Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-year-2-of-the-earth-sciences-geology-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2023/paper-1/5/b/solution

For a laterally extensive Bouguer slab of thickness and geophysical density contrast ,
The greenstone belt reaches from roughly to near its deepest central part, so use . The gravity maximum is approximately ; the exposed host-rock background in the south is approximately . Taking this as a constant regional reference gives a local excess . Thus
This is an approximate density under a constant-background, infinite-slab model. The finite width, variable thickness and neighboring pluton require a fuller gravity inversion for a precise value. In particular, the absolute value must not be inserted as the local excess.

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