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THE METER READER

Relative Bouguer anomaly


SAYYADUL ARAFIN, Sultan Qaboos University, Al-Khodh, Sultanate of Oman

orrections to gravity data and the meaning of the term


Bouguer anomaly still confuse many of us despite detailed
discussions by such gravity practitioners as LaFehr (1991,
1998), Chapin (1996), and Talwani (1998). In his 1991 article,
LaFehr pointed out that incomplete treatment of the subject
by major exploration geophysics textbooks is a main reason
for the misunderstanding of gravity data reductions. While
the mathematical expression for absolute Bouguer anomaly
is explicit and available in correct form in some textbooks,
that is not true in the case of the relative Bouguer anomaly.
The formula for relative Bouguer anomaly seems in conflict
with the definition of gravity anomaly. Thus, I present here
a mathematical expression for relative Bouguer anomaly
that is consistent with the definition of gravity anomaly.
Definition of gravity anomaly. The gravity anomaly, g, represents variation of the earths gravity value due only to lateral density change. It is defined at a point on the physical
surface of the Earth as the deviation of the Earths normal
or theoretical gravity value, g, at the point of latitude from
the observed gravity value, gobs , at the same point:
(1)
The theoretical gravity value can be calculated from any
International Gravity Formula (IGF) developed after 1967.
The IGF formula of 1987 is:
(2)
The symbol g represents the absolute gravity value. The
theoretical gravity formula is derived by taking into consideration the ellipsoidal shape, rotation around the geographical axis, and the massive equatorial bulge of the Earth.
The angle is the latitude in degrees of a point on the reference ellipsoid that best describes the shape of the Earth.
Elevation of a point on the physical surface of the Earth is
measured with respect to the geoid, the surface of which is
approximately the mean sea level. The surface of the geoid
may not coincide with that of the reference ellipsoid.
Absolute gravity anomaly. The absolute gravity anomaly is:
(3)

(6)
Mathematically, equations 5 and 6 are exactly the same
and this similarity is the source of misunderstanding about
the meaning of Bouguer anomaly. Equation 6 has misled
many to believe that the gravity corrections are applied to
the observed gravity data. This in turn has created the misconception that observed gravity values are reduced to the
datum level.
Relative Bouguer anomaly. The formula for relative Bouguer
anomaly is usually written:
(7)
where lc, fac, bc, and tc are latitude, free air, Bouguer, and
terrain corrections relative to the arbitrary datum. In this article, capital letters in equations denote gravity corrections relative to sea level and small letters denote gravity corrections
relative to the arbitrary datum level.
The symbols gobs and gB denote gravimeter readings in
mgals at the gravity station and base station respectively. In
a small-scale survey we neither need to measure the absolute
gravity value nor use the theoretical gravity formula.
According to equation 7, corrections are first applied to the
observed gravity readings and then the same base station
reading is subtracted from it at each gravity station. This
equation creates confusion in two places. First, the definition of gravity anomaly mentioned earlier seems lost; second, it creates the same misconception resulting from
equation 6that gravity values are reduced to the datum
level. This second misconception is not serious in this case.
Because of the nature of the survey, the relative Bouguer
anomaly may be approximated to be reduced to datum level,
which is not sea level in this case. To maintain consistency
in the definition of anomaly and keep the concept about
Bouguer anomaly clear, I suggest the following mathematical formulation for relative Bouguer anomaly.
Although we do not need any absolute measurement of
gravity in the case of small scale survey, let us assume for
the time being that the measured absolute gravity value is
known at the base station (on the arbitrary datum) and
denote it gB. The corrected theoretical gravity value at this
base is gct and written:

(4)

(8)

in which FAC is the free-air correction, BC is the Bouguer


correction, and TC is the terrain correction. The correct way
of writing the formula for absolute Bouguer anomaly is
(Parasnis, 1997):

with g determined by the IGF. Gravimeter readings in mgal


at the gravity station and base station are denoted gobs and
gB, respectively. Therefore the absolute gravity value at the
gravity station is

(5)

(9)

The symbol g denotes anomalous gravity value. This


is the correct way to write the formula because most exploration geophysics texts include equation 5 in the form:

For a small-scale gravity survey, it is not necessary to


know the theoretical gravity value at each station by calculating it from the IGF. A latitude correction for each gravity

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SEPTEMBER 2004

station is applied to the corrected IGF value at the base station (datum level) in equation 8 to give an approximate theoretical value at a gravity station. All other gravity data
corrections used in absolute Bouguer anomaly are equally
applicable to the relative Bouguer anomaly as well. Therefore
the approximate theoretical gravity value at the station in
this case can be written:
(10)
The term in parentheses, gct lc , is the approximate theoretical gravity value at a point on the arbitrary datum. Using
the same definition of gravity anomaly, the expression for
approximate absolute Bouguer anomaly, gAB, can be
obtained by subtracting equation 10 from equation 9:
(11)
where gAB = gobs - gct approximate.
The term gB - gct is the absolute Bouguer anomaly at the
base station on the arbitrary datum. This is a constant term
and setting this to zero does not change the shape of the
anomalyonly the magnitude changes. For this reason the
anomaly is called the relative Bouguer anomaly and it can
be given:
(12)

reading in mgal at a point on the datum level. It plays the


same role as the IGF formula, which is computed for sea
level. Equations 7 and 12 are exactly the same except for
arrangement of the parentheses and square brackets. In this
case the datum is not sea level but a horizontal surface that
passes through the base station. Because it is a small-scale
survey, the heights of the stations relative to the base station are small and the corrections due to the geologic body
will be very small. The form of equation 12 is preferable in
order to avoid confusion about the Bouguer anomaly. Both
the relative Bouguer anomaly and the absolute Bouguer
anomaly reflect density distribution below the gravity stations. The term in the parentheses is the expected (theoretical) gravity reading in mgal at a gravity station. It means
that, given the gravity reading at a base station, we are calculating the expected gravity reading at a gravity station by
incorporating the corrections to the base station reading. The
relative anomaly at the base station is zero.
Suggested reading. The theory of the Bouguer gravity anomaly: A tutorial by Chapin (T HE L EADING E DGE , 1996).
Standardization in gravity reduction: by LaFehr (GEOPHYSICS,
1991). On Talwanis Errors in the total Bouguer reduction by
LaFehr (GEOPHYSICS, 1998). Principles of Applied Geophysics, by
Parasnis (1997). Errors in the total Bouguer reduction by
Talwani (GEOPHYSICS, 1998).TLE
Corresponding author: sayfin@squ.edu.om

Under the assumption that there is no lateral variation


of density, the term gB lc represents the expected gravity

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