GRAVITY AND MAGNETIC MODELING OF THE SOUTHERN PERMIAN BASIN, W. TEXAS

Regional geophysical techniques such as gravity and magnetics provide important insights into basin architecture. We present four preliminary crustal scale models over the southern part of the Permian Basin of W Texas based on publically available Bouguer gravity and magnetic intensity data. The models include control from regional depth-to-basement information on sedimentary thickness and basement lithologies, and densities from wells and published data, as well as crustal thickness and Poisson ratio estimates from A and B quality receiver functions using earthquake data from the available broadband seismic stations including the Earthscope Transportable Array. The initial models are problematic due to large variations in gravity and magnetic fields that cannot be simply explained by the main basin geometry structural features and variations of the crustal thickness and upper mantle densities. Modeling these variations will provide insight into the structure and composition of the basement rocks underlying the Permian Basin.