A comparison of direct and indirect analytical methods of computing residual gravity anomalies for mineral exploration.

Abstract

The first step in the analysis of gravity anomalies for mineral exploration is the extraction of
residual gravity anomalies from the observed gravity anomalies. This can be achieved by
graphical or analytical methods. Generally, direct and indirect analytical methods are
considered better than graphical methods. Telford et al (1990) and Reynolds (1998) have
shown that the two analytical methods are suitable for the determination of residual gravity
anomalies. However, their studies did not include the comparison of the methods to
determine which one of the two analytical methods is more suitable. In this study, direct and
indirect analytical methods are utilized to compute residual gravity anomalies using
rectangular coordinate system. The results confirm that both methods are suitable for the
computation of residual gravity anomalies with indirect analytical method proving to be the
better option for the computation of residual gravity anomalies.