December 2023

Gravity and magnetic fields inversion is sometimes considered a second rank method to retrieve information about subsurface geological structures, in favour of other geophysical techniques, such as seismic which are generally able to provide a high-resolution detailed picture of the main geological horizons. However, when few seismic acquisitions are available or when they fail, potential fields, can represent a valid and cheap tool to complete and enhance geophysical modelling of the Earth’s crust. In the current work we present the potentialities of an advanced Bayesian technique to jointly invert gravity and magnetic fields. The most important feature of the algorithm, which makes it different from the majority of other classical inversion schemes, is that it allows to invert at the same time for the 3D density/magnetic susceptibility distributions and for the geometry of the main geological units in a harmonised way. The algorithm also consents to consider in a simple and straightforward way several geological and geophysical constraints. In this way, the result of the inversion is an improved geological model that could be designed by an expert geologist and that fits the observed gravity and magnetic fields. The Inversion potentiality is presented in a real case study where the main crustal layers of the Mediterranean Sea region are retrieved .

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