ELSEVIER Journal of Applied Geophysics 34 ( 1995 ) 83-91 FII PLIEI F. E IC5 An interpretation of the Magsat anomalies of central Europe P.T. Taylor a, D. Ravat b Geodynamics Branch, NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA b Department of Geology, MS 4324, Southern Illinois Universi~ at Carbondale, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA Received 29 September 1994; accepted 4 August 1995 Abstract Magsat studies of central Europe have revealed correspondence between tectonic elements/geological structures and long- wavelength satellite-altitude anomalies. The most striking correlation is the two Magsat anomalies (one positive and the other negative) associated with either side of the Tornquist-Teisseyre Zone (TTZ). The TTZ, which extends from the Black Sea to the Baltic Sea, represents the structural boundary (suture) between the younger, thinner, and hotter crust of the Hercynide or Paleozoic block ( negative anomaly) and the older, thicker, and colder crust of the East European Precambrian Platform ( positive anomaly). This produces a gradient of approximately 18 nT (peak-to-trough) and a half-wavelength of 720 km along a Magsat orbit at 325 km altitude. This anomaly pair is the result of the juxtaposition of these two significantly different crustal blocks. To model this field, two irregular three-dimensional bodies were used to represent the Precambrian and Paleozoic crust• The former was modeled with a normal magnetization vector while the latter was modeled with a reverse vector. Aeromagnetic anomalies in western Germany and rock magnetic measurements from Germany and Scandinavia support a model in which reversely magnetic geologic units, extending from upper-crustal metasediments to mid-crustal sources produce this negative anomaly. 1. Introduction Very long-wavelength magnetic anomalies ( > 300 km half-wavelength) are revealed from magnetometer- bearing near-Earth satellite missions (for example, POGO and Magsat). These magnetic features are gen- erally modeled as large blocks of crust with contrasting magnetizations, but they represent a multitude of large localized magnetic anomalies adjacent to each other that merge at high satellite altitudes. One of the most significant lateral variations in tectonic character over the Earth's crust occurs across central Europe where the Paleozoic and Precambrian platforms are juxta- posed and their junction forms the Tornquist-Teisseyre Zone (TTZ, Fig. 1 ). There have been three regional magnetic anomaly studies of Europe using Magsat data, i.e. de Santis et 0926-9851/95/$09.50 © 1995 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved SSD10926-985 1 (95)0001 5- 1 al. (1989), Nolte and Hahn (1992), and Ravat et al. (1993). All of these studies reveal satellite-altitude magnetic anomalies over central Europe. The anomaly map prepared by Nolte and Hahn (1992) is different than maps of the other workers in location of anomalies and their spatial extent. De Santis et al. (1989) and Ravat et al. (1993), as well as the global map of Arkani-Hamed et al. (1994), indicated a significant magnetic anomaly gradient between the central Euro- pean magnetic low and the magnetic highs northeast of it. In the present paper we have investigated, in more detail, the Magsat magnetic anomaly signature across central Europe. We have limited our study to a much smaller area, extending 30 ° in longitude and 20 ° in latitude and centered at 15°E and 50°N. A magnetic anomaly map of Europe, using mainly low-level aeromagnetic surveys, has been produced by