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Different geophysical methods use different model parameterizations and inversion algorithms. Thus, combining these different inversion systems and yet adding the nonlinear cross‐gradient constraint in a joint inversion framework might be a big challenge, for instance, as explained further by Moorkamp et al. in 2011, there is a complex interaction between the data misfit terms, regularization and cross‐gradient terms and an imperfect fit to the data is expected. In this paper, we use a sequential algorithm for a two‐dimensional joint inversion of gravity and magnetic data, which tries to avoid these issues by decoupling the gravity inversion, the magnetic inversion and the cross‐gradient minimization processes. The efficiency of the algorithm and developed code is demonstrated by the joint inversion of noisy synthetic data. The results show a significant improvement in the respective models obtained by introducing the cross‐gradient joint inversion over the models obtained by separate inversions for synthetic data and then for field data targeting potash ore source in the AjiChai salt deposit in north‐western Iran. In this application case, the lower density of salt minerals such as potash, compared to its surrounding sedimentary sequences, motivates a gravity study. Furthermore, the relative lower susceptibility of these salt minerals, alongside their diamagnetic effect, makes them a suitable target for magnetic surveys. Separate gravity and magnetic studies had been performed over the deposit; however, a constitutive relationship between density and magnetization within the area of interest supporting a joint inversion had not been established. In this paper, we apply the sequential cross‐gradient approach to perform the first full joint inversion for the AjiChai salt deposit. The magnetic inversion here is performed to recover the magnetization amplitudes rather than the magnetization vector. In fact, we assume there is no remanent magnetization and, therefore, that the magnetization vector is constant and parallel to the geomagnetic field direction. The constructed density and magnetization models are of high concordance with available geological information and previous studies including drilling results. In addition, unlike previous separate inversion models, the models are structurally and geometrically similar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the European region, the magnetic field at satellite altitudes (∼350 km) is mainly defined by a long-wavelength magnetic low, called the Central European Magnetic Low (CEML) here, located to the southwest of the Trans-European Suture Zone (TESZ). We studied this area through a joint analysis of magnetic and total gradient (∇T) anomaly maps for a range of different altitudes of 5, 100 and 350 km. Tests on synthetic models showed the usefulness of the joint analysis at various altitudes to identify reverse dipolar anomalies and to characterize areas in which magnetization is weak. This way we identified areas where either reversely or normally magnetized sources are locally dominant. At a European scale these anomalies are sparse, with a low degree of coalescence effect. The ∇T map indeed presents generally small values within the CEML area, indicating that the Paleozoic Platform is weakly magnetized. At 350 km of altitude, the TESZ effect is largely dominant: with intense ∇T highs above the East European Craton (EEC) and very small values above the Paleozoic Platform, this again denotes a weakly magnetized crust. Small coalescence effects are masked by the trend of the TESZ. Although we identified sparsely located reversely magnetized sources in the Paleozoic Platform of the CEML, the joint analysis does not support a model of a generally reversely magnetized crust. Instead, our analysis strongly favors the hypothesis that the CEML anomaly is mainly caused by a sharp contrast between the magnetic properties of the EEC and Paleozoic Platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural remanent magnetization and self-demagnetization on high-susceptibility bodies are two important factors affecting magnetic data inversion. We propose a framework for the inversion and interpretation of magnetic anomalies, in which significant remanent magnetization and self-demagnetization are present simultaneously. The framework is based on the assumptions that the external applied field and internal self-demagnetization field are uniform and the deflection of self-demagnetization in the total magnetization direction is negligible. First, the magnetization vector distributions are obtained from magnetic data by estimating the magnetization direction, then inverting for the magnetization intensity distribution, using the inferred magnetization direction as a constraint. Based on a priori information about the Koenigsberger ratio derived from petrophysical measurements, the direction and intensity of the remanent magnetization are obtained. The self-demagnetization factor is then computed using the finite volume method. Finally, the true-susceptibility distribution is achieved by correcting for the self-demagnetization effect. The method is first applied to synthetic magnetic data produced by a prism-shaped source model that has significant remanent magnetization and high susceptibility. In a case study of the Daye iron-ore deposit, Hubei province, China, the true susceptibility and remanent magnetization are reconstructed. The remanence direction information reveals that local geological activities such as synclines and faults lead to changes in the remanence directions at different local deposits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT We propose a fast method for imaging potential field sources. The new method is a variant of the 'Depth from Extreme Points,' which yields an image of a quantity proportional to the source distribution (magnetization or density). Such transformed field is here transformed into source-density units by determining a constant with adequate physical dimension by a linear regression of the observed field versus the field computed from the 'Depth from Extreme Points' image. Such source images are often smooth and too extended, reflecting the loss of spatial resolution for increasing altitudes. Consequently, they also present too low values of the source density. We here show that this initial image can be improved and made more compact to achieve a more realistic model, which reproduces a field consistent with the observed one. The new algorithm, which is called 'Compact Depth from Extreme Points' iteratively produces different source distributions models, with an increasing degree of compactness and, correspondingly, increasing source-density values. This is done through weighting the model with a compacting function. The compacting function may be conveniently expressed as a matrix that is modified at any iteration, based on the model obtained in the previous step. At any iteration step the process may be stopped when the density reaches values higher than prefixed bounds based on known or assumed geological information. As no matrix inversion is needed, the method is fast and allows analysing massive datasets. Due to the high stability of the 'Depth from Extreme Points' transformation, the algorithm may be also applied to any derivatives of the measured field, thus yielding an improved resolution. The method is investigated by application to 2D and 3D synthetic gravity source distributions, and the imaged sources are a good reconstruction of the geometry and density distributions of the causative bodies. Finally, the method is applied to microgravity data to model underground crypts in St. Venceslas Church, Tovacov, Czech Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several noniterative, imaging methods for potential field data have been proposed that provide an estimate of the 3D magnetization/density distribution within the subsurface or that produce images of quantities related or proportional to such distributions. They have been derived in various ways, using generalized linear inversion, Wiener filtering, wavelet and depth from extreme points (DEXP) transformations, crosscorrelation, and migration. We demonstrated that the resulting images from each of these approaches are equivalent to an upward continuation of the data, weighted by a (possibly) depth-dependent function. Source distributions or related quantities imaged by all of these methods are smeared, diffuse versions of the true distributions; but owing to the stability of upward continuation, resolution may be substantially increased by coupling derivative and upward continuation operators. These imaging techniques appeared most effective in the case of isolated, compact, and depth-limited sources. Because all the approaches were noniterative, computationally fast, and in some cases, produced a fit to the data, they did provide a quick, but approximate picture of physical property distributions. We have found that inherent or explicit depth-weighting is necessary to image sources at their correct depths, and that the best scaling law or weighting function has to be physically based, for instance, using the theory of homogeneous fields. A major advantage of these techniques was their speed, efficiently providing a basis for further detailed, follow-up modelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Poisson's relation is a useful tool to study the density and magnetization distribution in the Earth. Based on the mathematical similarities between the directional derivative of the gravity field and the magnetic fields, this relation allows to retrieve the magnetization-to-density ratio through a combined analysis of the measured anomalies.Currently, the Poisson's relation is exploited by comparing the pseudogravity-transformed magnetic anomalies and the gravity anomaly, or by considering the reduced to the pole magnetic data and the first-order vertical derivative of the gravity field. Unfortunately, both the approaches require the knowledge about the source total-magnetization parameters, which are crucial information to perform correctly the pseudogravity and the reduction to the pole procedures. Remanent magnetization features are rarely available, and so they are assumed to be equal to those related to the total induced magnetic field. This assumption can lead to wrong interpretations of the analyzed dataset.So, we here propose other applications of this relation by using different magnetic field transformations. In particular, we use and compare the total gradient and the module of the magnetic field with the second- and first-order vertical derivatives of the gravity data, respectively. This approach is simpler because both the proposed transformations are mostly independent from the remanent magnetization direction.First, we perform several synthetic tests by considering the procedure proposed by Chandler et al., (2001), employing a moving-data window in order to perform a multisource analysis; the best window size is chosen according to these simulations. Then, we analyze the anomalies related to several seamounts in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Since these volcanic edifices are not always characterized by structural homogeneity, we restrict the analysis to its homogeneous sub-parts. Finally, we retrieve the magnetization contrast values for the analyzed seamounts by considering suitable density contrast values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose two methods to separate the contributions of induced and remanent magnetizations by inverting for and processing the magnetic data. Both methods are based on the assumption that the Koenigsberger report is known or approximately deducible for the rocks of the investigated area. In the first method, we estimate the direction of the total magnetization vector by studying the reduced-to-pole anomaly and its correlation with different magnitude magnetic transforms. Then we invert the magnetic data to obtain the volumetric distribution of the magnetization intensity. As a third step, based on the priori information about the Koenigsberger ratio derived from petrophysical measurements, we extract the distributions in the source volume of the induced and remanent magnetization intensities, based on a generalized relationship involving the total and remanent magnetizations, and the true susceptibility. In this way, we are able to produce separate maps of the anomaly fields attributed to the physical magnetic source parameters: remanent and induced magnetization. In the second method, to begin with the direction of the total magnetization is estimated from the observed magnetic anomaly. The contributions of induced and remanent magnetizations in total magnetization are then calculated on the basis of known relationships. We present a new transformation of potential field in the frequency domain to compute the magnetic anomalies resulting from the separate induced and remanent magnetization components. Subsequently, the susceptibility and remanent magnetization are recovered from the separated magnetic anomaly components. Both methods are tested on synthetic data and they are then applied to study the magnetic anomalies of mineral deposits in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]