Open AccessChoice of suitable regional and residual gravity maps, the case of the South‐West Cameroon zone
Author(s) -
Koumetio Fidèle,
Njomo Donatien,
Tatchum Noutchogwe Constant,
Ndoh Ndikum Eric,
Nguiya Sévérin,
Kamga Tokam AlainPierre
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
earth and planetary physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2096-3955
DOI - 10.26464/epp2019004
Subject(s) - residual , geology , anomaly (physics) , interpretation (philosophy) , gravity anomaly , mathematics , physics , algorithm , paleontology , oil field , computer science , programming language , condensed matter physics
The quantitative interpretation of gravity anomalies due to shallow structures needs separation between long wavelength anomalies (regional anomalies) and short wavelength anomalies (residual anomalies). The regional‐residual field separation can be carried out using the polynomial method. In this case, the so‐called regional field of order n is treated as a polynomial of degree n . The present study shows that the degree n must vary between a smallest value n min and a maximum value n max . This article presents a method to process gravity data that allows determination of n min and n max for a given study area. We apply the method to gravity data of the South‐West Cameroon zone. In this chosen study area, we find that regional anomaly maps of orders ranging from 1 to 9 and residual anomaly maps of orders ranging from 1 to 8 can be used for suitable interpretation. The analyses show that one may need residual anomaly maps of several orders to perform satisfactory quantitative interpretation of the different intrusive bodies found in a given area.