What is it about?
The Earth's gravity field varies by almost one percent over the surface of the planet, and while most of that variation is due to the shape of the Earth and the heights of the measuring points, a measurable amount is due to the underlying geology. Where on the Earth's surface does geology increase gravity the most? Let's see if we can find out.
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Why is it important?
Extremes can often tell us something about what is going on in less extreme cases.
Perspectives
I have been fortunate enough to spend much of my working life studying the geophysics of New Guinea, the Philippines and Indonesia, places where the distortions in the Earth's gravity field produced by geology are among the largest in the world. I learned a lot about the way the Earth works from that, but I wasn't until I was prompted to look at data from north-east Columbia that I encountered something truly shocking.
John Milsom
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Extreme gravity: Geologic effects, The Leading Edge, June 2020, Society of Exploration Geophysicists,
DOI: 10.1190/tle39060430.1.
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