An integrated gravity model for Europe's crust and upper mantle M.K. Kaban a, ⁎, M. Tesauro a,b , S. Cloetingh b a Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam (GFZ), Germany b Netherlands Research Centre for Integrated Solid Earth Science, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands abstract article info Article history: Received 13 October 2009 Received in revised form 12 April 2010 Accepted 20 April 2010 Available online 11 June 2010 Editor: L. Stixrude Keywords: 3D gravity modeling lithosphere density structure upper mantle We present an integrated gravity model of the European lithosphere based on an analysis of a number of new data-sets, leading to a much higher resolution than provided by previous models. First of all, a recent crustal model (EuCRUST-07) is used to quantify the crustal contribution to the observed gravity field and to identify the effect of mantle heterogeneity. The new gravity field model is based on a combination of satellite (CHAMP and GRACE) and terrestrial data. We also use these data-sets to estimate residual mantle gravity anomalies and residual topography, reflecting the effect of mantle density variations induced by temperature and compositional heterogeneity. The separation of these effects is vital for a proper assessment of mantle structure and evolution. In addition, we utilize a new tomographic model for P- and S-velocity anomalies beneath Europe, which is a-priori corrected for crustal structure using EuCRUST-07. The seismic velocity anomalies were subsequently converted into temperature anomalies using a mineral physics approach. We estimate the effect of temperature variations on the gravity field and subtract it from the total mantle field. The residual fields point to an important role of compositional density anomalies in the upper mantle. A number of key features of the compositional density distribution, so far invisible in seismic tomography data, are detected for the first time. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Quantification of density inhomogeneities in the crust and upper mantle is important for geodynamic studies. Thermal and compositional density anomalies in the upper mantle exert a prime control on the coupling of deep Earth and surface processes. Previous studies (e.g. Kaban et al., 2003) have demonstrated that seismic tomography can identify inhomogeneities in mantle structure mainly related to temperature anomalies. However, many other features, which play also a key role in dynamic processes, remain hidden from seismic studies. These anomalies can partly be resolved by an integration with gravity modelling. In addition, density variations in the crust and mantle lithosphere significantly affect stress fields within the lithosphere. Gravity modelling has also been frequently used to investigate the lithospheric structure of Europe and to constrain magnitudes of tectonic forces. So far most investigations were carried out to obtain information directly from the observed field (like Bouguer anomalies), to infer overall crustal structure (e.g. Gomez-Ortiz, 2005; Rotstein et al., 2006; Pinto et al., 2005). However, the employment of only gravity data is not sufficient to obtain a reliable model, since the solution of the inverse gravity problem is usually non-unique (e.g. Kaban et al., 2004). Therefore, other geophysical data (primarily seismic) are required and used in many studies to investigate the lithosphere (e.g. Kaban and Mooney, 2001; Kozlovskaya et al., 2001; 2004; Ayala et al., 2003; Lyngsie et al., 2006; Pedreira et al., 2007). Furthermore, several attempts were made to use gravity data together with topography and surface heat flow to constrain thermal structure of the lithosphere as for example in the Pannonian Basin (Zeyen et al., 2002) and the Eastern Carpathians (Dérerová et al., 2006). However, most of these studies cover relatively small areas of Europe, with a number of them (e.g. Kozlovskaja et al., 2004; Pedreira et al., 2007) based on interpretations of separate seismic sections. These studies have also been performed using different modelling approaches, data-sets and reference models. Therefore, on a full European scale, it is difficult to compare the results obtained for different subregions. The first gravity model of the Eurasian lithosphere was constructed by Artemjev et al. (1994). However, this large-scale model, based on sparse and by now obsolete data, does not resolve many important details of the European lithosphere. A number of subsequent studies focused on the European region (e.g. Yegorova and Starostenko, 1999, 2002; Artemieva et al., 2006; Tesauro et al., 2007). The initial data used in these studies are also incomplete and largely outdated in the light of crustal and gravity data only recently acquired. It should also be noted that most of these studies are limited to an investigation of the composite density structure of the mantle without a separation of temperature and compositional effects. Up till now, this has been investigated only for very large structures (ca. 1000 km of larger) (e.g. Kaban et al., 2003; Artemieva et al., 2006). Earth and Planetary Science Letters 296 (2010) 195–209 ⁎ Corresponding author. Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ) Potsdam, Tele- grafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, Germany. E-mail addresses: kaban@gfz-potsdam.de (M.K. Kaban), magdala@gfz-potsdam.de (M. Tesauro), sierd.cloetingh@falw.vu.nl (S. Cloetingh). 0012-821X/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2010.04.041 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Earth and Planetary Science Letters journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/epsl