Imaging the magmatic and hydrothermal systems of Long Valley Caldera, California with magnetotellurics

Abstract:

Long Valley Caldera (LVC) in Eastern California contains active hydrothermal systems, areas of episodic seismicity, and areas of elevated gas emissions, all of which are related to a deeper magmatic system that is not well characterized. To better image the Long Valley magmatic system, 60 full-tensor broadband magnetotelluric (MT) stations were collected in LVC and modeled in three-dimensions to constrain the subsurface electrical resistivity structure down to 30 km. Three conductive zones are imaged in the preferred resistivity model. The most prominent conductive zone (<7 Ohm-m) is located 5 km beneath the resurgent dome (near the center of Long Valley Caldera), where it elongates in a north-south direction, and has westward connection to the surface close to well 44-16 near Deer Mountan. This conductive zone is interpreted to be an accumulation zone of hydrothermal fluids originating from a deeper magmatic source. The shape of the conductive body suggests that the fluids pool under the resurgent dome and migrate westward, upwelling just south of well 44-16 to feed the near surface geothermal system. A second conductive zone (<10 Ohm-m) is 4 km southeast of the resurgent dome and 5 km deep and coincident with the seismic swarm of 2014. This is another zone of fluid accumulation, where the source could be the fluid accumulation zone to the west or an independent deeper source. The third conductive anomaly (<10 Ohm-m) is a few kilometers south of the resurgent dome below a depth of 15 km, and collocated with a low p- and s-wave velocity zone, and directly beneath a GPS inflation area, all of which advocate for a magma mush zone of as much as 30% interstitial melt. The preferred resistivity model suggests an accumulation of hydrothermal fluids 5 km below the resurgent dome that originates from a deeper magmatic source at 15 km depth.