Joint Interpretation Results of Gravitational and Thermal Fields for the Ural Region

Abstract

A method for solving conjugation problems for the Poisson equation is implemented, which makes it possible to interpret potential fields (gravitational and stationary thermal fields) based on unified grid algorithms. A numerical algorithm has been developed for recalculating the mantle component of the heat flow from the level of the earth’s surface to the “crust–mantle” boundary through a layered medium inhomogeneous in thermal conductivity. Paleoclimate corrections were introduced into the measured values of the temperature gradient and heat flux for the northern territories. In the axial part of the Ural geosyncline, it was possible to exclude the negative depression of the mantle component of the heat flow, obtained from the results of geothermal modeling; taking into account the Pleistocene-Holocene warming of the preceding interglacial paleoclimate cycle leads to positive values of the heat flow recalculated to the “crust–mantle” boundary. It is shown that the use of heat flow data can significantly increase the geological information content of gravity modeling.