Publication Date:
2013-05-09
Description:
The prediction of the geometry of characteristic crustal interfaces, such as bathymetry or Moho, can be carried out efficiently by applying well tested estimation procedures. The computation of the gravity response at the Earth's surface of a characteristic density layer in the Earth's interior in combination with the statistical tool of Least Squares Collocation have been proven to be a flexible and useful prediction tool, especially at regions with lack in primary crustal observations. To investigate the contribution of recently released digital terrain databases to this estimation procedure we use the one-minute global elevation databases GEBCO and TOPO14. Using the combined Earth gravity model EGM2008 and recently released GOCE-only models we produce the observed grid of gravity anomalies over two test areas in the Indian and the Atlantic oceans. The estimation procedure is based on a two-layer model of the upper crust and is driven mainly by the definition and quality of the involved covariance functions. The application leads to independent and much denser estimations of the crust–mantle interface over these regions, in comparison with the available Moho information provided by global databases such as CRUST 2.0. Apart from the direct comparison between the obtained solutions a further assessment was carried out in terms of computing the corresponding isostatic effects on the available regional altimeter data.
Print ISSN:
0956-540X
Electronic ISSN:
1365-246X
Topics:
Geosciences
Published by
Oxford University Press
on behalf of
The Deutsche Geophysikalische Gesellschaft (DGG) and the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS).
