The Bouguer Anomaly Map of Iraq According to a New Local Theoretical Gravity Equation and Its Geological Importance

Abstract

Four hundred and seventy eight gravity base stations in Iraq were used to obtain a new local theoretical gravity equation. The obtained equation was used to construct a Bouguer anomaly map of Iraq depending on the available gravity base stations. This map was compared with the Bouguer map constructed for the same stations using the international formula (1930). Good similarity in shapes and locations of the anomaly were observed, while the gravity anomaly values in the new map were increased by about 30 mGal. The eastern zero gravity contour line of the new obtained gravity map coincides with the western boundary of the tectonic Mesopotamian zone, while the main negative gravity values coincide with the Mesopotamian area, which contains most oil fields in eastern Iraq. All negative gravity anomaly areas coincide with the deepest basement rocks (the sedimentary basins) in Iraq. The obtained results are very valuable in geological applications.

Potential field survey of subsurface structures of the NW segment of the Zagros Fold‐Thrust Belt, Kurdistan Region

“…As a result, two groups of densities were used in the corrections in this study. One of them, which was determined based on geological and geophysical information available in Iraq, was a single average density of 2.61 g/cm 3 for the sedimentary cover (Al-Banna & Al-Heety, 1994). The other group of mean density was a variable density, which was estimated on a station-by-station basis across a 22 km distance.…”

Evaluation of the Tectonic Boundaries Using Potential Data at Al-Tharthar Lake and Surrounding Area, Middle of Iraq

“…This research attempt to study the lineaments trends of the main gravity and magnetic anomalies of Al-Tharthar lake and surrounding areas. Many tectonic boundaries were delineated in Iraq near the study area using gravity and magnetic methods, (Abdul-Jabbar, 2013;Al-Banna and Atwan, 2019;Al-Banna and Al-Namar, 2019;Al-Banna and Daham, 2019;Al-Banna, Al-Karadaghi and Abdullah, 2020) The study area covers a wide swath of central and western Iraq (Fig. 1).…”