Abstract
We have developed a least-squares method to determine simultaneously the depth and the dip angle of a buried fault from first moving average residual gravity anomalies using filters of successive window lengths. The method involves using a relationship between the depth and the dip angle of the source and a combination of windowed observations. The relationship represents a family of curves (window curves). For a fixed window length, the depth is determined for each dip angle value by solving one nonlinear equation of the form f(z) = 0 using the least-squares method. The computed depths are plotted against the dip angle values representing a continuous curve. The solution for the depth and the dip angle of the buried fault is read at the common intersection of the window curves. The method involves using a dipping faulted thin slab model convolved with the same moving average filter as applied to the observed data. As a result, this method can be applied to residuals as well as to measured gravity data. The method is applied to theoretical data with and without random errors. The validity of the method is tested on gravity data from Egypt. In all cases examined, the model parameters obtained are in good agreement with the actual ones and with those given in the published literature.