Active, large volume, silicic magma systems are potentially the most hazardous form of volcanism on Earth. Knowledge of the location, size, and physical properties of silicic magma reservoirs, is therefore important for providing context in which to accurately interpret monitoring data and make informed hazard assessments. Accordingly, we present the first geophysical image of the Laguna del Maule volcanic field magmatic system, using a novel 3D inversion of gravity data constrained by thermodynamic modelling. The joint analysis of gravity and thermodynamic data allows for a rich interpretation of the magma system, and highlights the importance of considering the full thermodynamic effects on melt density, when interpreting gravity models of active magmatic systems. We image a 30 km 3 , low density, volatile rich magma reservoir, at around 2 km depth, containing at least 85 % melt, hosted within a broader 115 km 3 body interpreted as wholly or partially crystallised (>70 % crystal) cumulate mush.Our model suggests a magmatic system with shallow, crystal poor magma, overlying deeper, crystal rich magma. Even though a large density contrast (-600 kg/m 3 ) with the surrounding crust exists, the lithostatic load is 50 % greater
Combining 3‐D inversion of high‐resolution aeromagnetic data with airborne hyperspectral imaging creates a new method to map buried structure and hydrothermal alteration, applied to Mt. Ruapehu volcano, New Zealand. Hyperspectral imaging is sensitive to surface mineralogy including alteration minerals, while magnetic vector inversion reveals the volumetric distribution of magnetic susceptibility from which we interpret buried geology. Probability assessment from multiple model regularizations provides an important model uncertainty estimate. At Ruapehu, hyperspectral imaging highlights two main regions of surface alteration: the Pinnacle Ridge and the southeast flanks. The magnetic model of Pinnacle Ridge shows that alteration seen at surface continues to depth, but strongly magnetic, unaltered dikes form the core of the ridge. On the southeast flanks, the magnetic model also shows alteration imaged on the surface continues to depth; however, a previously unknown, magnetized sill intrudes part of the flank. Several smaller demagnetized regions are modeled, unlike at neighboring Mt. Tongariro where the hydrothermal system created a large demagnetized core. We propose that these differences relate to spatially focused (Ruapehu) vs distributed (Tongariro) eruption vents, the degree of faulting of the edifice and its glaciation history. Lava‐ice interaction produces fine‐grained lavas with measured magnetic susceptibilities similar to some moderately altered lavas, illustrating that care must be taken in the interpretation of magnetic data in the absence of geological information. The combination of hyperspectral imaging and aeromagnetic data inversion distinguishes shallow surface weathering from deeper‐seated hydrothermally altered rock masses, with implications for the magnitude and probability of collapse events.
The geologically distinct DO-27 and DO-18 kimberlites, often called the Tli Kwi Cho (TKC) kimberlites, have been used as a testbed for airborne geophysical methods applied to kimberlite exploration. This paper focuses on extracting chargeability information from time-domain electromagnetic (TEM) data. Three different TEM surveys, having similar coincident-loop geometry, have been carried out over TKC. Each records negative transients over the main kimberlite units and this is a signature of induced polarization (IP) effects. By applying a TEM-IP inversion workflow to a versatile time domain EM (VTEM) data set we decouple the EM and IP responses in the observations and then recover 3D pseudo-chargeability models at multiple times. A subsequent analysis is used to recover Cole-Cole parameters. Our models demonstrate that both DO-18 and DO-27 pipes are chargeable, but they have different Cole-Cole time constants: 110 and 1160 μs, respectively. At DO-27, we also distinguish between two adjacent kimberlite units based on their respective Cole-Cole time constants. Our chargeability models are combined with the density, magnetic susceptibility and conductivity models to build a 3D petrophysical model of TKC using only information obtained from airborne geophysics. Comparison of this final petrophysical model to a 3D geological model derived from the extensive drilling program demonstrates that we can characterize the three main kimberlite units at TKC: HK, VK, and PK in three dimensions by using airborne geophysics.
Inversion of self‐potential data for source current density, js, in complex volcanic settings, yields hydrological information without the need for a prior groundwater flow model; js contains information about pH, pore saturation, and permeability, from which we infer the distribution of liquid and vapor phases. To understand the hydrothermal flow dynamics and hydraulic connectivity between surface thermal features at Mount Tongariro volcano, New Zealand, we undertook a reconnaissance scale self‐potential survey and developed an inversion routine for js, constrained by an existing 3‐D conductivity model from magnetotelluric measurements. The 3‐D distribution of js at Mount Tongariro reveals a discontinuous zero js zone interpreted as vapor or residually saturated pore space, surrounded by low to moderate js interpreted as circulating condensate liquid. Bounding faults act as conduits for down flowing groundwater or condensate, as well as barriers for the hydrothermal system. Localized small‐scale circulation associated with individual surface thermal features, rather than a single circulating system, accounts for the lack of widespread anomalous geochemical observations prior to the 2012 Te Maari eruption.
The rhyolite‐producing Laguna del Maule volcanic field (LdMVF), Chile, has had numerous post‐glacial eruptions that produced large explosions and voluminous lava flows. During the Holocene ∼60 m of surface uplift is recorded by paleo‐shorelines of the fresh‐water Laguna del Maule, with an inflation source near the Barrancas volcanic complex. Rhyolites from the Barrancas complex erupted over ∼14 ka including some of the youngest (1.4 ± 0.6 ka) lava flows in the field. New gravity data collected on the Barrancas complex reveals a residual gravity low (−6 mGal, “Barrancas anomaly”) that is distinct from the pronounced gravity low (−19 mGal; “Lake anomaly”) associated with present‐day ground uplift to the northwest. Three‐dimensional inversion of the Barrancas anomaly indicates the presence of a magma body with a maximum density contrast with the host rock of −250 kg/m3 centered at a depth of ∼3 km below surface. Nearby Miocene high‐silica granites represent frozen remnants of highly evolved rhyolitic magma. Comparison of the densities measured from samples of these plutons with the geophysical model densities, and integration of thermodynamic modeling of silicic melt evolution, provide constraints on our interpretation. We propose a magma body, containing <30% melt phase and low volatile content, exists beneath Barrancas. The Barrancas and Lake gravity lows represent magma in different physical states, associated with past and present‐day storage beneath LdMVF. The gravity model mirrors geochemical observations which independently indicate that at least two distinct rhyolites were generated and stored as discrete magma bodies within the broader LdMVF.
Magnetic vector inversion (MVI) has received considerable attention over recent years for processing magnetic field data that are affected by remanent magnetization. However, the magnetization models obtained with current inversion algorithms are generally too smooth to be easily interpreted geologically. To address this, we have reviewed the MVI formulated in a spherical coordinate system. We tackle convergence issues posed by the nonlinear transformation from Cartesian to spherical coordinates by using an iterative sensitivity weighting approach and a scaling of the spherical parameters. The spherical formulation allows us to impose sparsity assumptions on the magnitude and direction of magnetization independently and, as a result, the inversion recovers simpler and more coherent magnetization orientations. The numerical implementation of our algorithm on large-scale problems is facilitated by discretizing the forward problem using tiled octree meshes. All of our results are generated using the open-source SimPEG software. We determine the enhanced capabilities of our algorithm on a large airborne magnetic survey collected over the Kevitsa Ni-Cu-platinum group elements (PGE) deposit. The recovered magnetization direction inside the ultramafic intrusion and in the host stratigraphy is consistent with laboratory measurements and provides evidence for tectonic deformation.
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