Advances and Applications of Marine Gravity Field Modeling in Lithosphere Structure Refinement

Due to sparse seismic stations in the ocean, gravimetry is currently one of key means for revealing the marine lithosphere structure. As the development of gravity measurement technology, there are various types of high-precision gravity data over the ocean, such as satellite gravimetric observations from GRACE/GOCE missions, and shipborne and airborne gravity data, which facilitate constructing high-precision marine gravity field models. Simultaneously, abundant high-precision gravity data can unveil refined marine lithosphere structures, which is of significance for understanding dynamic mechanisms and resource exploration. In this regard, it is essential to develop advanced methods of marine gravity modeling for lithosphere structure refinement and tectonic implications.

This Research Topic aims to collect state-of-the-art Original Research and Review articles on advances and applications of marine gravity field modeling in lithosphere structure refinement to underscore (1) the determination of high-resolution marine gravity field models, owing to the technical difficulties (e.g., heterogeneous gravity data preprocessing, data weighting, and multisource data fusion); and (2) the refinement of three-dimensional marine lithosphere structures. Gravity anomaly data portray anomalous materials in the entire Earth’s interior, whose vertical structure recognition capability is poor. Besides, the issues such as computational efficiency, parameter selection, and signal leakage entail further investigation.

Schemes of interest for publication include, but are not limited to:

• Marine gravimetry
• Heterogeneous gravity data preprocessing
• Multisource gravity data fusion
• Ocean gravity field modeling
• Mean dynamic topography and ocean current refinement
• Seafloor topography inversion
• Density structure of marine crust and upper mantle
• Marine Moho topography
• Submarine fault detection
• Geophysical interpretation