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Bouguer and Isostatic Maps of the Central

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Chapter December 2005
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-540-48684-8_28

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Christian-Albrechts-Universitt zu Kiel

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Bouguer and isostatic maps of the central Andes

S. Schmidt and H.-J. Gtze
Institut fr Geowissenschaften, Christian-Albrechts-Universitt zu Kiel, Germany
Corresponding author: H.-J. Gtze, Institut fr Geowissenschaften, Abtl. Geophysik, CAU,
Otto-Hahn-Platz 1, 24118 Kiel, Germany, Phone: +49 (431) 880 3805 Email:
hajo@geophysik.uni-kiel.de

1. Introduction
This volume and accompanying DVD contain the results of twenty years of gravity research
in the central Andes (18-44S). Our research was concentrated on two regions: the central and
south-central Andes, located between 20 and 26S and 37 and 42S, respectively. The authors
are of the opinion that a set of maps covering these two segments would be a useful
accompaniment to this final volume. These gravity maps not only provide a better
understanding of those papers dealing with the two regions, but also bridge the gap between
surface geology and the lithospheric structures evidenced by these maps.
During the early research activities of the SFB 267, an initial set of gravity maps were
compiled at a scale of 1:1,000,000 (Reutter and Gtze 1994). These maps played an important
role in interdisciplinary interpretation when the first results of geophysical fieldwork became
available. Maps and cross sections containing both geological and geophysical data were
drawn to common scales so that the results of the different disciplines within the research
group could be directly compared.
These early gravity maps were completed and updated for publication in this volume. The
resolution of the data sets enables both general overviews and more detailed maps of regional
anomalies. It also provides sufficient insight into important local features at a practical map
size. The original (non-confidential) and gridded data sets used for the gravity maps are
included amongst the data files of the accompanying DVD.

2. The gravity maps of the central Andes (18 - 44S)

We provide station-complete, Bouguer gravity- and isostatic-anomaly maps (Vening-Meinesz
model of isostasy).
2.1 Database
Prior to the SFB 267, the gravity research group began working in 1982 on a long-term
gravity project in close cooperation with the Universidad Catlica del Norte (G. Chong,
Antofagasta, Chile), the Universidad de Chile (M. Araneda, Santiago, Chile) and the
Universidad Nacionl de Salta (J. Viramonte and R. Ornarini, Salta, Argentina), with
additional support from governmental institutions and the Chilean and Argentinean oil and
mining industries: We were aiming to construct a new gravity data base in the Andes for the
area covering northern Chile, north-western Argentina, southern Chile and northern Patagonia
by collecting and updating already existing measurements and completing them by additional
field measurements.
From 1982 to 2002, some 15,000 gravity measurements were made and with all the
reprocessed, older industry data included, there is now a database of about 220,000 gravity

values available, with satellite altimetry gravity extra to this. The usual spacing of the stations
was approximately 5 km along all passable tracks, although there is considerably higher
station density in some local areas. The data sources used, besides our own measurements,
are:
Universidad de Chile/Servicios Geofsicos En Ingeniera (SEGMI), M. Araneda,
Santiago, Chile
Instituto Geogrfico Militar (IGM), La Paz, (Bolivia),
Geodetic Institute of the University of Buenos Aires
REPSOL-YPF, Buenos Aires (National Oil Company of Argentina)
YPFB, Santa Cruz (National Oil Company of Bolivia)
Empresa Nacional de Petrleo (ENAP), Santiago, Chile
Corporacin Nacional del Cobre (Codelco), Santiago, Chile
Shipborne data from offshore Chile (SPOC and CINCA experiments)
Satellite altimetry (Danish National Geodetic Centre, formerly KMS),
Copenhagen,
Denmark
(Andersen
and
Knudsen,
1998);
http://manicoral.kms.dk/GRAVITY/)
All observations are linked to the IGSN71 gravity datum using all available, local, official
base stations. In the early years of the research, tidal corrections were neglected in the coastal
area because of its small effect compared to the pronounced gravity anomalies observed; later,
all stations were usually corrected using the in-house JAVA program DbGrav (Schmidt, pers.
comm.).
Logistical problems and the large research area did not always allow us to repeat
measurements at each station, which would, thus, determine the drift of the gravimeters.
However, even when poor tracks were driven, the drift of the LaCoste & Romberg
instruments (models D) rarely exceeded 0.1 x 10-5 ms-2 per day. It was also impossible to
reliably determine geographic coordinates in all places, particularly between 1982 and 1992,
as maps of sufficient resolution (e.g. 1:50,000 scale) did not yet exist for the entire area. At
worst, the imprecise latitude has caused positioning errors amounting to approximately 0.5
km, which correspond to an error in the gravity anomaly of about 0.25 x 10-5 ms-2.
Of greater concern was the difficulty of height determination at each station. Only 37% of
stations could be directly related to benchmarks such as levelling lines, trigonometric heights,
height points of water pipes, railways and spot heights. Until 1992, when we first used a handheld geographical positioning system (GPS) to locate station coordinates directly in the field,
stations had to be determined with barometers using available benchmarks as base stations.
To improve the quality of the barometric measurements, time-dependent drift corrections
were calculated in the manner usually employed for gravity measurements, using as many
benchmarks and repeated measurements as possible. Moreover, the profiles of several days
were combined in order to eliminate systematic errors. Altimeter types Wallace & Tiernan
FA181 and Thommen 384.01.2 were used and the scales of these instruments were calibrated
on levelling lines with an altitude difference of about 2000 m. Error estimations showed that
even in the worst case the accuracy was better than 20 m, giving an error in the Bouguer
anomaly of about 4 x 10-5 ms-2, which is less than 1% of the regional anomaly. Later, from
1999 onwards, differential GPS provided both heights and horizontal coordinates more
accurately.

2.2 Correction of observed data

The calculation of the gravity anomaly values was based on the following equations:

Bouguer anomaly:
Free-air anomaly:
where:
gabs
gh
dgtop
gBPL

BA = gabs + gh + dgtop+ gBPL -

FA = gabs + gh -

absolute gravity at station (measured)

normal gravity at station level h (calculated)
topographic correction (density: 2.67 Mg/m3) up to 167 km
Bouguer slab correction (density: 2.67 Mg/m3) up to 167 km
normal gravity

The normal gravity was calculated according to IGSN71 using the International Gravity
Formula of 1967. For topographic reduction, a method developed for gravity investigations
in the European Alps was used (Ehrismann et al. 1966), after adapting it to the special
conditions of the central Andes. Calculations of topographic correction were based on the
USGS digital elevation model gtopo30 (http://lpdaac.usgs.gov/gtopo30/gtopo30.asp).
Bouguer anomaly
Figure 1 shows the calculated Bouguer anomaly map. As usual, in the offshore area, the
Bouguer anomaly is replaced by the free-air anomaly. Therefore, a high correlation between
trench topography and the gravity field is evident. Onshore, the gravity field decreases to a
regional minimum of less than -400 x 10-5 ms-2 in the central Andes, mostly related to
crustal thickening caused by isostatic compensation and tectonic processes. Figure 2 shows
a similar map, but here the free-air anomaly offshore has been replaced by the Bouguer
anomaly.
Isostatic anomaly
The effect of isostatic compensation on topography was calculated using the regional
compensation model of Vening-Meinesz with the following parameters: crustal density =
2.67 Mg/m3, mantle density = 3.2 Mg/m3, water density = 1.03 Mg/m3, crustal thickness at
sea level = 35 km, and crustal rigidity = 1.e23 Nm. The gravity effect of this model was
calculated by using fast Fourier techniques and then subtracting the Bouguer anomaly (onand offshore) at station level. The resulting anomaly is the isostatic residual field shown in
Figure 3.

Data files and maps

The data files provided on the DVD consist of only non-confidential data.
File grav_onshore.dat contains 27,511 onshore stations with the following columns:
Station ID
Longitude [degree]
Latitude [degree]
Elevation [m]
Observed gravity [10-5 ms-2, mGal]
Topographic correction, onshore areas [10-5 ms-2, mGal], density = 2.67 Mg/m3
Topographic correction, offshore areas [10-5 ms-2, mGal], density = 1.64 Mg/m3
Free-air [10-5 ms-2, mGal]
Bouguer [10-5 ms-2, mGal]

File grav_offshore.dat contains 236,718 offshore stations with the following columns:
Longitude [degree]
Latitude [degree]
Bathymetry [m]
Free-air [10-5 ms-2, mGal]
Bouguer [10-5 ms-2, mGal]
The coordinates are geographical and owing to the high content of old data - the ellipsoid
used is mostly unknown - are inconsistent.
Both the Bouguer/free-air gravity and the isostatic residual anomaly were interpolated onto
a 0.05 x 0.05 grid (approx. 5 x 5 km) using the "Minimum Curvature Method"
implemented by Briggs (1974). Please note that the grid values are based on the complete
data set, which also includes confidential data.
The gridded data are provided in three different files:
1. File bafa.xyz (bafa.ps) contains the Bouguer anomaly onshore and the free-air anomaly
offshore with the following columns:
Longitude [degree]
Latitude [degree]
Anomaly [10-5 ms-2 , mGal]
2. File baba.xyz (baba.ps) contains the Bouguer anomaly on- and offshore with the
following columns:
Longitude [degree]
Latitude [degree]
Anomaly [10-5 ms-2 , mGal]
3. File ia.xyz (ia.ps) contains the isostatic residual anomaly on- and offshore with the
following columns:
Longitude [degree]
Latitude [degree]
Anomaly [10-5 ms-2 , mGal]

3. References
Andersen O. B. and P. Knudsen, 1998: Global Marine Gravity Field from the ERS-1 and
GEOSAT Geodetic Mission Altimetry, J. Geophys. Res., 103(C4), 8129-8137.
Briggs, I.C., 1974: Machine Contouring using minimum curvature. Geophysics, 39, No. 1,
39-48.
Ehrismann, W., Mller, G., Rosenbach, O. and Sperlich, N., 1966: Topographic reduction
of gravity measurements by the aid of digital computers. Boll. de Geofisica teorica ed
applicata, 8(29).
Reutter K.H. and Gtze, H.-J., 1994: Comments on the geological and geophysical maps.
In: Tectonics of the Southern Central Andes (Eds: Reutter, Scheuber, Wigger), 329-333,
Springer Verlag Heidelberg.

Figure captions:
Figure 1: Bouguer anomaly onshore and free-air anomaly offshore.
Figure 2: Bouguer anomaly on- and offshore.
Figure 3: Isostatic residual anomaly.