of Pisa experiments?
 Realized the relationship between distance
So, basically, Galileo told us
fallen and time
how gravity works, but not why.
1. GRAVITY METHOD

A. Principles of gravity
• Gravity, Mass, Weight and Density
• Newton’s Law of Gravitation
• Gravitational field
• Units of Gravity
Gravity, Mass, Weight and Density
 Gravity is the tendency of objects with mass to accelerate towards each
other

 The basis on which the gravity method depends is encapsulated in two laws
derived by Newton, namely his Universal Law of gravitation, and his
Second Law of Motion.

Mass  Mass is a physical property of matter that explains how


much matter is in an object
 Mass does not change when gravity changes
Weight  Weight is a force which is calculated by multiplying the
acceleration of gravity times mass.
 Weight can change when gravity changes
Density  defined as the amount of mass per unit of volume
Newton’s Law of Gravitation
 Gravity surveying is based on
Isaac Newton’s Universal Law
of Gravitation, described in
Principia Mathematica in
1687.

“Gravity is greater when mass is


larger and distance is shorter”
http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/history/newtongrav.html
Newton’s Law of Gravitation
 Newton’s law applies to point sources of mass
m1 m2
force r force

 Earth isn’t a point source


 Non-point sources are treated as the sum of the forces of many small parts
of the body
 Because force is a vector, the vector sum must be calculated
 This can become computationally intense for odd shapes

 For some simple geometric shapes the result is simple…


Newton’s Law of Gravitation
 For the gravitational attraction due to a hollow shell or uniform sphere:
 The force is the same as that of a point source of the same mass located at
the center of the sphere
 This is true only outside the sphere.

 At the center, the gravitational force must be zero (vectors all cancel due
to symmetry)
Because Earth is approximately
spherically symmetrical, we can treat
the Earth as a point source of mass
located at the center of the Earth!
Newton’s Law of Gravitation
 Newton’s Law of Gravitation

where M and m are the masses of the two bodies,


r the distance separating them, and G=6.67 x 10-
11 Nm2kg-2 is the gravitational constant.
M

Recap: Newton’s Second Law of Motion → F = ma


“G – measured by Henry Cavendish with his
Cavendish experiment, performed in 1798”
Gravitational field
 Field lines give the direction of the field. The field is a vector.

Earth’s surface

On a large scale, gravity is an On a small scale gravity can be


attractive radial field regarded as a uniform field
Units of Gravity
 two metric units;
 In honor of Galileo, c.g.s unit commonly used in gravity measurement
is the gal
 m.k.s. SI units, gravity is commonly measured in ms-2 or g.u. (gravity
unit)

 Example:
 g = 9.80 ms-2 = 9.8 x 106 mm s-2 = 9,800,000 g.u. = 980,000
mgal
1. GRAVITY METHOD

B. Gravity of the earth


• Variation of gravity with latitude
• Variation of gravity with elevation
• Variation of gravity with time
• Variation of gravity with geology (density)
• The Geoid
Variation of gravity with latitude
Shape & Rotation of the Earth

 The Earth is not spherical, but an ellipsoid of revolution or an oblate spheroid


i.e. it is flattened at the Poles - this is a rotational effect

 The radius is greater at the equator because the greater centrifugal force
tends to pull material outward.
Variation of gravity with latitude
Shape & Rotation of the Earth
 We now know that it is the Earth that is oblate spheroid & rotating.
Centrifugal acceleration reduces gravitational attraction. Thus, the further
you are from the rotation axis, the greater the centrifugal acceleration is.
Variation of gravity with latitude

latitude is very important


in gravity measurement
Variation of gravity with elevation
 Variation with Elevation;
Hills rising above the station will cause a
 Elevation Effect
reduction in gravity (upward pull) while
 Free-Air Effect, FAcorr valleys falling below the station will also
 Bouguer Effect, Bcorr cause a reduction in gravity due to the
deficit of mass.
 Terrain Effect

Bouguer
Effect

where z is height above SWL & p is the mean density of the slab
Variation of gravity with time
 Earth-tides
 The gravitational attraction of the Sun and the Moon are sufficiently
large as to cause serious time-varying changes in the measured gravity
values on the surface of the Earth, of as much as 0.3 mGal.

 Atmospheric pressure
 An increase in atmospheric pressure will cause a decrease in the
observed gravity, and vice-versa.

(Merriam, 1992)
Variation of gravity with time
 Precipitation
 In areas characterized by heavy seasonal rainfall, or spring run-off
from highland snow melt, the level of groundwater, lakes and rivers may
vary considerably, on a seasonal basis. From

 Sea level changes


 Gravity measurements made near the sea coast may be directly
affected by daily tidal changes. In the extreme, where a measurement is
made on a cliff adjacent to deep water, the tidal effect (ΔgT) could be
as large as:
Variation of gravity with geology
(density)
 Geologically, the density of earth is very important. If ρ is the average
density of the Earth, then

 We can substitute for M using the relationship between it and g, i.e. M =


R2g / G. Therefore:

 Thus if we know g, R and G, we can calculate ρ. With current values:-

ρ = 5.52 x 103 kgm-3

Note: If the Earth were a perfect sphere of uniform density, g would be constant over its entire surface. But if
the Earth deviates from spherical (i.e. if R varies) or if there is a local density anomaly, g will vary.
Variation of gravity with geology
(density)
 Since most surface rocks have densities in the
range 2-3 x 103kg.m-3, density must increase
with depth in Earth.

 This has also been confirmed by seismology,


since seismic velocities, which are strongly
correlated with density, increase with depth.

 However, we would also like to monitor lateral


density variations.

 We cannot easily measure density at depth,


but it is quite easy to measure g at different
places on the surface of the Earth. http://www.geologyrocks.co.uk/system/files
/images/densitygrph.gif
Variation of gravity with geology
(density)

http://scintrexltd.com/downloads/GRAVGUID.pdf
The Geoid
 The sea-level surface, if unaffected by tides or winds, is called the geoid.

 The geoid represents a surface on which the gravitational field has the
same value, and so is called an equipotential surface.

 On land, the geoid is the surface that would correspond to the water level
in imaginary canals cut through the continents.

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/EarthSci/people/lidunka/GEOL20
14/Geophysics2%20-%20Gravity/gravity.htm
The Geoid
 The force of gravitational attraction is a vector, and is everywhere
perpendicular to the geoid.

 The direction of gravity deviates from the vertical due to long wavelength
features such as the continents and to short wavelength features such as a
sulphide ore body.

 Thus the geoid deviates from the ellipse of rotation.


The Geoid
Gravitational potential and equipotential surfaces
For a point mass At surface of Earth,
homogenous underlying density

For a small mass


buried near the
surface
The Geoid
The Geoid

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/09/now-next/img/geoid.jpg
The Geoid

http://www.uni-stuttgart.de/gi/geoengine/phys_geod/index.html

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