A LEAST-SQUARES MINIMIZATION APPROACH TO SHAPE DETERMINATION FROM GRAVITY-DATA

The gravity anomaly expression produced by most geologic structures can be represented by a continuous function of both shape (shape-factor) and depth-related variables with an amplitude coefficient related to mass. Few methods have been developed to determine the shape of the buried geologic structure from residual gravity anomaly profiles. A least-squares minimization approach to shape-factor determination from a residual gravity anomaly profile is presented. The problem of the shape-factor determination is transformed into the problem of finding a solution of a nonlinear equation of the form f(q) = 0. -from Authors