Estimation of the mass density contrasts and the 3D geometrical shape of the source bodies in the Yilgarn area, Eastern Goldfields, Western Australia

Abstract

Abstract We invert 2D surface gravity data constrained both by geological and seismic information. We use a number of pre-processing tools in order to reduce the general multi-body inversion into several single-body inversions, whereby we can reduce the overall complexity of the inversion task. This is done with as few assumptions as possible. Furthermore, for a single-body inversion we uncouple the determination of the shape of the causative sources from the determination of their mass density contrast to the surroundings. The inversion for the geometrical shape of the source body is done in steps. Firstly, a rough 3D shape of the source is modelled—a model consisting of the vertical mass columns of equal height. The horizontal extension is implied by the surface gravity signal. Subsequently, the shape of each source body is modified to obtain a better fit to the surface gravity data. In each modification step, the overall change of the shape of the source body is followed by an update of the mass density contrast to the surroundings. The technique was applied to a set of gravity data from the Eastern Goldfield area in Western Australia. The area has been widely studied in the past. In 1999, two seismic profiles that cross-sect the area were measured. Furthermore, an extensive geological modelling for the area has been conducted. The practical goal of this work was to verify the geological interpretation using the potential field data (mainly the gravity data although magnetic data were also available) and only weakly constrained by the seismic information. The result was the reconstruction of the ‘rough’ 3D geometry of the source bodies and the estimation of a constant mass density contrast to the surroundings. A possible extension of this technique for detailed studies of the geological model is briefly discussed.