Gravity anomalies of 2D fault structures with fault planes described by polynomial functions of arbitrary degree

Abstract

Fault planes are often listric in nature rather than planar. In contrast to the existing conventional methods which assume planar surfaces for fault planes, a new technique is presented in the space domain to compute the gravity anomalies of 2D fault structures with non-planar fault planes. Polynomial functions are used to describe the fault planes. In addition, the density contrast within the structure is also assumed to be varying continuously with depth comprehending the geological settings of passive continental margins with concomitant basinal development. Both analytical and numerical approaches are used to derive the expression for the gravity anomaly of the structure. The method is exemplified with a synthetic fault model.