Microgravimetry and the Measurement and Application of Gravity Gradients

Gravimetry is the science which studies the earth's gravitational field in all its aspects. Applied gravimetry involves measurements of the vertical component of the gravitational field g sub z and the attempt to deduce geologic structure from the data. Any inversion of the gravity data to yield a possible causative mass (or density) distribution will be nonunique (as with inversions of all potential field data); however, by coupling geological constraints and other available geophysical data, the range of feasible solutions can be narrowly bracketed. Commonly, the objective of gravimetric exploration is the location of structural stratigraphic environments typical of oil and gas or ore deposits.