(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)
(5)
(9)
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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)
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