Delineation of structural lineaments of the Southwest Sub-basin (East Vietnam Sea) using global marine gravity model from CryoSat-2 and Jason-1 satellites

Abstract

In recent years, the analysis of satellite gravity data is used as a powerful tool for geologic mapping. This study is based on various filtered maps of Bouguer gravity anomaly data of the Southwest Sub-basin (East Vietnam Sea) to delineate its main structural lineaments. The effectiveness of modern filtering methods such as normalized analytical signal, improved version of tilt angle and enhanced horizontal gradient amplitude has been estimated with synthetic gravity anomalies before applying to the gravity data of the Southwest Sub-basin. For synthetic examples, the results show that the enhanced horizontal gradient amplitude not only provides edges with high resolution but also prevents spurious edges in the output maps. For real case, the obtained structural map is consistent with many faults already recognized in the Sub-basin, and the results provide new information leading to a better understanding of the structural framework and tectonic setting of the area.

Keywords:

• Southwest Sub-basin
• lineaments
• gravity
• CryoSat-2
• Jason-1

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data available on request from the authors.