PURE AND APPLIED GEOPHYSICS

Vol. 86 1971/Ill

Direct Gravity Interpretation of Sedimentary Basin Using Digital Computer - Part I

By B. N. P. AGARWAL1)
Summary - A method is developed for rapid gravity interpretation of a sedimentary basin using a digital computer. Assuming a linear variable density contrast (both vertically and horizontally), expressions have been derived for the gravitational attraction of a rectangular strip. An interpretation of the structure of Godavari Valley (India) has been made using these expressions.

1. Introduction

A bouguer gravity anomaly can be attributed to an infinite number of mass distribution (SKEELS, [7] 2), ROY [6]). Depending upon the availability of geological and geophysical informations, it should be possible to interpret a gravity anomaly to a great degree of accuracy. Though in general, gravity interpretation problem is not well defined, in some instances, the geological setting is such that it is possible to construct a suitable geophysical model which can easily be brought within a framework suitable for computer application. The interpretation of gravity anomaly over sedimentary basins (alluvial filled valleys) is an example of well structured interpretative problem, which can be solved using a digital computer. Under suitable conditions and assumptions, a bouguer gravity profile provides a means of estimating the depth to the bedrock through the sedimentary cover. The gravity profile is selected on a line perpendicular to the bouguer gravity contours. The underground structure is assumed to be of uniform cross section, extending infinitely in the direction perpendicular to the profile. In addition, the following factors are specified to ensure a unique interpretation. a) The location of the surface of the bedrock-sedimentary contacts are given. b) The sedimentary-bedrock density contrast is specified, and c) The underlying bedrock is not undercut at any point by the sedimentary fill. In the past decade, many techniques for rapid interpretation of gravity anomalies have been developed (TALWANI et al. [8], BOTT [1], MORGAN and GRANT [3] and TANNER [9]). In principle, all these methods depend upon idealizing a body by a two-dimensional mass distribution which is, either, divided into large number of
1) Department of Geophysics, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-5, India. 2) Numbers in the brackets refer to References, page 12.

B.N.P. Agarwal

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vertical strips (BOTT [1] and TAt,~ZR [9]), or, fitted by an n-sided polygon (TALWANI et al. [8] and MORGAN and GRANT [3]), in order to determine the structural configuration by the method of successive approximation. In all these methods, the effects of the surrounding mass and the deposition of sediments under the influence of earth's gravitational field on the gravity profile have not been accounted in a realistic way. In the present work, the mass distribution is approximated by a large number of vertical strips. To account for the effect of surrounding mass on the gravity profile, a variable density contrast function is used throughout the body (MORRTSand SULTZBACH [4]). We also assume that a) all the strips are of uniform width, b) the gravity profile is symmetric about the vertical axis passing through the minimum gravity value, and c) the lateral density variation is taken in both the directions from the point of minimum gravity value. The suitability of present method to various problems of interpretation has been vindicated by demonstrating one practical case. The advantages of this method over other existing ones have been discussed.
2. Formulation of the problem

The geometry of" the strip has been shown in figure 1. The Bouguer gravity anomaly values g(~), at equispaced points (~i, 0) where i = 1, 2,... n (n being the
P(~i,O) ~(0,0) J
, ~

b
2

~o,~

-rL Figure 1 Geometry of the strip

Vol. 86, 1971/III)

Direct Gravity Interpretation of Sedimentary Basin - Part I

number of points and also the number of strips), are known along the horizontal axis. The gravity effect at each point (~i, 0) can be computed by solving the following integral (HEmAND [2])
r f2(~)

g(4,) = 2 G
~' f l ( g )

tl 2 + ( ~ _ 4) 2

(1)

where ~(4, t/) variable density contrast function; 4' and 4" the coordinates of ~ trom arbitrary origin for fixing the extent of the basin; fl (4) complicated functions of depths for upper and lower boundaries of and f2(r the basin; and G universal gravitational constant. The exact solution of integral, given in equation (1) can not be obtained because the depth functionsf 1(4) andfz(4) are unknown and are rather complicated. A simple approximation is made for the interpretation of sedimentary basins by choosing f1(4) = 0 and approximating f2(4) by small horizontal lines of constant length but of different depths. Furthermore, the distances between the coordinates (~', 0) and (4", 0) are divided into n-strips of equal width b. Thus the solution of integral given in equation (l) can be obtained by summing up the gravity effect of all the strips. The equation (1) can now be written as
n ~'+jb tlj

g(4,) = 2 G
j=l {'+(j-1)b 0

2 + ( { i - 4) 2(2)

or

g(4i) = 2 G ) , Aj g(4i)
j=l
/..,d

where 02(4, t/) the variable density function in jth strip r/j the depths to the lower surface o f j t h strip and djg((i) gravitational attraction of thejth strip at the point (~i, 0). It is the purpose of the present paper to obtain the solution of equation (2) and use it in the interpretation of the structure of a given sedimentary basin. We shall make the following assumptions with regard to the variable density contrast function 1) The density contrast varies linearly in lateral as well as in vertical direction in a strip. 2) The variation of density contrast along the vertical direction is such that it assumes a constant density contrast at the lower boundary of the strip. The second assumption is made because a) the variation along the vertical direction is not known,

B.N.P. Agarwal

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b) along the boundary (lower) of the sedimentary basin, a constant density contrast is assumed. When the number of strips are large enough, the various depths of the strips can be taken as the boundary of the sedimentary basin.

3. Calculation of density function

The geometry of the strip has been shown in figure 1. Let the density values at the upper corners of a strip be 01 and 02 respectively and 03 at the lower boundary of the strip and is constant throughout the width of the strip. Let us choose the points P1 and P2 at a depth t/from the ground surface. Then the density functions 0,(t/) and 02(t/), by assumption, are given by
o~(~) = < [ i + ~I(, - ,1)]

and where
"1

(3)
03 01 [

filand

Q,'(~z - ~1) ~3 02 ~2"(~2 - */1)"

-

L !
[

(4)

fl2-

J
P2, they must satisfy the
(5)

Since the density varies linearly between the points P1 and relation 02(t1) = 01(t1)(1 -{- ( b )
02(~) - ~(~) 0.(,) b Therefore the density function 0(#, ~/) at a point

P3(~,/7) from the origin will be

(6)

given by

0(~, t/) = 01(*/) (1 + ~ ~).

Substituting the 'values of 01 (t/) and ~ from equations (3) and (5) we get after some simplification where
~2 --

~I

01b
and y0 2 f12 - - 01 f l l

(7)

01b When ~]1= 0 i.e. the upper surface of the strip coincides with the horizontal ground surface, then 0({, ~/) becomes
o(~. ~) = oi[~ + ~ ~ +/h ~+

~ ,I].

(8)

Vol. 86, 1971/III) DirectGravityInterpretation of SedimentaryBasin- Part I

4. Calculation of gravitational attraction of a rectangular strip with variable density contrast function ~({, ~)

Let us consider a point P at a distance {~ from the origin of coordinate system (Figure 1). The gravitational attraction Ajg(r for a rectangular strip of variable density contrast function ~(~,//), defined by equation (7), is given by (HEILAND [2])
b t'12

A~ g(~i)= 2 G f f ~,[1 +~ { + fl1(////2-+//')({, +_7{(//{)2 -//1)]// de d//

0 r/1

(9)

or,
Aj g(r = 2 G 02

b r/2

b ~2

//2+ (r _ 02 + ~
0
~i

I/2 + (r - {)2
0 ~/j
b ~/2

b ~2

+&
0 ql b ~/2 -~- ~ or . 0 ~/1

,~ + (~,_ 02

& ,~
0 r/1 b ~/2

r + (~,_ r

(10)

//2 .~_ ( ~ i -

~//1 0 ~/1

/~2 .Of_( r

~ ?)2]

Ai g(~,) = 2 G Oj[Ii + a I2 + fll Ia - fl, //1 I, + yI4 - Y//~ I2]. These integrals have been solved and the concerned expressions for the integrals /1,/2, I 3 and I4 can be written as {2 ,///2 + ({,_ b)2 ({, - b) ln 11= r ++r vth + ({i b) 2 + t/2(ta n- 1 1/2 {~
\

tan-* ~t]2- b)
tan1 {, b~

(11)

~/l(tan- {--~-%

~i

//i / b) 2

12=2 //z zln

//2+~

//~ ln~//} + (r b) 2 //1

In / t122+(r + ( { i - b ) 2 ~///2+(r
+ r r

~ In~ ///2 / ~ . gi |

/ 2 q_ r_2"~

g,d
b) 2 b) 2

ln ///2 + {, //2 + (~, '4//~ + # - (~ - b) In ~ + (r

~2

(:2)

+~/l(tan_ 1 r t/~

tan_l~)_t/2(tan_ 1 r "-- b

tan- x~'~i2)1

10 /3 = ~ t/~ tan -1 . t/2 . . . tan-

B.N.P. Agarwal

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'I(

+'

t/z-- -/?2 tan -1--t/t - tan -1

++

++b)
(13)

+ b(t/2 - t/1) + ~2( tan-l+ th - tan-1 t/2']

e7

- ( ~ . i - b)/'( tan-t ~it/l-- b

-

tan-I :it/~)?b
+'11 + (+,:-

b) 2

+ r

-lt/2

eT-

tan-1 t/l~ _

x ( tan- l l --~ - ~ b -i tan- ~ith ~ b) + b ( t / 2 - t h ) ( b - 2 ~ i ) ] + 89~[t/zz'(tan- 1 t/2 ~--i- tan- 1 ~/~ b)

_

(14)

th" tan-1 ~i

/71

~i -- b t/1

~i

lt/2~ ~i//

_ ( ~ i _ b ) e . ( t a n - 1 ~ i/71 - b

tan-1 ~, t/2 Z b ) + b(t/2 - t/l) 1

where 'ln' denotes the natural logarithm. Using the expressions for 11, Iz, 13 and I4 and equation (10) we can easily calculate the value of g(~i) from equation (2).

5. Method of computation
The algorithm developed for calculating the shape of the sedimentary basin, using equations (7) and (10) to (14) is similar to the one described by BOTT [1] except that few modifications have been incorporated to take into account the variable density contrast with the assumption that basin extends from the horizontal plane of observation, i.e., J71=0 in equations (10) to (14). Let the span of the basin '2a' be divided into '2n' vertical strips of equal width b(b =a/n, where n = 1, 2, 3 ...). Assuming the maximum and minimum density contrasts as ~max and 0,,i,, we have O~max - - ~min c~(15)

a Qmin

Therefore, the density values at the corners of the every strip can be calculated by

o~i=O,~i,(l+~ib ) for i = 0 , 1 , 2 .... n

and 0n+i=~~ for i = 1 , 2 , 3 .... n.

] j

(16)

Vol. 86, 1971/II/)

Direct Gravity Interpretation of Sedimentary Basin - Part I

11

Before going to an iterative process for least square fitting of the Bouguer gravity anomaly (Gb), prior knowledge of the approximate depths of each strip is essential. The approximate depths are calculated from the Bouguer slab equation g = 2 Ir G ~ h where h is the thickness of the slab. In the present case, the first approximate depths r/~j are calculated by

rl~j =

GbJ

j = 1, 2, 3 . . . . . 2 n .

(17)

The second and other higher approximate depths are calculated exactly with the same method as adopted by BOTT [1].

6. Application
In a sedimentary basin, the condition of deposition of sediments under earth's gravity action gives rise to a density gradient in the vertically downward direction. Also, one may assume a suitable density contrast from the centre of the basin towards its edges to account for the effect of the surrounding mass on the gravity profile. We have estimated the shape of the Godavari Basin (India), on the basis of Bouguer anomaly map (QURESHV et al. [5]) along a profile C C' north of Nagpur (Latitude 21~ ' N, longitude 79~ ` E). The values of g(~i) have been calculated by means of a computer program developed for use on IBM 1620, using equations (10) to (17). The figure 2 shows the various shapes of the basin obtained by assuming the density function to be

~.
E

-IC -2s

I 4C

Z-

-5C -6s 20 Nos i z 3 4 40 5 6 7

KILOMETERS 60

,? '~.L.~_~.L 9 I c'
8O I00 Iz I3 14 15 120 16 I I ~ g40 ~a ~. =

-s~

'"!E ~
. . . . .

,
2 3

VERTICAL

SCALE

EXAGGERATED

Figure 2 Structural configuration below a profile across Godavari Valley (India) obtained by assuming: 1) constant density contrast (--0.4 gin/cruZ)(-.-); 2) lateral density variation (--); 3) vertical and lateral density variation (--). Maximum and minimum density contrasts are --0.4 gm/cm 3 and --0.3 gm/cm ~ respectively

12 a) b) and c)

B.N.P. Agarwal constant (density contrast - 0 . 4 g m / c m 3) o f lateral variation ( m a x i m u m and m i n i m u m density contrast - 0 . 4 g m / c m 3 0.3 g m / c m 3 respectively. o f lateral and vertical variation.
7. Conclusion

The present m e t h o d provides a more accurate interpretation of gravity a n o m a l y over sedimentary basin by assuming the continuous variation of density in lateral as well as in vertical direction.

8. Acknowledgements

A u t h o r is grateful to Mr. TARKESHWAR LAL for his continued interest and encouragement t h r o u g h o u t the work. A u t h o r is also thankful to Director, Regional Research L a b o r a t o r y , H y d e r a b a d for providing computing facilities. Part of the w o r k was done while author was Junior Research Fellow (C.S.I.R.) at National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad. REFERENCES [1] M. H. P. BOTT, The use of rapid digital computing methods for direct gravity interpretation of sedimentary basins, Geophys. J. Roy. Astron. Soc. 3 (1960), 63. [2] C. A. HEILAND,Geophysical Exploration (Prentice Hall Inc., New York 1946), 151. [3] N. A. MORGANand F. S. GRANT, High speed calculation of gravity and magnetic profiles across two dimensional bodies having an arbitrary cross-section, Geophys. Prosp. 11 (1963), 10. [4] D. B. MoRms and R. A. SULTZSACH, Gravity data reduction and interpretation using a digital computer, a case history, Mining Geophysics 2 (1967), 630. [5] M. N. QURESHY,N. KRISHNABRAHMAN, S. C. GARDEand B. K. MATHUR,Gravity anomalies and Godavari Rift, India, Bull. Geol. Soc. Am. 79 (1968), 1221. [6] A. RoY, Ambiguity in Geophysical interpretation, Geophysics 27 (1962), 90. [7] D. C. SKEELS,Ambiguity in gravity interpretation, Geophysics 12 (1947), 43. [8] M. TALWANI,J. LAMARWORZEL, and MARKLANDISMAN,Rapid gravity computations for two dimensional bodies with application to the Mendocino submarine fracture zone, J. Geophys. Res. 64 (1959), 49. [9] J. G. TANNER, An automated method of gravity interpretation, Geophys. J. Roy. Astron. Soc. 13 (1967), 339. (Received 2nd July 1970)