Regional–residual Gravity Field Separation in the Central Andes using Global Geopotential Models

Abstract

Traditional methods of regional?residual gravity field separation typically involve high-pass filtering, low-order polynomial fitting or computations using isostatic models. All of these methods are susceptible to ambiguity and subjectivity in the selection of filter parameters, polynomial degree and isostatic model. Global Geopotential Models (GGMs), on the other hand, provide long-wavelength gravity data that are based on observations. Therefore, they have the potential to be used to more objectively define the regional gravity field and to give residual anomalies with reduced ambiguity. We have examined residual gravity anomalies in the Central Andes computed using a regional field defined by the recent EIGEN?GRACE01S satellite-only GGM. The resulting residual anomalies show significant correlations with the active volcanic arc and the geometry of the subducting Nazca plate. These results suggest that GGMs have a place in regional gravity interpretation, but the advantages over existing techniques remain to be thoroughly tested.