An indirect means of density determination in which a closely spaced gravity traverse is run over some topographic feature, such as a small hill or valley. When the profile of observed values is plotted, the gravitational effect of the feature itself is calculated at each observation point along the profile and removed from the observed value for that point. The calculation is repeated a number of times, different densities being assumed for each computation. The density value at which the hill is least conspicuous on the gravity profile is considered to be most nearly correct.