3D joint inversion of gravity and magnetic data using Cross gradient constraint

Articles in Press

Authors

1 Faculty of Mining, Petroleum and Geophysics, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran

2 Malayer university, Malayer, Iran

Abstract

Potential field methods, specifically gravity and magnetic method are fundamental geophysical techniques in mineral exploration. The interpretation of this data heavily relies on inversion modeling.
Inversion of potential field data to estimate subsurface model parameters is a numerically challenging and inherently non-unique problem. An infinite number of models can adequately satisfy the observed data. A crucial approach to mitigate this non-uniqueness is incorporating geological constraints relevant to the survey area.
While individual inversions of geophysical datasets often provide satisfactory reconstructions of subsurface anomaly locations, integrating information from multiple geophysical methods is essential for achieving a better recovery and subsequently a more robust interpretation of subsurface structures. In many practical scenarios, single-method geophysical surveys fail to provide unambiguous interpretations. Thus, the combination of geophysical methods is imperative. Joint inversion, whether for identical or different physical parameters, is an effective technique to achieve enhanced resolution. Consequently, a comprehensive geophysical interpretation based on joint inversion has gained widespread application in recent years.
This paper investigates the three-dimensional (3D) joint inversion of gravity and magnetic data by utilizing a cross-gradient function to enforce structural similarity. The performance of the joint inversion algorithm is first validated using synthetic model data. Finally, the algorithm is applied to real field data to demonstrate its practical efficacy

Keywords


Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 16 February 2026

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