Geology topics

M. Webring

Publications and source records attributed to M. Webring.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2006

The quest for the perfect gravity anomaly: Part 1 - New calculation standards

The North American gravity database together with databases from Canada, Mexico, and the United States are being revised to improve their coverage, versatility, and accuracy. An important part of this effort is revision of procedures and standards for calculating gravity anomalies taking into account our enhanced computational power, modern satellite-based positioning technology, improved terrain databases, and increased interest in more accurately defining different anomaly components. The most striking revision is the use of one single internationally accepted reference ellipsoid for the horizontal and vertical datums of gravity stations as well as for the computation of the theoretical gravity. The new standards hardly impact the interpretation of local anomalies, but do improve regional anomalies. Most importantly, such new standards can be consistently applied to gravity database compilations of nations, continents, and even the entire world. ?? 2005 Society of Exploration Geophysicists.

SEG Technical Program Expanded Abstracts↗

USGS2006

The quest for the perfect gravity anomaly: Part 2 - Mass effects and anomaly inversion

Gravity anomalies have become an important tool for geologic studies since the widespread use of high-precision gravimeters after the Second World War. More recently the development of instrumentation for airborne gravity observations, procedures for acquiring data from satellite platforms, the readily available Global Positioning System for precise vertical and horizontal control, improved global data bases, and enhancement of computational hardware and software have accelerated the use of the gravity method. As a result, efforts are being made to improve the gravity databases that are made available to the geoscience community by broadening their observational holdings and increasing the accuracy and precision of the included data. Currently the North American Gravity Database as well as the individual databases of Canada, Mexico, and the United States of America are being revised using new formats and standards. The objective of this paper is to describe the use of the revised standards for gravity data processing and modeling and there impact on geological interpretations. ?? 2005 Society of Exploration Geophysicists.

SEG Technical Program Expanded Abstracts↗

USGS2003

Exploration and discovery in Yellowstone Lake: Results from high-resolution sonar imaging, seismic reflection profiling, and submersible studies

Discoveries from multi-beam sonar mapping and seismic reflection surveys of the northern, central, and West Thumb basins of Yellowstone Lake provide new insight into the extent of post-collapse volcanism and active hydrothermal processes occurring in a large lake environment above a large magma chamber. Yellowstone Lake has an irregular bottom covered with dozens of features directly related to hydrothermal, tectonic, volcanic, and sedimentary processes. Detailed bathymetric, seismic reflection, and magnetic evidence reveals that rhyolitic lava flows underlie much of Yellowstone Lake and exert fundamental control on lake bathymetry and localization of hydrothermal activity. Many previously unknown features have been identified and include over 250 hydrothermal vents, several very large (>500 m diameter) hydrothermal explosion craters, many small hydrothermal vent craters (∼1–200 m diameter), domed lacustrine sediments related to hydrothermal activity, elongate fissures cutting post-glacial sediments, siliceous hydrothermal spire structures, sublacustrine landslide deposits, submerged former shorelines, and a recently active graben. Sampling and observations with a submersible remotely operated vehicle confirm and extend our understanding of the identified features. Faults, fissures, hydrothermally inflated domal structures, hydrothermal explosion craters, and sublacustrine landslides constitute potentially significant geologic hazards. Toxic elements derived from hydrothermal processes also may significantly affect the Yellowstone ecosystem.

Wyoming↗

USGS2000

Deep magmatic structures of Hawaiian volcanoes, imaged by three-dimensional gravity models

A simplified three-dimensional model for the island of Hawai'i, based on 3300 gravity measurements, provides new insights on magma pathways within the basaltic volcanoes. Gravity anomalies define dense cumulates and intrusions beneath the summits and known rift zones of every volcano. Linear gravity anomalies project southeast from Kohala and Mauna Kea summits and south from Hualālai and Mauna Loa; these presumably express dense cores of previously unrecognized rift zones lacking surface expression. The gravity-modeled dense cores probably define tholeiitic shield–stage structures of the older volcanoes that are now veneered by late alkalic lavas. The three-dimensional gravity method is valuable for characterizing the magmatic systems of basaltic oceanic volcanoes and for defining structures related to landslide and seismic hazards.

Hawaii↗

USGS1990

Magnetic forward models of Cement oil field, Oklahoma, based on rock magnetic, geochemical, and petrologic constraints

Magnetic forward models of the Cement oil field, Oklahoma, were generated to assess the possibility that ferrimagnetic pyrrhotite related to hydrocarbon seepage in the upper 1 km of Permian strata contributes to aeromagnetic anomalies at Cement. Six bodies having different magnetizations were constructed for the magnetic models, based on geology and on petrologic and geochemical results, supplemented by rock magnetic measurements of shallow-core and outcrop samples. The column of rock through which hydrocarbons have passed is divided into three sulfide zones on the basis of pyrrhotite content, and the column is capped by a 30 m thick zone that contains ferric oxide minerals formed mainly from oxidized pyrite. Red beds unaffected by sulfidization, as well as a zone of rock depleted in hematite but lacking sulfide, surround sulfidic zones.The synthetic magnetic profiles are controlled mainly by pyrrhotite-bearing strata at depths of 200-500 m. The magnetizations of these bodies are calculated from: (1) petrographic estimates of pyrrhotite content relative to pyrite; (2) content of sulfide sulfur determined from chemical analysis; and (3) values for the magnetic susceptibility of monoclinic pyrrhotite. Total magnetizations of the bodies of highest pyrrhotite content range from about 3 X 10 (super -3) to 56 X 10 (super -3) A/m in the present field direction and yield magnetic anomalies (at 120 m altitude) having amplitudes of less than 1 nT to approximately 6 to 7 nT, respectively. Such amplitudes are much lower than those (as high as 60 nT) reported from the original total-field survey over the Cement field.Numerous assumptions were made in the generation of the models, and thus the results neither prove nor disprove the existence of aeromagnetic anomalies related to hydrocarbon seepage at Cement. Nevertheless, the results suggest that pyrrhotite, formed via hydrocarbon reactions and within a range of concentrations estimated at Cement, is capable of causing magnetic anomalies.

Geophysics↗