Ground Gravity Research Articles

The microgravity enhanced polymer-mediated siRNA gene silence by improving cellular uptake

Graphical abstractMicrogravity (MG) effect is a weightlessness phenomenon caused by the distance from the ground or low gravity of other planets outside the earth’s atmosphere. The various effects of MG have been corroborated in human and animal studies and modeled in cell-based analogs. However, the impact of MG on siRNA performance remains to be elucidated, which is crucial for aerospace medicine. In this study, we prepared nucleic acid nanomicelles (EAASc/siRNA) by using tri-block copolymer of PEG45-PAMA40-P(C7A36-DBA37) (EAASc) and siRNA and explored its working mechanism under simulated microgravity (SMG) condition generated by a random positioning machine (RPM). The binding ability of EAASc to siRNA and silence activity were firstly confirmed in normal gravity (NG) environment. Evaluation of PLK1 mRNA expression revealed that gene inhibition efficiencies were increased by 28.7% (HepG2) and 28.9% (A549) under SMG condition, compared with those under NG condition. In addition, mechanism exploration indicated that morphology and migration capability of cancer cells were significantly changed, the internalization of EAASc/siRNA by cells was magnified when the cells were incubated with RPM. No significant difference was observed regarding the expression profiles of genes involved in RNA interference (RNAi) pathway, including Ago2, Dicer, TRBP, and so on. Taken together, siRNA activity was elevated under SMG condition owning to increased cellular internalization. This study, for the first time to our knowledge, provides valuable theory for development and application of siRNA therapeutic in space in the future.

The Influence of Sea-Level Changes on Geodetic Datums along the East Coast of China

ABSTRSCT Non-tidal variation on sea level generates immediate changes in gravity field and deformation of the Earth's crust, thus influencing the stability of geodetic datums. To achieve higher accuracy of geodetic datums in coastal and island areas, sea-level changes should be adequately considered when conducting the maintenance of datums. Based on the data of sea-level anomalies from 2014 to 2017 and the theory of load-deformation of elastic spherical earth, this paper demonstrates that impacts of non-tidal ocean load can be quantitatively calculated on geodetic datums along the east coast of China, by using remove-restore technique and combining spherical harmonic analysis of gravity field and Green’s functions to calculate loads. Temporal and spatial analyses on the impacts are conducted with Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) sites along the coast and on the islands. This paper has drawn some conclusions as follows: (1) The impact of non-tidal ocean loads on the east coastal geoid ranges from −4.16 to 4.17 mm, that on ground gravity ranges from −15.44 to 17.02 some conclusions as follows: (1) The impact oranges from −7.55 to 6.69 mm. (2) The impacts are dominated by annual and semi-annual cycles. (3) The impacts appear to be more prominent in coastal areas and on islands than in inland areas.

Modelling ground displacement and gravity changes with the MUFITS simulator

Abstract. We present an extension of the MUFITS reservoir simulator for modelling the ground displacement and gravity changes associated with subsurface flows in geologic porous media. Two different methods are implemented for modelling the ground displacement. The first approach is simple and fast and is based on an analytical solution for the extension source in a semi-infinite elastic medium. Its application is limited to homogeneous reservoirs with a flat Earth surface. The second, more comprehensive method involves a one-way coupling of MUFITS with geomechanical code presented for the first time in this paper. We validate the accuracy of the development by considering a benchmark study of hydrothermal activity at Campi Flegrei (Italy). We investigate the limitations of the first approach by considering domains for the geomechanical problem that are larger than those for the fluid flow. Furthermore, we present the results of more complicated simulations in a heterogeneous subsurface when the assumptions of the first approach are violated. We supplement the study with the executable of the simulator for further use by the scientific community.

No Effect of Microgravity and Simulated Mars Gravity on Final Bacterial Cell Concentrations on the International Space Station: Applications to Space Bioproduction.

Microorganisms perform countless tasks on Earth and they are expected to be essential for human space exploration. Despite the interest in the responses of bacteria to space conditions, the findings on the effects of microgravity have been contradictory, while the effects of Martian gravity are nearly unknown. We performed the ESA BioRock experiment on the International Space Station to study microbe-mineral interactions in microgravity, simulated Mars gravity and simulated Earth gravity, as well as in ground gravity controls, with three bacterial species: Sphingomonas desiccabilis, Bacillus subtilis, and Cupriavidus metallidurans. To our knowledge, this was the first experiment to study simulated Martian gravity on bacteria using a space platform. Here, we tested the hypothesis that different gravity regimens can influence the final cell concentrations achieved after a multi-week period in space. Despite the different sedimentation rates predicted, we found no significant differences in final cell counts and optical densities between the three gravity regimens on the ISS. This suggests that possible gravity-related effects on bacterial growth were overcome by the end of the experiment. The results indicate that microbial-supported bioproduction and life support systems can be effectively performed in space (e.g., Mars), as on Earth.

The combined global gravity field model XGM2019e

XGM2019e is a combined global gravity field model represented by spheroidal harmonics up to degree and order (d/o) 5399, corresponding to a spatial resolution of 2′ (~ 4 km). As data sources, it includes the satellite model GOCO06s in the longer wavelength range up to d/o 300 combined with a ground gravity grid which also covers the shorter wavelengths. The ground data consist over land and ocean of gravity anomalies provided by courtesy of NGA (15′ resolution, identical to XGM2016) augmented with topographically derived gravity information over land (EARTH2014). Over the oceans, gravity anomalies derived from satellite altimetry are used (DTU13 with a resolution of 1′). The combination of the satellite data with the ground gravity observations is performed by using full normal equations up to d/o 719 (15′). Beyond d/o 719, a block-diagonal least squares solution is calculated for the high-resolution ground gravity data (from topography and altimetry). All calculations are performed in the spheroidal harmonic domain. In the spectral band up to d/o 719, the new model shows a slightly improved behaviour in the magnitude of a few mm RMS over land as compared to preceding models such as XGM2016, EIGEN6c4 or EGM2008 when validated with independent geoid information derived from GNSS/levelling. Over land and in the spectral range above d/o 719, the accuracy of XGM2019e marginally suffers from the sole use of topographic forward modelling, and geoid differences at GNSS/levelling stations are increased in the order of several mm RMS in well-surveyed areas, such as the US and Europe, compared to models containing real gravity data over their entire spectrum, e.g. EIGEN6c4 or EGM2008. However, GNSS/levelling validation also indicates that the performance of XGM2019e can be considered as globally more consistent and independent of existing high-resolution global models. Over the oceans, the model exhibits an enhanced performance (equal or better than preceding models), which is confirmed by comparison of the MDT’s computed from CNES/CLS 2015 mean sea surface and the high-resolution geoid models. The MDT based on XGM2019e shows fewer artefacts, particularly in the coastal regions, and fits globally better to DTU17MDT which is considered as an independent reference MDT.

Impact of temperature stabilization on the strapdown airborne gravimetry: a case study in Central Turkey

Airborne gravimetry with strapdown inertial sensors has been a valuable tool for many years to fill in the gravity data gaps on the areas not accessible by land. Accuracies of 1 mGal level with off-the-shelf navigation-grade inertial measurement units (IMU) can only be achieved provided that the accelerometer drifts mainly caused by the temperature variations inside the IMU housing are separated from the gravity signal. Although there are several strategies proposed in the literature to deal with this inseparability problem, we use a thermal stabilization system (iTempStab) added on an iNAT-RQH navigation-grade IMU and investigate its performance over a test region in central Turkey with moderate topography and highly qualified ground truth gravity data. Two test flights were performed in 2017 and 2018 with and without iTempStab add-on following almost the same flight trajectories. During the first flight in 2017 with iNAT-RQH only, which lasted almost 5.5 h, there were considerable temperature variations inside the IMU housing from 39.1 to 46.0 °C. A simple thermal correction based on a laboratory calibration done before the flight was applied to the vertical Z-accelerometer in the pre-processing stage. However, temperature changes were within 0.1 °C during the second test flight in 2018 with TempStab add-on. The temperature stabilization gained by the iTempStab add-on produced better cross-over statistics. While the RMSE of the non-adjusted cross-over residuals was about 2.6 mGal, it reduced by 50% with iTempStab add-on. The adjusted cross-over differences of the 2018 flight yielded an RMSE of about 0.5 mGal, which is a remarkable precision for the strapdown gravimetry. The comparison with upward continued ground gravity data at flight altitudes suggests that the thermal stabilization system shows also remarkable improvements in the residual statistics. The range of the residuals decreases from ± 10 to ± 5 mGal, the standard deviation decreases from 2.19 to 0.94 mGal, and the RMSE decreases from 2.24 to 1.48 mGal, respectively, with the iTempStab add-on. It can be concluded that the thermal stabilization system significantly improves the accelerometer stability and therefore the precision and accuracy of the strapdown airborne gravity estimates.

Using real polar ground gravimetry data to solve the GOCE polar gap problem in satellite-only gravity field recovery

With the successful completion of European Space Agency (ESA)’s PolarGAP campaign, ground gravity data are now available for both polar regions. Therefore, it is now possible to solve the GOCE polar gap problem in satellite-only gravity field recovery by using additional polar ground gravity data instead of some regularization methods. However, ground gravimetry data need to be filtered to remove the short-wavelength information beyond a certain harmonic degree to avoid spectral leakage when inferring satellite-only gravity field models. For the Arctic, the ArcGP data set was successfully applied when inferring the high-resolution gravity field model EGM2008 which could be used for this filtering there. For Antarctica, a combination of latest airborne gravimetry data from ESA’s PolarGap campaign and some previous gravity data was recently published which was irregularly distributed in space and still had some small gaps within the GOCE south polar gap. Therefore, we proposed a point mass modeling method for this filtering which was similar to the way using EGM2008 for such filtering to the ground gravity data in the Arctic. Furthermore, a variance component estimation was applied to combine the normal equations from the different sources to build a global gravity field model called IGGT_R1C. Then, this model’s accuracy was evaluated by comparison with other gravity field models in terms of difference degree amplitudes, gravity anomaly differences as well as external checking by obit adjustment and gravity data in the GOCE polar gap areas. This gravity field model performed well globally according to these checking results; especially, the RMS of the residuals between the filtered gravity data and that calculated from IGGT_R1C was the smallest (2.6 mGal in the Arctic and 5.4 mGal in Antarctica) compared with that of the relevant satellite-only gravity field models, e.g., GOCO05s. Therefore, the disturbing impact of the GOCE polar data gap problem could be solved by adding the polar ground gravity data.

Absolute airborne gravimetry with a cold atom sensor

Measuring gravity from an aircraft is essential in geodesy, geophysics and exploration. It fills a gap between satellite techniques which have a low spatial resolution and traditional ground measurements which can only be performed on ground in accessible areas. Today, only relative sensors are available for airborne gravimetry. This is a major drawback because of the calibration and drift estimation procedures which lead to important operational constraints and measurement errors. Here, we report an absolute airborne gravimeter based on atom interferometry. This instrument has been first tested on a motion simulator leading to gravity measurements noise of 0.3 mGal for 75 s filtering time constant. Then, we realized an airborne campaign across Iceland in April 2017. From repeated line and crossing points, we obtain gravity measurements with an estimated error between 1.7 and 3.9 mGal. The airborne measurements have also been compared to upward continued ground gravity data and show differences with a standard deviation ranging from 3.3 to 6.2 mGal and a mean value ranging from − 0.7 to − 1.9 mGal.

Quantitative Monitoring of Geological Hazards With CORS Network Data and Load Impact Change: A Case Study in Zhejiang, China

Geological hazard monitoring plays a pivotal role in preventing geological hazards. The main challenge faced by many experiments is to quantitatively monitor and analyze geological hazards. This paper proposes a quantitative monitoring indicator, called the ground surface stability anomaly (GSSA), for the first time and gives the identification criterion of the GSSA based on three stability factors. The features of the three stability factors, including geodetic height, ground gravity, and vertical deviation, reflect the relationship between load-induced changes and geological hazards. To verify the effectiveness and applicability of the GSSA quantitative monitoring method, a regional GSSA model was constructed based on the continuously operating reference station (CORS) network data and load impact data in southeastern Zhejiang, China. The larger the value of the GSSA is, the more likely geological hazards are to occur, especially when an abnormal dynamic environment (such as heavy rainfall, sea level anomaly, atmospheric pressure anomaly, or spring tide) is encountered. By comparing the GSSA with the potential trouble points of geological hazards and 40 geological hazard events that have occurred, the results show that the method can quantitatively, accurately, and continuously monitor the GSSA in an area covered by the CORS network, and the method has the ability to capture the precursors to geological hazards.

CFD Analysis of Cryogenic Pulsating Heat Pipe with Near Critical Diameter under Varying Gravity Conditions

Numerical simulation of 2D Cryogenic Pulsating Heat Pipe (CPHP) is carried out with near critical diameter. Liquid nitrogen is used as working fluid for targeting cryogenic applications in the range from 77 to 123 K. The volume of fluid (VOF) model is considered for two phase simulations. The evaporator and condenser section are kept at constant wall temperature condition while adiabatic section is considered insulated. The evaporator temperature varied from 85 to 110 K and condenser section kept at 75 K. The filling ratio (FR) of working fluid is varied as 50, 60 and 70%. CPHP model is first tested with on ground gravity condition of 9.81 m/s2. It is then tested with low gravity conditions (0.981 m/s2) and milli-gravity condition (0.01 m/s2). In low gravity condition, surface tension force is observed more dominant than body force which significantly altered the performance of a CPHP. In comparisons with ground level condition, more stable flow patterns are observed which led to the improved heat transfer performance of a CPHP in case of low gravity.

Quantitative Interpretation of Gravity Anomalies in the Kribi-Campo Sedimentary Basin (South Cameroon) Based on Spectral Analysis and 2.5D Modelling: Structural Implications

Ground gravity survey was recently carried out in the Lolabe-Campo area, which constitutes the southern onshore portion of the Kribi-Campo sub-basin in South Cameroon. The obtained gravity data were processed and interpreted in order to elucidate the subsurface geology of the area in which preliminary studies highlighted the presence of an intrusive igneous body. In order to determine the nature and the characteristics of this body, spectral analysis, ideal body solution and 2.5D modelling methods were applied to the gravity data. The results suggest that the emplacement, breaking up and separation of the intrusive igneous body were the outcome of two tectonic events corresponding to an upward vertical translational tectonic movement followed by an anticlockwise rotational faulting tectonic movement. From a density contrast of 0.13 g&#183cm&#453, the two isolated bodies have an estimated density of 2.80 g&#183cm&#453 which is comparatively higher than the average density of 2.67 g&#183cm&#453 of the autochthonous rocks. These two blocks are completely surrounded by both sedimentary and metamorphic formations and are confined between the depths of 0.6 km and 3.5 km. The highly dense nature of the rocks and their location around the Atlantic Ocean led to the conclusion that the two intrusive bodies are composed principally of gabbro. The disposition and shape of the open zone resulting from the separation of the blocks are suggestive of a trap for the accumulation of hydrocarbons and mineral resources.

Wettability of high-temperature melts under microgravity and ground gravity conditions

<p indent="0mm">The physical characteristics of the material could not be accurately observed due to the effect of gravity which hides some experimental phenomena of the material surface and interface. So, it is greatly significant to study the influence mechanism of microgravity on the melt wetting behavior and solid/liquid interface reaction. In this paper, the wetting behaviour of high-temperature melts, especially of Sn-based alloys, and the reaction properties on the melt/substrate interface were summarized. Comparing with related research and experimental results under normal gravity and microgravity conditions, the high-temperature melt wetting characteristics in both satellite microgravity environment and ground environment are summarized. This paper provides a theoretical reference for future space microgravity experiments and analysis.

Acoustic Manipulation of Droplets under Reduced Gravity

Contactless manipulation of matter is essential for studying physical phenomena. Acoustic manipulation of liquid samples using ultrasonic phased arrays provides a novel and attractive solution for mid-air manipulation, such as levitation, transportation, coalescence, mixing, separation, evaporation, and extraction, with a simple and single sequence. Despite the importance of gravity in droplet dynamics, its effect on a levitated droplet with an ultrasonic phased array remains unclear. To disseminate acoustic manipulation, better understanding of the fundamental physics of a droplet manipulated by ultrasonic phased arrays is required. Here, we show contactless levitation, transportation, and coalescence of multiple droplets under both ground and reduced gravity. Under ground gravity, the possible levitation size of the sample is limited to below the half wavelength of sound. Under reduced gravity, however, droplets that are larger than the limit can be successfully levitated, transported, and coalesced. Furthermore, the threshold of sound pressure for droplet levitation and manipulation could be minimised with the suppression of nonlinear acoustic phenomena under reduced gravity. These insights promote the development of contactless manipulation techniques of droplets for future space experiment and inhabitancy.

Conjugate utilization of Landsat-8 OLI, ground gravity and magnetic data for targeting mafic cumulates within anorthositic-layered complex of Sittampundi, India

In this article, we have processed Landsat-8 spectral bands, ground gravity, and magnetic data for delineating the mafic cumulates within the anorthositic-layered complex in Sittampundi, Tamilnadu, India. In this regard, surface anomaly map of mafic cumulates was derived by processing spectral bands of Operational Land Imager (OLI) sensor using matched filtering method. Residual gravity, magnetic anomaly maps are also derived. Spatial position of geophysical anomalies corroborate well with the spectral anomalies. A promising zone of chromitite occurrences is identified at the eastern fringe of the study area based on the concurrence of spectral and geophysical anomalies. Spatial profiles of geophysical and spectral anomalies around this promising zone are similar to the respective spatial profiles observed around the known chromite bearing mafic cumulates. Depth continuity of the mafic cumulates is confirmed by deriving of gravity and magnetic anomaly map at different depth using upward continuation filters to confirm concealed deposit.

Interpretation of gravity anomaly to delineate thrust faults locations at the northeastern part of India and its adjacent areas using source edge detection technique, tilt derivative and Cos(θ) analysis

The Northeast India and its adjacent areas converge among the three different plates, viz. Eurasia, India and Sunda plates. The tectonic interaction of Northeast India and underlying dynamics of the Himalayas as well as the Indo-Burma Ranges might cause the Assam Syntaxis. The area of study is located between latitude 23°–28°N and longitude 88°–96°E and situated in one of the most seismically active tectonic provinces in the world with seismic zone-V. This area had demonstrated several thrust faults activities and tectonic evident accomplishments during the recent past. The complicated geotectonic setups inspirits various smaller magnitude earthquakes, and the current seismicity shows seismic activities are still enduring in the Shillong Plateau, Arakan-Yoma fold belt, Bengal Basin, Naga Hills, Mikir Hills, Upper–Lower Brahmaputra Valley and Mismi Hills of Himalayan foothills. It is imperative to obtain wide-ranging learning tectonic configuration, thrust faults delineation for improved geoscientific study. Parts of the areas are extremely unreachable, and very limited thrust faults were marked by studying GIS map received from the various agencies and field geological study. During the past studies, most of the prominent lineaments/thrusts are marked; however, many active and hidden thrust faults are still unidentified. Seismic data can provide better information about the thrust faults locations, but due to small number of seismic data, the information is not adequate. In this paper, attempt has been made to study and reinterpret the available ground gravity data of northeastern parts of India for understanding thrust fault locations using various applications of gravity derivatives like analytical signal, horizontal gravity gradient, tilt derivative, horizontal tilt angle derivative and Cos(θ) analysis. Source edge detection technique has also been premeditated to categorize thrust fault locations. It is understandable that the low gravity is observed at Assam Valley which contributed sediment accumulations and higher gravity anomaly observed at Shillong Plateau and Bengal Basin containing denser formations. Bouguer gravity data is used after isostatic correction assuming Airy’s isostasy root depth model and first-order trend removal using least square technique. The derived thrust fault locations from the present study are superimposed with the existing thrust-fault locations for correlation. Some additional thrust faults are narrated which are not previously mapped. It is also suggested that Brahmaputra Thrust, Dauki Fault, Naga Thrust, Disang Thrust and Kopili Fault have key responsibility for high seismicity and tectonic movement causing upliftment and depression that encouraged some anticlockwise rotation in the area.

Mineral deposits of northeastern Algeria (southern Medjerda mounts and diapiric zone): regional-scale structural controls, spatial distribution, and importance of geophysical lineaments

The Southern of Medjerda mounts and the diapiric zone in the northeast of Algeria host a significant hydrothermal Pb-Zn-Fe-Ba (±Cu, ±F, ±Sr, ±Au, ±Ag) ore deposits and showings. The integration of geophysical data (ground gravity and aeromagnetic datasets) was undertaken in order to clarify and define the litho-structural control of the mineralization. These geophysical surveys allowed the identification of several prominent geophysical features. Some of these features correspond to lithological contacts; others reflect tectonic trough zones, Triassic salt diapirs, sedimentary basins, anticlines, and faults. The preferential (primary) trend of structural features within the study area is NE–SW and NW–SE. Integrated interpretation of geological and regional geophysical data helped the identification of the main factors controlling the distribution of mineral deposits within the study area. Most of the mineral deposits are likely to be found along or near major NE–SW/NW–SE deep lineaments. These major deeper lineaments have probably controlled the kinematic evolution of geological structures, sedimentary basins, and the ascension of the Triassic rocks during the lower Cretaceous. They seem to play a significant role providing favorable pathways for the migration and ascent of mineralized fluids to depositional sites along smaller faults into the sedimentary cover or at contact between Triassic salt outcrops and lower Cretaceous carbonate rocks.

Application of the one-step integration method for determination of the regional gravimetric geoid

The regional gravimetric geoid solved using boundary-value problems of the potential theory is usually determined in two computational steps: (1) downward continuing ground gravity data onto the geoid using inverse Poisson’s integral equation in a mass-free space and (2) evaluating geoidal heights by applying Stokes integral to downward continued gravity. In this contribution, the two integration steps are combined in one step and the so-called one-step integration method in spherical approximation is implemented to compute the regional gravimetric geoid model. Advantages of using the one-step integration method instead of the two integration steps include less computational cost, more stable numerical computation and better utilization of input ground gravity data (reduced in each integration step to avoid edge effects). A discrete form of the one-step integral equation is used to convert mean values of ground gravity anomalies into mean values of geoidal heights. To evaluate mean values of the integral kernel in the vicinity of the computation point, a fast and numerically accurate analytical formula is proposed using planar approximation. The proposed formula is tested to determine the regional gravimetric geoid of the Auvergne test area, France. Results show a good agreement of the estimated geoid with geoidal heights estimated at GNSS-levelling reference points, with the standard deviation for the difference of 3.3 cm. Considering the uncertainty of geoidal heights derived at the GNSS/levelling reference points, one can conclude the geoid models computed by the one-step and two-step integration methods have negligible differences. Thus, the one-step method can be recommended for regional geoid modelling with its methodological and numerical advantages.

The tree-canopy effect in gravity forward modelling

SUMMARY High resolution and accurate digital terrain models (DTMs) are frequently used as input data sets to define the topographic masses in gravity forward modelling, for example, for terrain corrections in the context of regional gravity modelling. However, over vegetated areas such as forests and scrublands, the radar- and image-based digital elevation models (DEMs) may contain a tree bias, and therefore do not represent the bare-ground surface. The presence of vegetation-induced signals in DEMs, denoted here the tree-canopy effect, will introduce errors in the gravity forward modelling. In this study, the role of the tree-canopy effect in gravity forward modelling calculations is numerically investigated. First, spectral forward modelling techniques were applied to analyse a global tree-canopy bias model with a horizontal resolution of 1 km x 1 km and to quantify its effect on global gravity forward modelling results. We demonstrate that tree-canopy signals in the DEM produce a positive bias in the topographic gravitational field over vegetated areas, with values ranging from 0 to ∼2.7 mGal for gravity disturbances. Second, the role of the tree-canopy effect in high-frequency gravity forward modelling is studied using well-known residual terrain modelling (RTM) techniques. As DEM data sets, we used the 3″ SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission Digital 9 m Elevation Database) V4.1 (containing vegetation biases) and the 3″ MERIT-DEM (Multi-Error-Removed Improved-Terrain Digital elevation model) as a representation of the bare-ground elevations. Using Tasmania and the Amazon rainforest regions as test areas with significant tree-canopy signals we show that the tree-height effect on RTM calculations is of high-frequency nature, with rather small signals which reach in extreme cases amplitudes of ∼1–2 mGal occurring at forest boundaries. Third, using ground gravity observations, validation experiments were performed over the Australian Alps, Tasmania and the Canadian Rocky Mountains. All validation experiments show that the bare-ground elevation model MERIT-DEM performs better than SRTM V4.1 in terms of reduction of the discrepancies between modelled and observed gravity values. As a general conclusion, bare-ground DEM models should be preferred in any gravity forward modelling application to avoid or reduce the tree-canopy effect.

Monitoring and analysis of geological hazards in Three Gorges area based on load impact change

Geological hazard monitoring is essential to the prevention and control of geological hazards, yet conventional monitoring is often conducted for local geological hazards, and the relation between monitored results and geological hazards remains poorly understood. In this study, a regional load deformation field model was constructed using data from 26 Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) and 8 gravity stations in the Three Gorges area. The relation between load-induced changes and geological hazards, as the regular characteristics (RCS) in this paper, is obtained by comparing the geological hazards with the impact of the total load change in the whole region of the Three Gorges area and the entire process from 2011 to the beginning of 2015. Geological hazards are more prone to occurring when there are one or more RCS, especially abnormal dynamic environment appears at the same time, such as solid high tide and heavy rainfall. The RCS included the ground geodesy height change rate increasing, the ground gravity change rate decreasing, the ground vertical deviation diverging, the ground geodesy height gradient growing larger and the ground gravity gradient growing larger. Using all of the 18 geological hazards from May to July 2013 to verify the RCS, it was found that the comprehensive observations of CORS and gravity stations can effectively monitor the RCS of the load-induced changes. The results of this study provide more insights associated with the geological hazards monitoring and analysis methods as well as effective support for geological hazard forecasting.

Applying laterally varying density corrections to ground gravity and airborne gravity gradiometry data: a case study from the Bathurst Mining Camp

The influence of topography on gravity and gravity gradiometry measurements is profound and should be minimized prior to geological interpretation. The standard way of minimizing these effects is through the computation of a terrain correction. Terrain corrections require two inputs: topography and density. Often, geology and topography are inextricably intertwined: topography is caused by a change in geology. In geologic environments where there is a structural and (or) stratigraphic control on the near-surface mass distribution, using a single density value in the corrections leads to removal of the topographic effect of rocks having the chosen density. Any remaining gravity signal that correlates with topography is providing geological information. If the objective is to produce a gravity map with minimal topographic signal, then a regionally variable density correction is a means of compensating for this effect. In this paper, we demonstrate how to apply a spatially variable density correction using ground gravity and airborne gravity gradiometry data for the geologically complex Bathurst Mining Camp, northern New Brunswick, Canada. Ground gravity and airborne full tensor gravity gradiometry measurements are subdivided into a series of domains on the basis of the underlying tectonostratigraphic group. Terrain and Bouguer corrections are calculated for each domain using representative density values obtained from drill core and surface sampling throughout the Bathurst Mining Camp. The output from the spatially variable density correction is then compared with previous maps. Overall, the differences are subtle, but the spatially variably density allows for isolated anomalies to be better resolved.