We use 3‐D magnetotellurics to improve our understanding of the structure and magma composition of Newberry Volcano in Oregon, USA. Newberry is a broad shield volcano with a summit caldera and strongly bimodal magmatism. Newberry has long been the subject of geothermal exploration research, but that work has focused on the volcano's west flank, leaving the caldera largely unstudied with geophysical methods until recently. Our modeling shows a relatively resistive magma reservoir of approximately 50 Ωm. Our work builds upon recent seismic models and petrological analysis to interpret Newberry's magma reservoir as a dry rhyolite with 8–11% partial melt, which matches the seismically determined melt fraction. Finding the conditions within the magma reservoir that allow the resistivity and seismic analysis to come to the same melt fraction helps us narrow down the magma temperature and composition. From this we infer a dry rhyolitic magma at 850 °C. We also image a prominent vertical conductive anomaly along the south rim below the vent that produced the most recent eruption. The anomaly extends from magma reservoir depths of 3 km to 1 km below the surface where it disperses into the caldera fill. We interpret this as the main conduit for magmatic fluids to reach Newberry's hydrothermal system. Other features that our model shows include higher conductivity along the caldera rim and a resistive older pluton on the west flank.
<p>Detection of geophysical signatures associated with a geologic event, such as a volcanic eruption, is key to understanding the underlying physical processes and making an accurate hazard assessment. Magma reservoirs are the main repositories for eruptible magma, and understanding them requires the ability to detect and interpret changes in the magmatic system from surface measurements. Traditionally, monitoring for these changes has been done with seismic and geodetic approaches, both of which require dynamic &#8216;active&#8217; changes within the magmatic system. Seismic monitoring relies on the number and location of earthquakes, to indicate magma migrating within the magmatic system. In contrast, geodetic efforts rely on identifying ground inflation events which have traditionally been interpreted to represent recharge of magma from a deep parental source into shallower crustal reservoirs. Neither of these techniques is sensitive to the petrology or temperature of the magma though. Thus, additional monitoring techniques able to detect &#8216;static&#8217; phase changes in the evolving magma and the thermal structure of the magma reservoir are needed. The magnetotelluric method, measures subsurface electrical properties and is sensitive to both &#8216;magma on the move&#8217; and these petrological changes that occur within the magma reservoir itself. Using Mount St Helens where a detailed magnetotelluric survey was completed during the most recent dome building eruptive phase 2005-06, and is now in a period of quiescence, we compare the original measurements from 2005-06 to repeated measurements in the same locations in 2022 to develop the temporal analysis approaches required for monitoring application. In addition to the repeat campaign we have deployed 4 long-term monitoring stations with continuous data observation and telemetry to local servers. First, qualitative, comparisons of the data from different time periods indicate some significant changes in subsurface conductivity. We will present an overview of the newly acquired data and the monitoring setup and discuss where the most significant changes occur.</p>
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