Presentation: Apparent-density mapping using entropic regularization
Slides for the oral presentation "Apparent-density mapping using entropic regularization" presented at AGU Joint Assembly 2007 Acapulco, Mexico.
Abstract
We present a new apparent-density mapping method on the horizontal plane that combines the minimization of the first-order entropy with the maximization of the zeroth-order entropy of the estimated density contrasts. The interpretation model consists of a grid of vertical, juxtaposed prisms in both horizontal directions.We assume that the top and the bottom of the gravity sources are flat and horizontal and estimate the prisms’ density contrasts. The minimization of the first-order entropy favors solutions presenting sharp borders, and the maximization of the zeroth-order entropy prevents the tendency of the source estimate to become a single prism. Thus, a judicious combination of both constraints may lead to solutions characterized by regions with virtually constant estimated density contrasts separated by sharp discontinuities. We apply our method to synthetic data from simulated intrusive bodies in sediments that present flat and horizontal tops. By comparing our results with those obtained with the smoothness constraint, we show that both methods produce good and equivalent locations of the sources’ central positions. However, the entropic regularization delineates the boundaries of the bodies with greater resolution, even in the case of 100-m-wide bodies separated by a distance as small as 50 m. Both the proposed and the global smoothness constraints are applied to real anomalies from the eastern Alps and from the Matsitama intrusive complex, northeastern Botswana. In the first case, the entropic regularization delineates two sources, with a horizontal and nearly flat top being consistent with the known geologic information. In the second case, both constraints produce virtually the same estimate, indicating, in agreement with results of synthetic tests, that the tops of the sources are neither flat nor horizontal.
