Improved tilt-depth method for fast estimation of top and bottom depths of magnetic bodies.

The tilt-depth method can be used to make fast estimation of the top depth of magnetic bodies. However, it is unable to estimate bottom depths and its every inversion point only has a single solution. In order to resolve such weaknesses, this paper presents an improved tilt-depth method based on the magnetic anomaly expression of vertical contact with a finite depth extent, which can simultaneously estimate top and bottom depths of magnetic bodies. In addition, multiple characteristic points are selected on the tilt angle map for joint computation to improve reliability of inversion solutions. Two- and threedimensional model tests show that this improved tilt-depth method is effective in inverting buried depths of top and bottom bodies, and has a higher inversion precision for top depths than the conventional method. The improved method is then used to process aeromagnetic data over the Changling Fault Depression in the Songliao Basin, and inversion results of top depths are found to be more accurate for actual top depths of volcanic rocks in two nearby drilled wells than those using the conventional tilt-depth method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]