Preface

The study of gravitational fields is important for learning about the Earth and space. Sir Isaac Newton's law of universal gravitation, which states that the force between two masses is proportional to their product and inversely proportional to the square of their separation distance, opened the door to the development and investigation of gravity mathematical theories. The study of gravity allows for measuring the mass distribution and, as a result, deducing the internal structure and shape of the planets.

This book discusses gravitational fields in eight chapters organized into two sections: "Some Concepts Concerning the Gravity Method" and "Application of the Gravity Method in Exploration."

Section 1 consists of four chapters that demonstrate the theory of gravity and discuss gravitational fields. Chapter 1 by Al-Banna discusses Newton's law and its principal concepts; gravitational potential and gravitational attraction; geoid, spheroid, and geodetic figures of the Earth; and the gravity difference between the equator and poles. Chapter 2 by Woodward presents the results of an experiment designed to generate transient gravitational forces at a practical level in the laboratory. Chapter 3 by Yu shows the nature of our temporal (t > 0) universe because without temporal space there would be no gravitational force and a gravitational field cannot be created within an empty space. The chapter also examines how gravitational waves can be created. Chapter 4 by Polyakhova and Korolev highlights the main tasks of photo-gravitational celestial mechanics and the possibilities of their mathematical modeling.

Section 2 also consists of four chapters. Chapter 5 by Abdullahi reviews the benefits of gravity surveys in exploration and discusses the use of spectral analysis to design a filter for the separation of residual and regional anomalies of the complete Bouguer anomaly and its interpretation. Chapter 6 by Essa and Diab utilizes an R-parameter imaging technique to interpret a gravity anomaly profile. This technique depends on estimating the correlation factor between the analytic signal of the real gravity anomaly and the analytic signal of the forward gravity anomaly of the assumed buried source. Chapter 7 by Abdelfattah presents a new 2D semi-inversion method for delineating and tracing the thickness of formations and the depth of basement rocks for a deposition basin using gravity data. Finally, Chapter 8 by Alhassan and Aliyu demonstrates how to apply the second vertical derivative method for satellite gravity data of a location in Nigeria to enhance weaker local anomalies, define the edges of geologically anomalous density distributions, and identify geologic units.

This book is a useful resource for scientists, researchers, physicists, and geophysicists wishing to delve deeper into the study of gravity and gravitational fields.
