Potential Theory in Gravity and Magnetic Applications

This book bridges the gap between the classic texts on potential theory and modern books on applied geophysics. It begins with Newton's second law of motion and concludes with topics on state-of-the-art interpretations of gravity and magnetic data.

The introductory chapters discuss potential theory with emphasis on those aspects particularly important to earth scientists, such as Laplace's equation, Newtonian potential, magnetostatic and electrostatic fields, conduction of heat, and spherical harmonic analysis. Difficult concepts are illustrated with easily visualized examples from steady-state heat flow.

Later chapters apply these theoretical concepts specifically to the interpretation of gravity and magnetic anomalies, with emphasis on anomalies caused by crustal and othospheric sources. Many of these examples are drawn from the modern geophysical literature. Topics explored include regional and global fields, forward modeling, inverse methods, depth-to-course estimation, ideal bodies, analytical continuation, and spectral analysis.

. The author assumes knowledge of integral calculus and differential equations. The book includes numerous exercises and a variety of computer subroutines written in FORTRAN that provide insight into the underlying theory discussed in the text and provide a reference source with which readers can develop their own computer programs. Students and researchers in geophysics will find this book essential.