Australian Isostatic Residual Gravity Grids Using Elevation and Seismic Moho Models

Geoscience Australia's 2019 National Gravity Compilation project produced isostatic residual gravity anomaly grids for Australia. Intrepid Geophysics generated new grids using the Airy isostatic compensation method, testing both Airy-derived and seismic-derived Moho depth models against GA's 2016 and 2019 benchmarks. The resulting grids, including a de-trended global isostatic residual (DGIR), show differences typically less than a few um/s² when compared to GA's topographically corrected model.

Use Cases

• Modeling crustal thickness and density variations based on isostatic residual gravity anomalies.
• Comparing different isostatic compensation methods (Airy-derived vs. seismic-derived Moho) for regional geological studies.
• Refining national gravity compilations for mineral and energy resource exploration in Australia.
• Testing and validating geophysical processing tools, such as Intrepid's Isostatic Correction Tool.

Strengths

• Derived from Geoscience Australia's 2019 national Complete Bouguer Anomaly (CBA) grid, a benchmark dataset.
• Includes comparisons against GA's 2016 and 2019 isostatic models, showing differences typically less than a few um/s².
• Produces multiple derivative products from two methodological streams (Airy-derived and seismic-derived Moho).

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The seismic-derived Moho depth-based model showed larger differences and is described as sub-optimal, requiring further analysis with variable densities.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia, with processing by Intrepid Geophysics.

Collection Method

Generated using the Airy isostatic compensation method applied to elevation models and seismic Moho grids, starting from the 2019 national Complete Bouguer Anomaly grid.

Time Range

Primary data from 2019 compilation projects, with report and grids produced circa 2020.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-30 14:28:41.088281; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australia.