The utilization of global digital crustal databases in regional applications of forward gravity field modelling

Abstract

The release of model CRUST 2.0 offers an advanced and effcient means of modelling crust-induced potential contributions both globally and regionally. Providing rigorous geometric as well as physical information concerning the structure and consistency of distinct crustal layers from the Earth's topography down to the crust-mantle boundary, the information contained in model CRUST 2.0 is of special interest to studies related to gravity field modelling and interpretation. The present paper investigates the possibilities of utilizing the CRUST 2.0 data in the frame of local and regional forward gravity field modelling applications. For this reason a thorough numerical analysis of the model has been carried out for the area surrounding Greece. In terms of geoid modelling and local gravity field investigations the CRUST 2.0 information can be used mainly in the frame of isostatic anomalies. Thus, isostatic effects on gravity have been computed for this region and are compared with the corresponding computations resulting from two other independent sources of determining the Moho interface, namely the Airy isostatic mechanism and the application of deconvolution methods to surface gravity data.