Thesis (M.Sc.) -- Memorial University of Newfoundland. / Typescript. Bibliography : leaves 145-149. Also available online.

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Bouguer gravity anomalies at 1870 locations on the central Piedmont of Virginia from 37° 37' N to 37° 52' N and 77° 44' W to 78° 23' W display patterns of variation produced by upper crustal density contrasts and thickening of the crust in a WNW direction. No other deep sources are evident. Upper crustal density contrasts are associated with rock units known from geologic mapping. ‘The subsurface distribution of these rock units interpreted from seismic reflection data was confirmed by measured variations in gravity. A two-dimensional model analysis indicates the following average in situ density values for the principal formations: Arvonia Formation-2.77 gm/cc, Columbia Granitoid-2.75 gm/cc (tonalite) and 2.73 gm/cc (pegmatite), Chopawamsic Volcanics- 2.77 gm/cc (felsic units), and 2.79 gm/cc (mafic units}, Catoctin/ Lynchburg-2.815 gm/cc, Maidens Gneiss-2.775 gm/cc, Grenville Basement- 2.71 gm/cc. Gravity and seismic data are consistent with the existence of a major thrust fault at depths between 9 km and 16 km that separates Grenville Basement rocks from younger Catoctin/Lynchburg rocks. The slight eastward dip of this thrust fault beneath the western part of the area increases significantly east of 78° 05' W. Gravity anomalies suggest the existence of several mafic inclusions within the Columbia Granitoid that were not identified by geologic mapping. / Master of Science

The Bouguer correction using a mean sea level reduction datum compensates the gravitational effect of the mass of the terrain above sea level. This correction generally results in long -wavelength Bouguer gravity anomalies if the mass of the terrain is isostatically compensated. These anomalies correlate with regional elevations, especially in areas with significant regional variations in elevation, such as western North America. The adverse effect of this correlation is that other anomalies of potential interest in a tectonic or geologic analysis may be overshadowed. To circumvent this problem in an analysis of gravity in Arizona, a residual Bouguer gravity anomaly map has been constructed for the state in which a trend surface of the elevation is used as the reduction datum in the Bouguer correction. Elevation values from topographic maps and not gravity station elevations have been used to prepare the regional elevation datum because station elevations do not adequately sample the range in elevations. Small- and large-wavelength residual Bouguer gravity anomalies and trends of anomalies are brought out more clearly by the residual Bouguer gravity anomaly map than by previous gravity maps. The most prominent features in the residual anomalies are a strong gravity gradient 50 km wide striking west -northwest across southern Arizona and a large wavelength residual Bouguer gravity anomaly low in the Coconino Plateau of northwest Arizona . The long-wavelength residual Bouguer gravity anomalies reflect lateral density variations in the crust and mantle that may be related to lateral temperature variations.

Three-dimensional gravity analysis is the process of removing the predictable components from the free-air gravity anomalies and has proven to be useful for interpreting the subsurface structures and active processes at mid-ocean ridges. The three-dimensional effects of the seafloor and Moho topography, assuming a constant crustal thickness and constant crust and upper mantle densities, are subtracted from the free-air anomalies, yielding the mantle Bouguer anomalies. Mantle Bouguer anomalies at mid-ocean ridges are believed to be largely due to the three-dimensional thermal structure, which can be predicted using a simple passive flow model. When the gravity contribution from the predicted thermal structure is removed from the mantle Bouguer anomalies, the residual mantle Bouguer anomalies are created, which represent lateral variations in the crustal thickness and/or density variations from the assumed model. Three-dimensional gravity analysis has been carried out over three areas along the Pacific-Antarctic East Pacific Rise (EPR): (1) the eastern intersection of the Menard transform with the EPR, (2) the overlapping spreading center (OSC) at 36.5°S and, (3) the western intersection of the Raitt transform with the EPR. This geophysical analysis provides an essential tool for understanding the subsurface crustal/upper mantle structure of the fast spreading EPR, and more specifically at transform and nontransform offsets along the EPR. Several interesting features were observed at the eastern intersection between the Menard transform and the EPR. The continuous nature of the residual mantle Bouguer anomalies along the ridge axis suggests that the 60 km of ridge axis surveyed here has a fairly uniform crustal/upper mantle structure. Significant features are not observed in the residual mantle Bouguer anomalies at the ridge-transform intersection or along the eastern 75 km of the Menard transform. At the ridge-transform intersection, fresh lavas from the observed overshot ridge have filled in the transform valley and have subsequently thickened the crust, eliminating any crustal thinning that is occurring there. The large OSC at 36.5°S has a left-stepping offset of approximately 34 km. The most significant feature in the gravity data from this study area is the observed low in the mantle Bouguer anomalies which extends from the northern ridge segment, eastward to the "inactive" rift and continued along the southern ridge segment. This gravity low suggests that this region is underlain by thicker crust and/or hotter, less dense material. No significant features are observed in the residual mantle Bouguer anomalies associated with the overlap basin or the two smaller basins that border the "inactive" rift. The western ridge-transform intersection (RTI) between the Raitt transform and the EPR significantly differs from the Menard transform study area. A transform valley is not observed at this RYE and neither is an overshot ridge. Instead, a transformparallel median ridge is observed east of the RTI, and a fossil transform valley is observed north of the RTI. A low in the residual mantle Bouguer anomalies is associated with the fossil transform valley and the median ridge, suggesting that these areas are underlain by thicker crust and/or less dense material. Positive residual mantle Bouguer anomalies observed at the inside corner of the RYE suggest that this area is underlain by thinner crust and/or colder, more dense material; while at the outside corner of the ridge-transform intersection, a residual anomaly low is observed which suggests that the outside corner is underlain with thicker crust and/or hotter, less dense material. / Graduation date: 1995 / Figures in original document are black and white photocopies. Best scan available.

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is mostly grounded in broad, deep basins (down to 2.5 km below sea level) that are stretched between five crustal blocks. The geometry of the bedrock, being mostly below sea level, induces a fundamental instability in the WAIS through the possibility of runaway grounding line retreat. The crustal environment of the WAIS further influences the ice sheet’s fast flow through conditions at the ice-bedrock boundary. This study focuses on understanding the WAIS by examining the subglacial geology (such as volcanoes and sedimentary basins) at the icebedrock boundary and the continent’s deeper crustal structure- primarily using airborne gravity anomalies. The keystone of this study is a 2004-2005 aerogeophysical survey over one of the most negative mass balance glaciers on the continent: Thwaites Glacier (TG). The gravity anomalies derived from this dataset- as well as gravity-based modeling and spectral crustal boundary depth estimates- reveal a heterogeneous crustal environment beneath the glacier. The widespread Mesozoic rifting observed in the Ross Sea Embayment (RSE) of West Antarctica extends beneath TG, where the crust is ~27 km thick and cool. Adjacent to TG, spectrally-derived shallow Moho depths for the Marie Byrd Land (MBL) crustal block can be explained by thermal support from warm mantle. I assemble here new compilations of free-air and Bouguer gravity anomalies across West Antarctica (from both airborne and satellite datasets) and re-interpret the extents of West Antarctic crustal block and their boundaries with the rift system. Airy isostatic gravity anomalies reveal that TG is relatively sediment starved, in contrast to the sediment-rich RSE. TG’s fast flow velocities could be sustained in this sediment poor environment if higher heat flux in MBL was providing an ample source of subglacial melt water to the glacier. The isostatic anomalies also indicate that TG’s outlet rests on a bedrock sill that will impede future grounding line retreat (up to ~100 km) and temporarily stabilize the glacier. / text

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The continental margin off the coast of Pakistan between the Murray ridge and the Gulf of Cambay has been studied in this work using gravity, magnetic and bathymetric data. Two dimensional gravity and magnetic models based on free-air gravity and residual magnetic data are developed along a north-south profile off the coast of Karachi. The purpose was to interpret the gross crustal structure of the region. A magnetic map has also been developed for the region between latitudes 20°N and 27°N and between longitude 60°E and 70°E. The gravity model extends to a distance of about 1200 km seaward south of Karachi. The seaward end of the gravity model is constrained by seismic refraction data which suggest the presence of typical oceanic crust. The Moho depth at this end of the profile is about 12 km. At the landward end of the profile A-A' the Moho depth is not constrained by seismic data. The gravity model suggests 27 to 17 km as the possible range of the depth of the Moho and a gradual thinning of the crust from land to sea. In addition, the gravity models as interpreted in this study show grabens at the distances of 350 and 450 km along the profile. If the graben-like structures are rift grabens formed during the rifting of India from Africa then transitional crust can be expected to extend to the 500 km mark along the profile A-A'. Two dimensional models for the magnetic data along the profile were also developed. These anomalies can be interpreted as due to oceanic crust or magnetic bodies embedded in transitional crust. The possibility that the observed magnetic anomalies are due to oceanic crust has been studied in detail in this work. The location of the observed magnetic anomalies with respect to marine magnetic anomaly (28) observed earlier on the Indian Ocean floor, were compared to a marine magnetic time scale. To get a reasonable correlation between the observed and theoretical anomalies requires a considerable amount of adjustment in the spreading rate of individual magnetic blocks. Also on the magnetic map the trend of the lineation of these anomalies is perpendicular to the continental margin instead of being parallel to the continental margin as expected for a rifted continental margin. The presence of horst-and-graben structures in the inland region suggests the rifted nature for the continental margin off Karachi than the sheared nature. This indicates that the lineations should be parallel to the margin. But the magnetic lineations are perpendicular to the continental margin and if they are from oceanic crust then they would suggest that the margin is a sheared margin, which contradicts the extensional structures observed inland. This makes it very unlikely that the source of these anomalies is oceanic crust. However, it is quite possible that the magnetic lineations observed in the map were parallel to the continental margin initially but later on the continent rotated clockwise along a fault landward of the magnetic lineation. This rotation is perhaps responsible for making the lineation perpendicular to the continental margin. One objective of this study was to locate the continent-ocean boundary, but with the available amount of data it is not possible to decide on the most appropriate source for the observed magnetic anomalies. Hence it was not possible to decide exactly on the location of continent-ocean boundary. However, on the basis of gravity and magnetic data it can be said that the continent-ocean boundary lies at a distance of 500 km or greater along the profile. / Graduation date: 1992

The overall objective of this study is to address questions concerning the long-term mechanical strength of the lithosphere across the equatorial margin of Brazil. The approach used in this study consists of calculating the frequency response function estimates, also called admittance, using gravity and bathymetry data. These experimental estimates are then compared to theoretical admittance curves for Airy and thin elastic plate models for which estimates on the flexural rigidity or, equivalently, effective elastic thickness may be made. Twelve profiles, each 256 km long, were extracted from gridded gravity and bathymetry data (data sources: project EQUANT, Defense Mapping Agency, National Geophysical Data Center files and GEOS 3/SEASAT altimeter data). Three profiles were specifically used for testing truncation errors introduced by four different data treatment procedures (before Fourier transforming the data) : detrending, applying 10% cosine tapering, mirror imaging and the use of the first derivatives. The method I adopted is similar to the one used by McNutt (1983) and consists of testing how reliably a given admittance estimate can be recovered as a function of the data treatment procedure. A "predicted" gravity anomaly was obtained by convolving each bathymetric profile with a theoretical admittance filter. The edges of this anomaly are then submitted to the same treatment as the corresponding bathymetric profile before Fourier transforming both profiles and calculating admittance. The stability of the long-wavelength admittance estimates, in the presence of noise, was also investigated by introducing Gaussian noise, in the range of -50 to +50 mGals, in the "predicted" gravity signal. The results indicate that relatively unbiased long-wavelength admittance estimates can be obtained by using the first derivative of the data sets. In addition, it is shown that the mirroring technique, used in previous admittance studies across Atlantic-type margins, leads to overestimated admittance values and, therefore, overestimated flexural rigidities. Neither the theoretical curves for the Airy model nor the plate flexure model can explain the experimental admittance estimates. Not only are the experimental admittance estimates higher than the predicted values but they also have a narrower peak than the theoretical curves. This raises the question of the applicability of highly simplified isostatic models for tectonic provinces such as Atlantic-type continental margins. The following reasons may explain the discrepancies between the experimental and theoretical admittance estimates: (1) The abrupt nature of the transition between oceanic and continental crust controlled by the Romanche Fracture Zone - Unlike the eastern North American continental margin which was formed as a result of extensive rifling and pulling apart, the obliquely-rifled equatorial margin of Brazil has undergone a complex tectonic evolutionary process, where additional components such as shear and right-lateral wrenching were present. Therefore, representing the margin as a thin homogeneous elastic plate might be reasonable when the transition is gradual (for which the uniform flexural rigidity assumption seems reasonable) but is probably not a good approximation when it is as abrupt as the equatorial margin of Brazil (2) Presence of subsurface loads - Previous studies have shown that estimates of the average flexural rigidity of continental lithosphere using the admittance approach are biased when subsurface loads are present. In principle, the proximity of the Romanche Fracture Zone and associated volcanism suggest that shallow buried loads, caused by intrusive bodies, might be present in the area. This could partially account for the mismatch between theoretical curves and experimental admittance estimates. (3) "Masked" estimates - The admittance estimates presented here are likely to reflect the combination of two different signals: one related to the compensation of the Barreirinhas/Piaui-Camocim sub-basin which has no topographic/bathymetric expression and the other one related to the topography/bathymetry and its compensation which is of interest in the admittance studies. Since the wavelengths of these signals do not differ by much (around 80-100 km for the basin) it is possible that in the averaging process some overlapping occurs. The combination of these signals could yield anomalous results masking the admittance estimates in the diagnostic waveband. In addition, I present a two-dimensional cross section obtained by forward modelling the gravity anomaly along a profile using the line integral method. The uniform sedimentary infill of the Barreirinhas/Piaui-Camocim basin is enough to account for the gravity low over the inner shelf and no Moho topography is required. A plausible explanation for this "rootless" basin structure is that the lithosphere is capable of supporting the sediment infill load, and thus, has finite flexural rigidity (basin is locally uncompensated). / Graduation date: 1990

Graduation date: 1992