Gravity gradients within Earth’s lithosphere

Different gravity gradients within Earth’s lithosphere for the northeast Atlantic region measured by ESA’s GOCE satellite. The lithosphere is the outer solid part of Earth and includes the crust and uppermost mantle. The animation shows slices of the lithosphere down to a depth of 200 km and the different gravity gradients within those slices. The three axes of GOCE’s gradiometer allow for the simultaneous measurement of six independent but complementary components of the gravity field as shown by the six boxes. These results are part of a study in ESA’s Support to Science Element.