Review of Scaling Approach to Estimate Depths from Gravity and Magnetic Data

Abstract

The gravity and magnetic methods are the cheapest and oldest geophysical explorations methods used as a reconnaissance survey for hydrocarbon and mineral exploration. A reliable estimation of the fractures, depth, density/susceptibility distribution within the crust is possible with some assumptions, and one such assumption is white noise distribution. The distribution of sources from the borehole follows a scaling noise distribution. The introduction of scaling noise resulted in a better estimate of the depth from gravity and magnetic data. The method is applied to the field data from India, Iran, Germany, Australia, the USA, and many other parts of the globe, to estimate the depth values. Large window sizes of 5 to 10 times the expected depths are required for its estimation. The scaling exponents are not constant but vary with the lithology and crustal heterogeneities of the region.