Residual Geoid Research Articles

Optimized estimation of marine deflection of the vertical from multibeam laser altimeter data of ICESat-2

SUMMARY Satellite altimetry data, with its increasing density and quality, has become the primary source for marine deflection of the vertical (DOV) and gravity anomaly modelling. Limited by orbital inclinations, the precision of the meridian component of the gridded deflection of the vertical (GDOV) calculated by traditional altimetry satellites is significantly better than that of the prime vertical component, and the excessive precision difference between these two components restricts the inversion precision of marine gravity anomaly model. The study of cross-track deflection of the vertical (CTDOV) is enabled by the multibeam synchronous observation mode of the new laser altimetry satellite, Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2). Based on the remove-restore method, residual geoid gradients are first calculated in this paper using three approaches: along-track (A-T), cross-track (C-T) and an integration of along-track and cross-track. Vertical deflections are then computed on a 1′ × 1′ grid using the least squares collocation (LSC) method, and the precision is verified against the SIO V32.1_DOV model. An optimized combination is proposed to address the issue of precision differences between the meridian and prime vertical components, and to enhance the precision of DOV inversion. A new DOV combination is formed by combining the meridian component from along-track deflection of the vertical (ATDOV) with the prime vertical component from cross-track deflection of the vertical (CTDOV) based on the remove-restore method. The Philippine Sea (0°–35°N, 120°–150°E) is selected as the test area to verify the feasibility of the optimized combination. The results indicate that the optimized combination of the meridian and prime vertical components achieved test precision of 2.63 and 3.33 μrad, respectively, when compared against the SIO V32.1_DOV model. The precision gap between the components is effectively narrowed by this approach, which maintains the precision of the meridian component and enhances that of the prime vertical component, thereby achieving optimal inversion precision for gravity anomalies.

Deep genesis of the high heat flow anomaly in the Okinawa Trough

The Okinawa Trough (OT) is characterized by high heat flow anomalies up to 10,000 mW/m2 (especially in the middle area), which is rarely seen in heat flow research all over the world. The genesis of the high heat flow anomaly is probably related to mantle upwelling. However, the deep genesis is yet to be studied. We used heat flow values collected from the Global Heat Flow Database to calibrate the locations of high heat flow anomalies. Gravity data were used to calculate the residual geoid and interlayer geoid anomalies, which can help in characterizing the morphology of mantle upwelling beneath the OT. Earthquake hypocenter distribution maps were presented to show the position of the Philippine Sea Plate beneath the OT. According to P-wave tomography profile and previous research, we discussed the deep genesis of the high heat flow anomaly and proposed a preliminary model to explain the process. We suggest that the deep mantle upwelling, probably from a depth of −1200 km, enters the upper mantle through the front of the subducted Pacific plate. The deep mantle upwelling converges with the molten mantle flow caused by the fluid from the dehydration of the Pacific Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate. Two mantle upwelling branches were revealed to feed the southern OT (SOT) and Changbai Volcano, and the mantle upwelling under the middle OT (MOT) was the second branch from the mantle upwelling branch under the SOT. The MOT should be more influenced by mantle upwelling from deep sources with extremely high temperatures.

Crustal structure and tectonic evolution of Greater Maldive Ridge, Western Indian Ocean, in the context of plume-ridge interaction

The Greater Maldive Ridge (GMR), consisting of the Maldive Ridge (MR) and Deep Sea Channel (DSC) region, is the N-S trending, middle segment of Chagos-Laccadive Ridge system. This ridge system is widely considered to be the repository representing the interaction between Central Indian Ridge spreading centre and Reunion plume. The present study investigates in detail, spatial variations in effective elastic thickness (Te), isostasy and crustal structure of GMR using high resolution satellite derived gravity, residual geoid and bathymetry data. Estimated Te values along the GMR from 2D and 3D flexural modelling ranges from 6.5–16.5 km with comparatively lower Te values over MR (7–9 km) and slightly higher values over the DSC region (>10 km). Geoid to Topography Ratio computed for two wavelength bands shows almost similar kind of variation along the ridge with a maximum value of 1.4 m/km in the DSC region, decreasing northwards to 0.6 m/km over MR. Integrating results from the present study with crustal thickness, Moho undulations and Curie depth along the entire length of the GMR suggest that MR was formed in the vicinity of spreading centre while DSC region was under a long transform fault which has given rise to the gap zone between Chagos Bank and Maldive Ridge during plume-ridge interaction.

Crustal and upper mantle density structure below the Indian Ocean Geoid Low based on 3-D constrained potential field modelling: Inferences on causative sources

The Indian Ocean Geoid Low (IOGL) in the Central Indian Ocean is the largest geoid depression on the globe. Spectral decomposition of geoid anomalies reveals that a significant fraction (up to ~90%) of the IOGL is due to mass anomalies lying within the lower mantle (~ > 700 km). The crustal density structure and Moho depth variations obtained from 3-D gravity inversion along with the upper mantle density structure derived from SL2013sv tomographic model are used to compute the total geoid anomaly up to 700 km depth and compare it with degree-10 residual geoid anomaly map. Comparison of these two maps necessitated the presence of relatively shallow low- density sources within the upper mantle that were not resolved in the 3-D modelling. The presence of two anomalous sources: i) low S-wave velocities at the base of the LAB (4.4 km/s) and ii) an anomalous source of Vs = −1.0% at a depth of 320–400 km within the sub-lithospheric mantle observed in the tomographic model accounted for this difference. We model the geometry of these low-density anomalous bodies using 2-D joint gravity-geoid modelling, which reveals the total contribution of density structure up to the upper mantle depths (700 km) accounts for only 10% of the IOGL whereas the remaining part is primarily caused by mass anomalies in the lower mantle probably related to high-density subducted slabs or plume sources at the core-mantle boundary as proposed by earlier studies.

Marine gravity anomaly mapping for the Gulf of Tonkin area (Vietnam) using Cryosat-2 and Saral/AltiKa satellite altimetry data

Marine gravity anomalies are essential data for determining coastal geoid, investigating tectonics and crustal structures, and offshore explorations. The objective of this study is to present a methodology for estimating marine gravity anomalies from CryoSat-2 and Saral/AltiKa satellite altimeter data for the Gulf of Tonkin of Vietnam with a high-resolution 2′ × 2′ grid. A total of 15,665 sea surface height (SSH) grid points, including derived from the Cryosat-2 (6842 grid points) and Saral/AltiKa (8823 grid points) satellite altimeter data were used. Then, the remove-restore technique and the crossover adjustment algorithm were used to remove the long-wavelength geoid height, the mean dynamic topography hMDT, and time-varying sea-surface topography ht. The residual geoid heights ΔN were used to determine the residual gravity anomalies δg using the Least-Squares Collocation method, whereas the Earth Geopotential Model was employed to restore the long-wavelength gravity anomalies ΔgEIGEN. GPS/leveling and tidal gauge of 31 tidal stations were used for assessing and choosing the best Earth Geopotential Model and Mean Dynamic Topography models for the study area (EIGEN6C4 and DTU15MDT models). The accuracy of the final marine gravity anomaly result was assessed using 56,978 marine gravity points, which were distributed in the study area. The result showed that the standard deviation between the satellite-derived gravity anomalies and checked points is ± 3.36 mGal, indicating good accuracy. After improving with ship-measured gravity anomalies, the accuracy of satellite-derived marine gravity anomaly improves to ± 2.63 mGal. The results of this research are useful for geodetic and geophysical applications in the region.

Application of Geoid Anomalies to the Tectonic Research in the East Asian Continental Margin

In this paper, we calculated multi-scale residual geoid anomalies with the method of geoid separation processing, according to EGM2008 ultra-high order gravity field model, remove-restore technique and Stokes integral. The East Asian continental margin was selected as the study area. The residual geoid anomalies have been calculated by programming. On the basis of residual geoid anomalies at various orders, the interlayer geoid anomalies at different depths were calculated to depict the spatial distribution characteristics of the residual geoid. Finally, we conducted a detailed geophysical interpretation for the study area according to the geoid anomalies in combination with other geophysical datasets. Four conclusions can be outlined as follows: 1) it is impracticable that geoid anomalies are used in the interpretation of the shallow objects due to the influence of the terrain; 2) the anomalies of residual geoid can reflect the intensity of small-scale mantle convection in the asthenosphere; 3) the interlayer geoid anomalies can reflect the magmatic activities associated with the mantle convection and mantle plume in different scales; 4) the study of the geoid may provide an approach for the research of the subduction zone, mantle convection and mantle plume.

ANALYSIS OF ISOSTATICALLY-BALANCED CORTICAL MODELS USING MODERN GLOBAL GEOPOTENTIAL MODELS

Abstract: The knowledge of the Earth's gravity field and its temporal variations is the main goal of the dedicated gravity field missions CHAMP, GRACE and GOCE. Since then, several global geopotential models (GGMs) have been released. This paper uses geoid heights derived from global geopotential models to analyze the cortical features of the Tandilia structure which is assumed to be in isostatic equilibrium. The geoid heights are suitably filtered so that the structure becomes apparent as a residual geoid height. Assuming that the geological structure is in isostatic equilibrium, the residual geoid height can be assimilated and compared to the isostatic geoid height generated from an isostatically compensated crust. The residual geoid height was obtained from the EGM2008 and the EIGEN-6C4 global geopotential models, respectively. The isostatic geoid was computed using the cortical parameters from the global crustal models GEMMA and CRUST 1.0 and from local parameters determined in the area under study. The obtained results make it clear that the isostatic geoid height might become appropriate to validate crustal models if the structures analyzed show evidence of being in isostatic equilibrium.

Gongola Basin Geoid Determination using Isostatic Models and Seismic Reflection Data and Geophysical Interpretation

The application of Stokes’ formula to create geoid undulation requires no masses outside the geoid. Usually, a constant density of 2.67g / cm3 is used in the determination of the geoid which introduces error in the reduced gravity anomalies (Helmert’s condensation) and consequently the geoid. In this paper, isostatic models of Airy-Heiskanen and Pratt-Hayford were utilized in the determination of the geoid by considering the planar and spherical approximation models. The indirect effect of the topographic lateral density variation on the geoid was computed as additive correction for the improvement of the accuracy of the computed geoid. Additional density information deduced from seismic and well log data was considered for the variable density computation. The geopotential geoid undulations were computed from the EGM 2008 model. The residual geoid was obtained by subtracting the local isostatic geoid from the geopential geoid. Geoid and gravity admittance studies were also carried out to complement the results from the residual geoid.The planar and spherical approximation results showed similar characteristics; but a change in magnitude in both models. Our results suggest that the effects of topographic lateral density variations in geoid determination are significant and should be considered in rift basins. The geophysical analysis of the geoid results show that the north-east domain has positive residual geoid which indicates the presence of high density intrusive igneous rocks, while the south-east has negative residual geoid which indicates the dominant presence of low density sedimentary rocks. The results also show that the radial distribution of the anomalous mass obtained using the geoid/residual geoid anomaly uniquely matched that obtained using the seismic reflection data which inferred the presence of hydrocarbon accumulation in the south east zone of the project area. The gravity and geoid admittance studies corroborated the residual geoid and seismic reflection results

Lithosphere structure and upper mantle characteristics below the Bay of Bengal

The oceanic lithosphere in the Bay of Bengal (BOB) formed 80–120 Ma following the breakup of eastern Gondwanaland. Since its formation, it has been affected by the emplacement of two long N-S trending linear aseismic ridges (85oE and Ninetyeast) and by the loading of ca. 20-km of sediments of the Bengal Fan. Here, we present the results of a combined spatial and spectral domain analysis of residual geoid, bathymetry and gravity data constrained by seismic reflection and refraction data. Self-consistent geoid and gravity modeling defined by temperature-dependent mantle densities along a N-S transect in the BOB region revealed that the depth to the Lithosphere-Asthenosphere boundary (LAB) deepens steeply from 77 km in the south to 127 km in north, with the greater thickness being anomalously thick compared to the lithosphere of similar-age beneath the Pacific Ocean. The Geoid-Topography Ratio (GTR) analysis of the 85°E and Ninetyeast ridges indicate that they are compensated at shallow depths. Effective elastic thickness (Te) estimates obtained through admittance/ coherence analysis as well as the flexural modeling along these ridges led to the conclusions: i) 85°E Ridge was emplaced in off-ridge environment (Te = 10–15 km); ii) the higher Te values of ?25 km over the Afanasy Nikitin Seamount (ANS) reflect the secondary emplacement of the seamount peaks in off-ridge environment, iii) that the emplacement of the Ninetyeast Ridge north of 2°N occurred in an off-ridge environment as indicated by higher Te values (25-30 km). Furthermore, the admittance analysis of geoid and bathymetry revealed that the admittance signatures at wavelengths >800 km are compensated by processes related to upper mantle convection.

Satellite-derived geoid for the estimation of lithospheric cooling and basal heat flux anomalies over the northern Indian Ocean lithosphere

The northern Indian Ocean consists of older Bay of Bengal (BOB) oceanic lithosphere with numerous intra-plate loads; whereas, contrasting elements like active Mid-Ocean ridge divergence and slow spreading ridges are present in the relatively younger (<60 Ma) Arabian Sea oceanic lithosphere. The mechanism of lithospheric cooling of young age oceanic lithosphere from the moderately active and slow spreading Carlsberg Ridge is analysed by considering the hypothesis of near lithospheric convective action or whole upper mantle convection. We addressed these issues by studying the marine geoid at different spatial wavelengths and retrieved and compared their lithospheric cooling signatures, plate spreading and distribution of mass and heat anomalies along with seismicity, bathymetry, gravity and isochron age data. Results show that progressive cooling of young-aged oceanic lithosphere from the Mid-Ocean Carlsberg Ridge is because of conductive cooling and those signals are retrieved in the shorter wavelength band (111 < λ< 1900 km) of constrained residual geoid with mass anomaly sources near to sublithospheric. This shows steadiness in the geoid anomaly decay rate (∼–0.1 m/Ma), consistency in the growth of thermal boundary layer and progressive fall of basal temperature and heat flux (900– 300 K and 100–18 mW m−2) with increase of lithospheric age. The above observations are attributed to the fact that the advective–convective action beneath the Mid-Ocean Carlsberg Ridge is driven by the basal temperature gradient between the lithosphere and the near lithospheric low viscose thin layer. But, for the case of old-aged oceanic lithosphere in the BOB, the residual geoid anomaly cooling signals are not prominently seen in the same band as that of the Arabian Sea because of the Ninetyeast Ridge magmatism. However, its cooling anomaly signatures are retrieved at relatively higher band (1335 ≤ λ≤ 3081 km) having erratic geoid decay rates (–0.3 to 0.2 m/Ma) owing to vigorous convective thermal instabilities originated around 290–530 km from the plume remnant in the upper mantle (for the case of the BOB). We discussed that such instabilities had transported sufficient heat energy to accelerate the erstwhile fast movement of the Indian Plate prior to the India–Eurasia continent–continent collision.

Regional geoid of the Weddell Sea, Antarctica, from heterogeneous ground-based gravity data

We present a geoid solution for the Weddell Sea and adjacent continental Antarctic regions. There, a refined geoid is of interest, especially for oceanographic and glaciological applications. For example, to investigate the Weddell Gyre as a part of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and, thus, of the global ocean circulation, the mean dynamic topography (MDT) is needed. These days, the marine gravity field can be inferred with high and homogeneous resolution from altimetric height profiles of the mean sea surface. However, in areas permanently covered by sea ice as well as in coastal regions, satellite altimetry features deficiencies. Focussing on the Weddell Sea, these aspects are investigated in detail. In these areas, ground-based data that have not been used for geoid computation so far provide additional information in comparison with the existing high-resolution global gravity field models such as EGM2008. The geoid computation is based on the remove–compute–restore approach making use of least-squares collocation. The residual geoid with respect to a release 4 GOCE model adds up to two meters and more in the near-coastal and continental areas of the Weddell Sea region, also in comparison with EGM2008. Consequently, the thus refined geoid serves to compute new estimates of the regional MDT and geostrophic currents.

Regional geoid modeling in the area of subglacial Lake Vostok, Antarctica

We present a geoid model for the area of Lake Vostok, Antarctica, from a combination of local airborne gravity, ice-surface and ice-thickness data and a lake bathymetry model. The topography data are used for residual terrain modeling (RTM) in a remove–restore approach together with GOCE satellite data. The quasigeoid is predicted by least-squares collocation (LSC) and subsequently converted to geoid heights. Special aspects of that method in presence of an ice sheet are discussed.It is well known that a body freely floating in water is in a state of hydrostatic equilibrium (HE). This usually applies, e.g., to ice shelves or sea ice. However, it has been shown that this is valid also for the ice sheet covering the subglacial Lake Vostok. Thus, we demonstrate the use of such a refined regional geoid model for glaciological and geophysical applications by means of the HE surface of that lake. The mean quadratic residual geoid signal (0.56m) w.r.t. the GOCE background model exceeds the residual variations of the estimated apparent lake level (ALL) (0.26m) within the central part of the lake. An approach considering the actual geopotential at the ALL has been derived and subsequently applied. In this context, downward continuation of the potential field within the ice sheet as well as the latitudinal tilt of off-geoid equipotential surfaces are discussed. In view of the accuracy of the ice-thickness measurements that dominate the total error budget of the estimated ALL these effects are negligible. Thus, the HE surface of subglacial lakes may safely be described by a constant height bias in small-scale regional applications. However, field continuation is significant with respect to the formal uncertainty of the quasigeoid, which is at the level of 5cm given that accurate airborne gravity data (±2mGal) are available.

Modeling 3‐D density distribution in the mantle from inversion of geoid anomalies: Application to the Yellowstone Province

AbstractWe developed a three‐dimensional scheme to invert geoid anomalies aiming to map density variations in the mantle. Using an ellipsoidal‐Earth approximation, the model space is represented by tesseroids. To assess the quality of the density models, the resolution and covariance matrices were computed. From a synthetic geoid anomaly caused by a plume tail with Gaussian noise added, the inversion code was able to recover a plausible solution about the density contrast and geometry when it is compared to the synthetic model. To test the inversion algorithm in a natural case study, geoid anomalies from the Yellowstone Province (YP) were inverted. From the Earth Gravitational Model 2008 expanded up to degree 2160, lower crust‐ and mantle‐related negative geoid anomalies with amplitude of approximately 70 m were obtained after removing long‐wavelength components (&gt;5400 km) and crustal effects. We estimated three density models for the YP. The first model, the EDM‐1 (estimated density model), uses a starting model with density contrast equal to 0. The other two models, the EDM‐2 and EDM‐3, use an initial density derived from two S‐velocity models for the western United States, the Dynamic North America Models of S Waves by Obrebsky et al. (2011) and the Northwestern United States Teleseismic Tomography of S Waves (NWUS11‐S) by James et al. (2011). In these three models, a lower and an upper bound for the density solution was also imposed as a priori information. Regardless of the initial constraints, the inversion of the residual geoid indicates that the lower crust and the upper mantle of the YP have a predominantly negative density contrast (~ −50 kg/m3) relative to the surrounding mantle. This solution reveals that the density contrast extends at least to 660 km depth. Regional correlation analysis between the EDM‐1 and NWUS11‐S indicates an anticorrelation (coefficient of ~ −0.7) at 400 km depth. Our study suggests that the mantle density derived from the inversion of geoid could be integrated with seismic velocity models to image mantle anomalous features beyond the depth limit of investigation achieved combining gravity and seismic tomography. ©2013. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

High-resolution residual geoid and gravity anomaly data of the northern Indian Ocean – An input to geological understanding

Geoid data are more sensitive to density distributions deep within the Earth, thus the data are useful for studying the internal processes of the Earth leading to formation of geological structures. In this paper, we present much improved version of high resolution (1′×1′) geoid anomaly map of the northern Indian Ocean generated from the altimeter data obtained from Geodetic Missions of GEOSAT and ERS-1 along with ERS-2, TOPEX/POSIDEON and JASON satellites. The geoid map of the Indian Ocean is dominated by a significant low of −106m south of Sri Lanka, named as the Indian Ocean Geoid Low (IOGL), whose origin is not clearly known yet. The residual geoid data are retrieved from the geoid data by removing the long-wavelength core–mantle density effects using recent spherical harmonic coefficients of Earth Gravity Model 2008 (EGM2008) up to degree and order 50 from the observed geoid data. The coefficients are smoothly rolled off between degrees 30–70 in order to avoid artifacts related to the sharp truncation at degree 50. With this process we observed significant improvement in the residual geoid data when compared to the previous low-spatial resolution maps. The previous version was superposed by systematic broad regional highs and lows (like checker board) with amplitude up to ±12m, though the trends of geoid in general match in both versions. These methodical artifacts in the previous version may have arisen due to the use of old Rapp’s geo-potential model coefficients, as well as sharp truncation of reference model at degree and order 50. Geoid anomalies are converted to free-air gravity anomalies and validated with cross-over corrected ship-borne gravity data of the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal. The present satellite derived gravity data matches well with the ship-borne data with Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 5.1–7.8mGal, and this is found to be within the error limits when compared with other globally available satellite data. Spectral analysis of ship-borne and satellite data suggested that the satellite gravity data have a resolution down to 16–18km. Further, the geoid, residual geoid and gravity anomalies are integrated with seismic data along two profiles in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea, and inferences have been made in terms of density distributions at different depths. The new residual geoid anomaly map shows excellent correlation with regional tectonic features such as Sunda subduction zone, volcanic traces (Chagos–Laccadive, Ninetyeast and 85°E ridges) and mid-ocean ridge systems (Central Indian and Carlsberg ridges).

Long and short wavelengths of Indian Ocean geoid and gravity lows: Mid-to-upper mantle sources, rapid drift and seismicity of Kachchh and Shillong plateau, India

Spectral analysis of the Indian Ocean geoid low provides depth to the large wavelength sources as ∼1300, ∼700 and 340km that are supported from the spectral analysis and the modeling of the corresponding large wavelength regional gravity anomaly with negative density contrasts at these levels. The three levels coincide with the sharp changes in the gradient of the seismic velocities related to the olivine–spinel transformation of successively increasing Fe/Mg ratio as depth increases, known as transition zones. The first two segments are supported from continuous wavelet transform analysis of the large wavelength component of the corresponding gravity field. The low density rocks in this section appear to be related to the subducted Indian/Tethyan lithosphere that roll back and drifted southwards after subduction as inferred from tomography experiments. The relatively short wavelength sources of the spectrum of the geoid data at depths of 162 and 85km suggest sources along the lithosphere – asthenosphere boundary (LAB) under the Indian continent and surrounding oceans, respectively. A low viscosity zone has been envisaged below 660km discontinuity that may correspond to the low density rocks in this section which is popularly referred to as graveyards of the subducted rocks under geoid lows. The subducted slab is hydrated due to dehydration from metamorphism that causes upwelling in the mid-to-upper mantle which is likely to set in baby plumes. Presence of fluid may transform part of olivine to serpentine further reducing the bulk density of rocks in this section. They would make this region buoyant that appears to be responsible for the Central Indian Ocean Deformation Zone with large scale folding, faulting, seismicity, and high heat flow. The same also appear to be responsible for the rapid drift of the Indian plate.Short wavelength component of the Indian Ocean geoid low reflects most of the surface/shallow tectonics of the region similar to the gravity anomaly providing an additional data set for this purpose. Kachchh and the Shillong plateau inspite of being in the intra plate region are highly seismogenic that compare almost to the activity along the plate boundaries. Tectonics and residual geoid anomalies of the Indian continent and adjoining regions suggest that the geoid highs of Kachchh and the Shillong plateau along the NW and the NE corners of India are connected to the geoid highs of the plate boundaries through several lineaments and faults that also show geoid highs and trends of seismic activity leading to plate boundaries. Geoid highs indicating high density mafic rocks suggest their connections/extensions to plate boundaries indicating them to be plausibly part of diffused plate boundaries. Besides, both these regions are affected by (i) prominent lithospheric flexure of the Indian plate (ii) large scale mafic intrusions and (iii) interaction of proterozoic mobile belts with effects of present day Himalayan orogeny that make them more vulnerable for seismic activity.

Why is the areoid like the residual geoid?

The equipotential figures of Earth (residual geoid), and of Mars (areoid) are characterized by pairs of elevated and pairs of depressed antipodal equatorial regions. Elevated regions of the residual geoid lie vertically above the two Large Low Shear Wave Velocity Provinces (LLSVPs) on the Core Mantle Boundary (CMB). There is evidence that the LLSVPs are dense, physicochemically distinct, and have been stable in their positions with respect to each other and to the Earth's spin axis for at least ∼550 My. The final event in the planetary‐scale development of the Earth's structure was the moon‐forming event and the comparable event on Mars is thought by many to have been the Borealis basin‐forming impact. We attribute the formation of the LLSVPs and postulated comparable masses underlying the elevated regions of the areoid on the CMB of Mars, to the immediate after‐effects of those two giant impacts.

Mantle Anchor Structure: An argument for bottom up tectonics

Close examination of the long wavelength shear velocity signal in the lowermost mantle in the wavenumber domain ties several geophysical observations together and leads to fundamental inferences. When mantle shear velocity model S362ANI at a depth of 2800 km is expanded in spherical harmonics up to degree 18, more than one half of the seismic model's total power is contained in a single spherical harmonic coefficient: the “recumbent” Y 20 spherical harmonic; a Y 20 with its axis of symmetry rotated to the equatorial plane. This degree 2 signal, which continues with decreasing amplitude for more than 1000 km above the core–mantle boundary (CMB), is characterized by two antipodal regions of low velocities, separated by a circum-polar torus of higher than average velocities. If the slow regions are associated with net excess mass, then any axis of rotation located in the plane of the circum-polar torus will be close to the maximum moment of inertia axis; this includes, of course, the current axis of rotation. We suggest that the recumbent Y 20 is a very stable feature: once established, it is difficult to erase, and only relatively small departures from this equilibrium configuration are possible. This anomaly correlates strongly with the degree 2 terms of the residual geoid expansion, distribution of the hot spots above the slow regions, high attenuation in the transition zone, and position of subduction zones above the fast band during the last 200 Ma. Also, the preferred paths of the virtual geomagnetic pole and true polar wander locations for the last 200 Ma lie within the fast band. Since the non-hydrostatic perturbation of the moment of inertia tensor depends only on degree-2 anomalies in the density distribution and deformation of discontinuities, it is natural to infer that rotational dynamics of the Earth have influenced the distribution of heterogeneities in the Earth's deep interior. We propose that the large-scale heterogeneity at the base of the mantle, which we name Mantle Anchor Structure (MAS) may have formed early in the history of the convecting mantle, remained locked in place with respect to the Earth's rotation axis ever since, and is currently imposing the planform of flow in the mantle and of plate tectonics at the surface.

Geoid height versus topography of the Northern Ninetyeast Ridge: implications on crustal compensation

In this paper we focused on understanding the isostatic compensation of the Ninetyeast Ridge in the overall context of the Bay of Bengal oceanic lithosphere and the interaction of the ridge system with the north Andaman subduction zone from north of 7–18°N. This region is characterized by the initial interaction of the Kerguelen hotspot with the Bay of Bengal oceanic lithosphere. We used satellite altimeter-derived marine geoid, as it should comprehensively reflect the compensations caused by large spatial wavelength dominated deeper anomaly sources in a hotspot affected lithospheric load like the Ninetyeast Ridge. Our analyses of the geoid-to-topography ratio (GTR), residual geoid, gravity-to-topographic kernel and upward continuation of anomalies show the existence of two different types of source compensation bodies beneath the northern (12–18°N) and southern (7–12°N) Ninetyeast Ridge. In the northern region, the geoid to topography ratio varies from 0.63 ± 0.05 to 0.44 ± 0.03, while in the southern region it ranges from 1.34 ± 0.09 to 1.31 ± 0.07 which resulted in a north to south increase in the apparent compensation depth from ~9 to 28 km. The presence of a shallow Moho, low GTR, broader gravity to topography kernel and the absence of a ridge anomaly from the mantle density dominated upward continued anomaly at z = 300 km indicates that at the northern segment the underplated low density crustal melt is the dominant isostatic compensating body. However, at the southern ridge segment the high GTR, strong gravity-to-topography kernel and the subsistence of the anomaly at long wavelengths, even at z = 300 km represents the existence of large volumes of hotspot related underplated dense material as the source of compensation. The proximity of the dense source compensating body of the southern Ninetyeast Ridge to the Andaman subduction zone affected the regional mantle driven density gradient flow, as observed from the z = 300 km continued gravity anomaly. The existence of a southern Ninetyeast Ridge in such a transpressional regime has caused the formation of a forearc sliver at its eastern flank, which is a major crustal deformational structure developed as a result of ridge-trench collision.

Mapping the geoid for Iberia and the Macaronesian Islands using multi-sensor gravity data and the GRACE geopotential model

A new gravimetric geoid model (ICAGM07) has been determined for the North-East Atlantic Ocean, Iberia, and the Macaronesian Islands using multi-sensor gravity data and a GRACE derived Earth geopotential model. A high resolution gravity model, determined using least squares optimal interpolation of marine, land, and satellite derived gravity anomalies, was used to resolve the medium and short wavelengths of the geoid. Long wavelengths of the geoid were provided by the GRACE derived Earth geopotential model. The topographic effects were computed in the spectral domain using a high resolution (100 m) digital terrain model derived from SRTM mission data and cartographic charts. The remove–restore technique was used to compute the geoid model on a 1.5′ grid, and the residual geoid height was computed using spherical FFT and a modified Stokes’ kernel. The effects of different Earth tide models on the geoid were computed and analysed. Comparison over the sea with an oceanographic geoid determined from CLS01 MSSH and Rio05 MDT yield a relative accuracy of 8 cm, with larger differences close to the shoreline. Over land, comparisons with 1646 GPS/levelling marks indicate an overall precision of 8–10 cm and relative vertical datum offsets of up to 2 m. This new geoid model represents a significant improvement over existing geoid models, with a homogeneous relative accuracy of 8–10 cm over both marine and land areas, and exposes the inaccuracies of local vertical datums as references for studies of vertical deformation.

Interpretation of geoid anomalies in the contact zone between the East European Craton and the Palaeozoic Platform-II: Modelling of density in the lithospheric mantle

SUMMARY We present analysis of lateral variations of density in the upper mantle in the area of contact of the precambrian East European Craton (EEC) and the Palaeozoic Platform (PP) in Poland, obtained by analysis of the gravimetric geoid undulations. A precise 3-D density model of the crust in the study area down to a depth of 50 km, discussed in the first part of this paper (Majdanski et al., in press) did not explain all features of the observed geoid. This suggests that these features can be due to density inhomogeneities in the upper mantle. To estimate them, we performed inversion of a residual between the observed geoid and undulations caused by the 3-D density distribution in the crust. Basing on the assumption of local isostatic compensation and Pratt–Hayford isostasy model, the density distribution in the upper mantle was parametrized as a 40-km-thick layer located above the assumed compensation depth of 140 km and subdivided into irregular blocks. The boundaries of the blocks were defined according to boundaries of major tectonic units in the study area and position and shape of the most pronounced anomalies in the residual geoid. A series of sensitivity tests calculated for such density heterogeneities in the upper mantle showed that they can produce geoid undulations of the order of several metres. The density values in each unit were taken as model parameters for the inversion procedure, and inverse problem was solved using global optimization with constraints. The density variations in the upper mantle in the final model correlate well with the surface heat flow. This suggests that these variations can be due to diversity in mantle temperature. The Trans-European Suture Zone (TESZ), which is a major suture separating the EEC from the PP, is not observed as a distinct unit in the mantle. Instead, our study suggests continuation of the lithosphere of the EEC beneath the PP and confirms subdivision of the TESZ into terranes with distinctly different evolution. A simple calculation shows that condition of local isostatic equilibrium is almost achieved at the assumed compensation depth, with the exception of several small-scale units. However, different loads and mass deficiencies in the lithosphere are compensated at different depth levels. This proves that the lithosphere is alternation of mechanically strong and weak layers, both in the crust and upper mantle, and that different loads can be compensated at different depth. However, the total compensation of all lithospheric loads occurs in the upper mantle.