An Approach to Moho Topography Recovery Using the On-Orbit GOCE Gravity Gradients and Its Applications in Tibet

It is significant to determine the refined Moho topography for understanding the tectonic structure of the crust and upper mantle. A novel method to invert the Moho topography from the on-orbit gravity gradients is proposed in the present study. The Moho topography of Tibet is estimated by our metho...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jiakuan Wan, Chuang Xu, Zhicai Luo, Yihao Wu, Boyang Zhou, Jianguo Yan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-07-01
Series:Remote Sensing
Subjects:
VMM
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/11/13/1567
Description
Summary:It is significant to determine the refined Moho topography for understanding the tectonic structure of the crust and upper mantle. A novel method to invert the Moho topography from the on-orbit gravity gradients is proposed in the present study. The Moho topography of Tibet is estimated by our method, which is verified by previous studies. The research results show that: (1) the deepest Moho of Tibet, approximately 70 km, is located at the western Kunlun area, where it corresponds well to that of previous publications; (2) clear Moho folds can be observed from the inverted Moho topography, whose direction presents a clockwise pattern and is in good agreement with that of Global Positioning System; (3) compared with the CRUST 1.0, our inverted Moho model has a better spatial resolution and reveals more details for tectonic structure; (4) the poor density model of the crust in Tibet may be the main reason for the differences between the obtained gravity Moho model and seismic Moho model; (5) by comparing our inverted Moho with those from previous publications, our method is correct and effective. This work provides a new method for the study of Moho topography and the interior structure of the Earth.
ISSN:2072-4292