Inversion of gravity data for two-dimensional density distributions

By means of an idealized density model composed of two-dimensional rectangular prisms, densities of individual prisms can be determined from a gravity profile by generalized linear inversion. Because the analytic expressions for gravitational fields are linear with respect to density, solutions are rapidly determined. The principal limitation of the method results from the inherent nonuniqueness of solutions to potential field problems. As in any gravity interpretation technique, this difficulty can be partially overcome by the addition of geological or other geophysical information. The versatility of the inversion procedure is demonstrated by application to gravity profiles of both noisy and noise-free data over near-surface and deep crustal features.