Abstract. We study the potential gravity effect of suggested slab configurations beneath the Alpine mountain belt. The opposing slab configurations are based on seismic crustal thickness estimates and high-resolution upper mantle tomographies. Direct conversion of upper mantle seismic velocities to densities results in a gravity response that reflects results in a gravity field that may be interpreted as related to the effect of subducting lithosphere, however the different contributing slab segments cannot be clearly identified. Therefore, we define the geometry of the upper slab interface by using the crustal thickness at 40 km depth as upper starting point. Based on seismic tomography, the slab interface is followed down to 200 km depth. We define two alternative models for the slab configuration in the Alpine region in line with recently proposed hypotheses. The gravity effect of these alternative models is calculated for (i) a simple constant density distribution in the slab and (ii) accounting for compositional and thermal variations with depth. The forward calculations predict a gravity effect of the slab up to 40 mGal and significant differences in the pattern of the anomalies.

中文翻译：

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基于地球物理和岩石学建模的高山板块重力效应

摘要。我们研究了建议的平板构造在高山山区带的潜在重力效应。相对的平板构造基于地震地壳厚度估算和高分辨率上地幔层析成像。将上地幔地震速度直接转换为密度会导致重力反应，该反应会反映重力场中的结果，该重力场可以解释为与俯冲岩石圈的作用有关，但是无法清楚地识别出不同的板块段。因此，我们以40 km深度的地壳厚度为上起点来定义上平板界面的几何形状。根据地震层析成像技术，平板界面可追踪到200 km的深度。根据最近提出的假设，我们为阿尔卑斯地区的平板构造定义了两个替代模型。这些替代模型的重力效应是针对（i）板中简单的恒定密度分布和（ii）考虑成分和深度随深度的变化而计算的。前向计算可预测高达40 mGal的平板重力效应，并且异常模式存在显着差异。