Gravimetric study of the shallow basaltic plumbing system of Tenerife, Canary Islands

Publication date: Available online 21 October 2019Source: Physics of the Earth and Planetary InteriorsAuthor(s): S. Sainz-Maza Aparicio, J. Martí, F.G. Montesinos, A. Borreguero Gómez, J. Pereda de Pablo, P. Vaquero Fernández, M. Calvo García-MarotoAbstractRecent studies on intraplate volcanic islands reveal that magma ascends sub-vertically through these volcanic edifices, following well-defined zones in the lithospheric mantle and oceanic crust, and occasionally suffering lateral propagation along rift zones when it reaches very shallow depths. Visualizing the internal structure of the shallowest part of such magma plumbing systems is crucial to understanding magma transport and the location of basaltic volcanism in these volcanic environments. Tenerife (Canary Islands) is a very good example of an intraplate volcanic island, in which the distribution of basaltic volcanism includes well-defined rift systems, and wider monogenetic fields where cinder cones form clusters along different tectonic alignments. In order to characterize the structure of the uppermost part of the basaltic plumbing system of Tenerife, we conducted a detailed gravimetric study of the north-western, central, and southern sectors of the island. We developed a 3D density contrast model of the subsoil based on the application of a genetic algorithm for the inversion of gravity data. The results of our inverse modelling suggest that the observed gravimetric anomalies below the northwestern rift zone a...
Source: Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors - Category: Physics Source Type: research