Improved compilation<r>of Antarctic Peninsula magnetic data by new interactive grid suturing and blending methods

Abstract

The utility of aeromagnetic and other geoscientific compilations on a range of scales, is well established for a wide variety of geological investigations. Aeromagnetic compilations, currently underway for the Antarctic continent are vital to take full advantage of existing aeromagnetic surveys and for planning new surveys of this relatively unknown continent. Grid compilation is often a time-consuming and subjective task, which requires considerable effort from the geoscientist involved. A new interactive grid compilation tool, GridKnit™, is presented, which enables the operator to rapidly combine gridded data sets with high quality results. The system offers two methods: a conventional blending method and a new suturing method. The blending method distributes the errors between grids over the area of overlap, effectively 'feathering' one grid into the other. The suturing method uses an analysis of the wavelengths of the data mismatches to correct each grid by an amount proportional to that wavelength. Each method has been applied to data sets from the Bellingshausen Sea-Alexander Island area of Antarctica to produce the first coherent magnetic map of this remote region.