Geology 351 – Geophysical Methods for Geology,

Engineering and Environmental Sciences (ATH)

Gravity Method
General field of the Earth:

Gravity is one of the most fundamental forces of nature. It exists as long as mass
exists. A gravitational force that exists between two mass elements, m1 and m2, separated
by a distance of r is described by the following formula.
K mm K
F = G 1 2 2 e12
r
K
where G is the universal gravitational constant (6.67 × 10-11 m3/kg-sec2) and e12 is an
unit vector in the m1m2 direction. It follows that the gravitational acceleration of m2 due
to m1 is given by the following expression.
K
K F m K
g= = G 21 e12
m2 r
The c.g.s. unit (or dimension) for acceleration is cm/sec2. In applied geophysics, this unit
is often referred to as a "gal", in honor of Galileo who conducted many pioneering
studies of Earth's gravity. The mean gravitational acceleration at the surface of the Earth
is about 980 gal. In applied geophysics, however, a unit that commonly appears is mgal,
which is one thousandth of a gal.

Because the Earth is a spheroid, gravity naturally varies as a function of latitude.

The variation can be described by the following equation.

g = 978.049 (1 + β1 sin 2 φ + β 2 sin 2 2φ )

where φ is the latitude; β1 and β2 are constants with values of 0.0052884 and -0.0000059,
respectively. Thus, the gravitational acceleration difference between the equator and the
pole is about 5 gal. Can you tell where the gravity is larger?

So far, the gravity that we have been discussing is generally referred to as the
"absolute gravity". For applied geophysics, absolute gravity is of very little interest.
Instead, we are more interested in the variations of the absolute gravity in the lateral
direction. This is often referred to as the "relative gravity" or "gravity anomalies".
Because surface gravity is a direct result of the mass underneath, surface gravity
anomalies reflect directly the mass differences beneath the surface. Consequently, a
high-density anomaly such as a gold deposit will produce a positive gravity anomaly (i.e.,
gravity high), whereas a low-density body such as a sulfur ore body will produce a
negative gravity anomaly (i.e., a gravity low). Gravity anomalies are expressed,
therefore, with respect to an arbitrary reference value.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 1

Copyright  2000 hsui
Geology 351 – Geophysical Methods for Geology,
Engineering and Environmental Sciences (ATH)

Gravity Data Acquisition

I. Instrumentation (Gravity Meters or Gravimeters):

In general, there are two different types of gravimeter: a stable type and an unstable
type. The working principle of a stable type gravimeter is based on a mass/spring system
as illustrated below.

initial state final state

k kx

m x

mg
In such a system, a weight of mass m is suspended beneath a spring with a spring
constant k. After the system has reached equilibrium, the spring will be stretched by an
amount of x. Under this condition, the weight of the mass must balance the force
corresponding to the stretching of the spring. This relationship can be expressed by F =
mg = k x. Thus, a change of gravitational acceleration will produce a change in the
amount of stretching of the spring. That is,
∆g ∆x
∆F = m ∆g = k ∆x or =
g x

Hence, by measuring the changes of the spring length at different locations, one can
calculate the corresponding gravity anomalies among these localities. The working
principle of this instrument is relatively simple. However, in order to measure gravity to
the accuracy of microgal (or µgal), the following relationship must hold (i.e., ∆g/g = ∆x/x
≈ 10-6/103 = 10-9). In other words, one needs a spring with a length of 1 km to obtain that
kind of accuracy if we can measure length only to an accuracy of microms (i.e.,
micrometers). As a result, the stable type of gravimeter is not practical for measurements
that require high accuracies. There is no surprise, therefore, that this type of gravimeter
is no longer in use today. Instead, the unstable type of gravimeters becomes the
instrument of choice.

An unstable type of gravimeter is also based on a mass/spring arrangement. Instead

of carrying out measurements under equilibrium conditions, however, it uses the dynamic
feature of such a system. When a mass/spring system is disturbed, a natural vibration is
produced with a natural period of T = 2 π m / k , where m and k are defined as
previously. It follows that

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 2

Copyright  2000 hsui
Geology 351 – Geophysical Methods for Geology,
Engineering and Environmental Sciences (ATH)

mg T 2 ∆g ∆T
x= = 2 g and =2
k 4π g T

Thus, by measuring the changes of the vibration period, one can calculate the
corresponding gravity anomalies. In practice, it is difficult to measure the natural period
directly. Instead, according to the vibration theory, one can introduce damping to a
mass/spring system to damp out the vibrations. The amount of damping needed is
directly proportional to the natural period of the system. Therefore, the amount of
damping is measured instead to infer gravity variations. Most of the present day
gravimeters are designed according to this mass/spring/damper arrangement. Note that in
this case, the spring length is no longer of consequence.

(a) The Worden Gravimeter: This design is rugged and not sensitive to heat. As a
result, no battery is needed to provide cooling. Nevertheless, it is still quite bulky.
Its sensitivity is relatively low. Despite these shortcomings, it remains an instrument
frequently used in the field because it is inexpensive and its weight is relatively light.

(b) The LaCoste-Romberg Gravimeter: This is a more accurate instrument. Because of

its design, however, it needs to be maintained at a constant temperature. Thus, a
battery is needed to attach to the instrument. Because batteries are generally heavy,
it makes the instrument less desirable to be carried in field operations. As the weight
of batteries becomes less and less, however, this instrument becomes more and more
popular. For measurements at permanent stations and for high precision
measurements, a LaCoste-Romberg gravimeter is usually preferred.

Gravity measurements are quite tedious generally. It typically takes at least 5

minutes to take a reading. Most readings must be performed on a stable platform. As a
result, airborne gravity measurements are rare. In order to carry out an airborne survey
accurately, extensive preparations to track the flight paths are necessary. Marine gravity
surveys are just as difficult because of the wave motions of the seas. Because gravity is a
form of acceleration, a gravimeter is sensitive to all accelerations regardless whether they
are produced by gravity or by inertia.

II. Field Techniques :

Conceptually, gravity measurements are fairly straightforward to carry out. One

only needs to set up a grid system on the surface of the Earth and take a reading at each
grid point. In practice, there are two main points that one needs to consider. They are:
(a) accessibility and (b) grid spacings.

(a) On the surface of the Earth, there are hills and valleys. And, there are streams and
cliffs. Not every place is accessible easily. Therefore, before any gravity survey,
one needs to study the area carefully and then design a survey grid as close to a
square (or a rectangle) as access conditions permit. The grid system must be larger

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 3

Copyright  2000 hsui
Geology 351 – Geophysical Methods for Geology,
Engineering and Environmental Sciences (ATH)

than the size of the suspected structure to be mapped. The complete grid system is
not necessary to be square or rectangular in geometry, however.

(b) Grid spacing is determined by the depth and the lateral extent of the structure to be
mapped. Generally, the deeper the buried object is, the broader its gravity anomaly
signals will spread out at the surface. Therefore, it is not uncommon to have a grid
system covering a horizontal extent that is 5 to 10 times greater than the size of the
suspected object underneath. In addition, the finer the structure one wishes to
resolve, the smaller the prescribed grid spacing should be.

Gravity data acquisition at sea is a lot more complicated than that on land. Mainly, it
is difficult to find a stable platform for the measurements. One can, of course, perform
the measurements at the ocean floor. But, accessibility becomes a major problem. It
would be a lot easier to carry out the measurements on board of a survey ship at the sea
surface. However, because the irregular wave motions, a stable platform is practically
impossible. Wave motions can produce a vertical acceleration by inertia. As far as a
gravimeter is concerned, it cannot distinguish the difference. Its reading, therefore, will
contain the combined accelerations of gravity and inertia. There is no way to separate the
two unless motion of the ship is tracked simultaneously. Airborne gravity surveys face
similar problems although it is easier to track the flight path of an airplane than to track
the motion of a ship.

Gravity Data Processing

Gravity data processing is also known as gravity data reduction. For gravity data, it
is not necessary to have them gone through the same elaborate processing procedures as
discussed in seismic work. In other words, no elaborate filtering is needed usually.
However, raw gravity data contain a lot of undesirable effects arisen from local
conditions such as latitude, elevation and nearby topographic variations. To correct for
those local effects, raw data must be reduced to a common reference. Therefore, the
process is generally called reduction of gravity data. The various data correction
procedures will be discussed hereafter.

(a) Instrument Drift Correction : What is "instrument drift"? For any mechanical
device, materials will relax over time. In other words, instrument behavior can
change over time due to the changes of material properties. In terms of gravimeter,
its spring constant can change over time, for example. As a result, gravity readings
could change over time even if measurements were made at the same location. This
transient behavior of instrument is called instrument drift. Fortunately, material
property changes are usually slow and monotonic. Therefore, drift characteristics
can be approximated by linear extrapolations. To correct for instrument drift, one
must repeatedly occupy the same station and use the readings to construct a drift
curve. That is the reason, in gravity surveys, one must choose a grid point as the
base station, and periodically return to the base station for repeated readings. On the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 4

Copyright  2000 hsui
Geology 351 – Geophysical Methods for Geology,
Engineering and Environmental Sciences (ATH)

basis of these repeated readings, one can develop a drift curve. For example,
consider the following data at a base station.

Time 12:00 14:00 15:00 18:00

Reading 38 32 44 48

A drift curve of the instrument can be generated from this data set. It is plotted in the
diagram below. If there is no instrument drift, readings at the base station should be
identical at all time. Because of drifts, however, measurements vary over time.
Variations are assumed to be linear between measurements. To correct for drift, one
need to add or subtract a necessary amount corresponding to a specific time to bring
the reading to its actual value so that measurements at the base station remain the
same. Thus, effects of instrument drift can be eliminated.

50
gravity readings

40

30

20
12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00
time of day

The instrument drift correction described above can also take care of the solar and
lunar tidal effects, another time variation of the Earth's gravity field. Because of the
relative positions among the Sun, the Moon and the Earth change constantly, there is
a net change of the Earth's surface gravity with a periodicity of approximately 12
hours. Ocean tides are the results of this phenomenon. The procedure of repeated
occupations of the base station described above is able to take care of both the
instrument drift and the tidal effects simultaneously. It is because the measurements
are readings of the combined effects of these two time varying phenomena.

(b) Latitude Correction : As discussed earlier, because of the shape of the Earth, gravity
naturally varies as a function of latitude. As a result, gravity profiles that have a
north-south component must be corrected for this effect. Because the variation of
gravity as a function of latitude is well known, i.e.
g L = g o ( 1 + β1 sin 2 φ + β 2 sin 2 2φ )

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 5

Copyright  2000 hsui
Geology 351 – Geophysical Methods for Geology,
Engineering and Environmental Sciences (ATH)

d gL 1 d gL mgal
thus, = ≈1.307 sin 2φ . At the 45-degree latitude,
ds R dφ mile
maximum correction will occur. At the equator or the poles, corrections will be zero.

(c) Free-Air Correction : A free-air correction is basically an elevation correction.

Because surface gravity is a function of the distance between the station and the
center of the Earth, higher elevation will yield smaller gravity. Thus, it is desirable
to reduce all gravity readings to the same elevation so that meaningful interpretations
can be carried out. For global geophysics, a convenient reference surface is usually
the sea level. In applied geophysics, however, one often uses the elevation at the
base station as a reference surface. Choice of a reference surface is not important in
applied geophysics because it is the relative gravity that is of interest. To apply a
free-air correction, we use the following analysis.
M
g FA = G 2
R
d g FA M 2g mgal
= −2G 3 ≈ − = −0.09406 ft
dR R R
Here, G is the universal gravitational constant; M is the mass of the Earth; R is the
mean radius of the Earth; and g is the mean surface gravity of the Earth. The
negative sign implies that free-air correction is added to the field reading when the
station is above the datum surface. It is because dR is negative when topography (or
elevation) is positive. Conversely, when station elevation is negative (i.e., below the
datum surface), correction must be subtracted from the field reading.

Judging from the latitude and the free-air corrections, it is clear that location of
survey stations must be determined accurately in order to obtain high quality gravity
data. Generally, lateral position should be measured to within 40 ft of accuracy.
Such accuracy can easily be accomplished today using GPS technology. Vertically,
one needs to know the elevation to within 2 inches in order to have a 0.01 mgal
survey accuracy, which is a typical sensitivity of most of the gravimeter available
commercially at present.

(d) Bouguer Correction : After free-air corrections, gravity data still contain signals due
to the mass above (or the absence of mass below) the datum surface. Unless this
effect is removed, one cannot conclusively determine mass variation beneath the
datum plane. The correction for this excess (or deficiency) of mass associated with
topography is called a Bouguer correction. Because survey areas are usually small
compared with the wavelength of topographic variations, the excess (or deficiency
of) mass can be approximated as flat slabs. Consequently, their contribution to the
gravity can be described as gB = 2π G ρ t, where ρ is the density, t is the thickness of
the layer, and G is the universal gravitational constant. Hence, the change of gravity
due to mass excess (or deficiency) associated with topographic variations is
described by the following equation.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 6

Copyright  2000 hsui
Geology 351 – Geophysical Methods for Geology,
Engineering and Environmental Sciences (ATH)

dg B mgal mgal
= 2π Gρ = 0.01277 ρ
dt ft ft
Bouguer corrections are applied in the opposite sense to free-air corrections. That is,
they are subtracted from the raw reading when the station is above the datum plane
and vice versa. For a typical crustal density of 2.67 gm/c.c., the free-air and the
Bouguer corrections can be combined to yield a correction value of -0.06 mgal/ft of
elevation. This is a convenient, but not necessarily trust-worthy, value. It is useful
for back-of-the-envelope estimates, however.

Note that in deriving the above correction, two assumptions were made. First,
the slab is of uniform density, and second, it is of infinite horizontal extent. These
assumptions are good approximations in a sedimentary environment. They may not
be valid in rugged terrains.

(e) Terrain Correction : Bouguer corrections can take care of mass excess (or deficiency)
associated with long wavelength topographic variations quite well. However, in a
rugged terrain, this correction will not be sufficient. Instead, a terrain correction
must be used. In a terrain correction, surrounding areas of a station is divided into
compartments. Usually, the following geometry is used.

Each compartment can be represented by an averaged elevation called ea. The

difference between this averaged elevation and the station elevation es can be
calculated. Let us call this difference z (i.e., z = |es – ea|). Consequently, terrain
correction due to this compartment is given by the following.

dgT = G ρθ ( r0 − ri ) + ri 2 + z 2 − r02 + z 2 
 

Applying this formula to each and every compartment, the regional terrain correction
can be determined.

Gravity Anomalies

After performing all the reductions described above, a gravity anomaly profile can be
obtained. There are two ways to present gravity anomaly profiles. They are the
following.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 7

Copyright  2000 hsui
Geology 351 – Geophysical Methods for Geology,
Engineering and Environmental Sciences (ATH)

(a) Free-Air Anomalies : This is a profile obtained after applying the following
corrections.

δg FA = dg obs + dg I + dg L + dg FA

Here, dgobs is the observed raw data; dgI is the instrument drift correction; dgL is the
latitude correction; and dgFA is the free-air correction. This type of anomaly is of
great interest to global geophysics because it has the ability to delineate if regional
isostasy exists. For applied geophysics, however, it is of less importance.

(b) Bouguer Anomalies : This type of profile is obtained after every correction discussed
earlier has been applied. Mathematically, therefore, it is represented by the
following expression.

δg B = dg obs + dg I + dg L + dg FA + dg B + dg T = δg FA + dg B + dg T

A Bouguer anomaly is important to applied geophysics because most of our interests

are in the near surface, too shallow to reach the depth of isostatic compensation.
Bouguer anomalies can truly reveal density variations immediately beneath the
surface (i.e., within the top 10 km of the Earth's surface).

Density Determination:

From the above discussion, it is clear that some subsurface density information is
necessary to carry out the Bouguer and the terrain corrections. But, how do we determine
a density value that represents the regional geologic structure? There are three ways to
obtain density information.

(a) Direct Sampling : Using a representative rock samples or core samples obtained in
the area, one can measure its density and use the density for gravity reductions. A
major uncertainty about this approach is whether the chosen rock sample is truly
representative of the regional structure.

(b) Density Logs : If there are boreholes in the area, a borehole density log can be used
to measure formation densities within the strata that the borehole penetrates. This
method works well especially in a sedimentary environment. However, densities
measured remain the density structure immediately adjacent to the borehole. Can
one be certain that they are representative regionally?

(c) Borehole Gravity : Gravity measurements down a borehole often show different
values between two vertical depths. The difference between any two measurements
represents gravity contributions from the mass sandwiched between the two depths.
Magnitude of the difference can be converted to reveal the densities of the layering.
Because gravity is sensitive to materials extending over a large distance from the
borehole, density thus determined will be more representative of the regional value.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 8

Copyright  2000 hsui
Geology 351 – Geophysical Methods for Geology,
Engineering and Environmental Sciences (ATH)

However, borehole gravity measurements are extremely expensive. Routine

measurements for correction purposes are impractical.

Gravity Interpretation

A reduced (or corrected) gravity anomaly profile along a line on the surface often
appears similar to a seismic trace except the axis is no longer in time but in space. Just
like in seismic studies, such profiles can be decomposed into structures of different
wavelengths. Long wavelength gravity signals are usually produced by regional
structures such a basins and/or geosynclines. In applied geophysics, these signals are not
of utmost importance. In fact, they are the components that one would like to eliminate.
Thus, the concept of filtering can be applied here. It may appear strange to you why one
can apply most of the seismic filtering methods to gravity while gravity is not a wave.
Actually, the techniques are borrowed just for mathematical convenience. They do not
carry the same physical meaning at all. The long wavelength components of a gravity
anomaly profile are generally referred to as the "regionals".

After removing the regional components, the remaining signal is known as the
"residue". Residues are short wavelength structures. They are usually produced by near
surface objects such as reefs, salt domes, ore bodies, and buried man-made structures. To
an applied geophysicist, these are what a gravity survey is designed for. Thus, extracting
residues from the regional becomes an objective of gravity interpretations. Many
methods have been developed to perform this task over the years. In recent times, the
following techniques are most commonly used.

(a) Method of Second Derivative : The second derivative of a profile is related to the
curvature of the profile. Because residues have smaller curvatures than regional
features, mapping the second derivatives of a profile will enhance the residue signals
and make them stand out more prominently from the regional. This is illustrated in
the diagram below.

(b) Computer Modeling : This can also be called synthetic profiling. The idea is to build
a model and compute the resultant gravity profile. Afterwards, compare the
computed profile with the observed profile. If the agreement is poor, change the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 9

Copyright  2000 hsui
Geology 351 – Geophysical Methods for Geology,
Engineering and Environmental Sciences (ATH)

model and synthesize another profile to compare with the observations. The
procedure is repeated until a comparable synthetic profile is produced. When this
happens, the model used is assumed to closely resemble the subsurface.

It should be emphasized that gravity interpretation is highly non-unique. Therefore,

other geophysical measurements are often necessary to construct a reliable picture of the
subsurface.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 10

Copyright  2000 hsui