Electrical conductivity from Australian magnetometer arrays using spatial gradient data

Quiet daily magnetic variations recorded by magnetometer arrays in Australia are analysed to obtain electromagnetic response parameters for two parts of the Australian continent remote from electrical conductivity anomalies. The parameters are based on measurements of vertical-field and horizontal-field spatial gradient, and three different methods are followed in their computation. The response parameters are checked for consistency with a compilation of globally-determined Earth apparent resistivities, and are then interpreted for one-dimensional conductivity structure in the two different parts of the continent. There is evidence that the rise in electrical conductivity from 10^?1 S m^?1 to 10⁰ S m^?1 which occurs at a depth of order 500 km beneath central Australia may occur at a substantially shallower depth of order 230 km beneath southeast Australia.     

2D modelling of resistivity and magnetotelluric data from the Belvedere Spinello salt mine,Italy1

The Belvedere Spinello salt mine is located in the Catanzaro Province of Calabria in Southern Italy. An extensive mining program has caused the development of Underground cavities filled with brine and the migration of this brine has been of great environmental concern to the mine owners. This paper presents the results of a multidimensional interpretation of a two-phase resistivity and magnetotelluric (MT) survey that was performed in an attempt to determine the complex conductivity structure of the mine area and to gain information on brine development and migration pathways. Key resistivity soundings were interpreted using a 2.5D algorithm based on the Polozhii decomposition method. The MT data were interpreted using a 2D finite-element code. A conductivity model was developed, integrating available geological and drill-hole information. The interpretation of the MT data, collected five years after the acquisition of the resistivity data, shows a conductive feature of depth that is not resolved in the resistivity interpretation. This feature has been interpreted as a thick brine zone that has developed as a result of mining during the interval between the resistivity and the MT measurements.     

Subducted slabs beneath the eastern Indonesia-Tonga region: insights from tomography

Tomographic images of mantle structure beneath the region north and northeast of Australia show a number of anomalously fast regions. These are interpreted using a recent plate tectonic reconstruction in terms of current and former subduction systems. Several strong anomalies are related to current subduction. The inferred slab lengths and positions are consistent with Neogene subduction beneath the New Britain and Halmahera arcs, and at the Tonga and the New Hebrides trenches where there has been rapid rollback of subduction hinges since about 10 Ma. There are several deeper flat-lying anomalies which are not related to present subduction and we interpret them as former subduction zones overridden by Australia since 25 Ma. Beneath the Bird’s Head and Arafura Sea is an anomaly interpreted to be due to north-dipping subduction beneath the Philippines-Halmahera arc between 45 and 25 Ma. A very large anomaly extending from the Papuan peninsula to the New Hebrides, and from the Solomon Islands to the east Australian margin, is interpreted to be the remnant of south-dipping subduction beneath the Melanesian arc between 45 and 25 Ma. This interpretation implies that a flat-lying slab can survive for many tens of millions of years at the bottom of the upper mantle. In the lower mantle there is a huge anomaly beneath the Gulf of Carpentaria and east Papua New Guinea. This is located above the position where the tectonic model interprets a change in polarity of subduction from north-dipping to south-dipping between 45 and 25 Ma. We suggest this deep anomaly may be a slab subducted beneath eastern Australian during the Cretaceous, or subducted north of Australia during the Cenozoic before 45 Ma. The tomography also supports the tectonic interpretation which suggests little Neogene subduction beneath western New Guinea since no slab is imaged south of the New Guinea trench. However, one subduction zone in the tectonic model and many others, that associated with the Trobriand trough east of Papua New Guinea and the Miocene Maramuni arc, is not seen in the tomographic images and may require reconsideration of currently accepted tectonic interpretations.     

中国东南地区深部电导率分布的进一步研究

本文用五个地磁台站的静日日变资料重新研究中国东南地区的深部电导率分布。这五个台站是:武汉、佘山、广州、泉州与仑坪。五台定出的C值结果与文献〔1〕的不同。另外本文用简单的蒙特卡罗(Monte-Carlo)法反演推断可能的电性结构模型。     

Comparison between VLF and RMT methods: A combined tool for mapping conductivity changes in the sedimentary cover

We compare the resolution power of single frequency very low frequency (VLF) electromagnetic data (real and imaginary parts of the tipper) and multi-frequency RadioMagnetoTelluric (RMT) data in delineating conductive structures typical for the sedimentary cover over crystalline basement in Scandinavia. Using VLF field data from five parallel profiles reveals that the estimated models have responses that fit the observed data well, and the models show an overall agreement with more detailed models derived from broadband RMT data. It is suggested that VLF data be used as a fast mapping tool to fill in the gaps between profiles along which more detailed RMT measurements are made. A generic model with conductive clay lenses and sandy formations over crystalline basement is used to generate synthetic data for the two cases. Using regularized inversion the corresponding estimated models clearly shows the strength and the weakness of both methods. Being inductive methods, they both have difficulties in clearly resolving the depth transition from conductive to resistive units. Especially the single frequency VLF data can be interpreted with very smooth models at depth. However, both methods resolve very well the lateral boundaries of the clay lenses and the RMT data also constrain the thickness of the clays quite well compared with the VLF models, which are less distinct at depth. Single frequency scalar VLF data emphasize those conductive structures that have dominant strikes in the direction of the transmitter. Multi-frequency VLF (tensor VLF) measurements provide the tipper vector which depends upon the underlying conductivity structure only. Real conductivity structures have significant 3D components which can be delineated easily by tensor VLF measurements. We propose that new VLF instrumentation be developed with this in mind.     

Isotopic composition of lead and strontium in lavas and coarse-grained blocks from Ascension Island,South Atlantic

New Sr and Pb isotope data are presented for a selection of lavas and associated coarse-grained blocks from Ascension Island. K-Ar dates for the lavas range up to1.5±0.2Ma. Initial⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios are consistent with earlier measurements and for most rocks are ca. 0.7029, but range up to 0.7135 in the case of the most evolved lavas and blocks. Pb isotope data are also consistent with earlier measurements, but the Pb in two gabbroic blocks is less radiogenic than Pb in the other rocks. It is suggested that these gabbroic blocks crystallized from a magma of tholeiitic composition whose source was similar to that of mid-oceanic ridge basalt whereas the lavas and other blocks crystallized from mildly alkaline magmas derived from a source further from the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The high⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios result from contamination of the most silicic magma by radiogenic Sr from pelagic sediments. These data and their interpretation are consistent with the petrological and geochemical observations that the granite blocks are the coarse-grained equivalents of the volcanic suite [11] and not fragments of relict continental material [2,3].     

The Continental Slope Experiment along the Tasman Project profile, southeast Australia

Three seafloor magnetometers made recordings for up to 95 days between July and October 1986 at site across the continental slope of southeast Australia along the profile of the 1984 Tasman Project of Seafloor Magnetotelluric Exploration (TPSME). Land magnetometers at TPSME sites at the coast and Canberra were reactivated to give simultaneous recordings. The seafloor magnetometers were at depths of 140 m, 2240 m and 3380 m and spanned the continental shelf between the coastline and the closest inshore TPSME ocean floor site (depth 4850 m). This experiment complements the TPSME by giving a much sharper definition of the geomagnetic coast effect in this critical region.

Data are presented in the form of Parkinson arrows for comparison with previously derived TPSME results along the profile. They show a strong coast effect with the maximum mid-way down the continental slope. The situation is closely two dimensional, and using this approximation some simple models have been computed. One which gives a relatively good fit at a period of 1 h comprises simply a conductive ocean overlying a uniform conductor at depth. Further work will be needed to determine whether lateral conductivity structure at depth is required to fit the data more closely.     

Estimating irrigation inputs for distributed hydrological modelling: a case study from an irrigated catchment in southeast Australia

Adequate irrigation inputs are essential for the application of hydrological models in irrigated catchments, but reliable data on both the amount and the frequency of irrigation applications are often missing at an appropriate spatial scale. In this paper, we demonstrate and test approaches to estimate irrigation inputs for distributed hydrological modelling. In this context, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool was applied to simulate water balances for an irrigated catchment in southeast Australia during the period 2008–2010. Two methods for estimating irrigation inputs were tested. One method was based on a fixed irrigation application rate, whereas the other one had variable irrigation rates depending on season and the irrigated crop. These two approaches were also compared with the ‘auto‐irrigation’ method within the Soil and Water Assessment Tool model. The method with variable irrigation rates resulted in the most reasonable interpretation of the readily available irrigation data, consistent estimates of irrigation runoff coefficients throughout the year and the best fit to observed data on both drain flows at the catchment outlet and spatial evapotranspiration patterns. We also found that the different irrigation inputs significantly affected simulated water balances, in particular deep percolation under relatively dry climatic conditions. All these results suggest that it is possible to infer irrigation inputs from readily available data and local knowledge, adequate for hydrological modelling in irrigated catchments. Our study also demonstrates that, in order to predict reliable water balances in irrigated catchments, an accurate knowledge of irrigation scheduling and irrigation runoff is required. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Forward Modeling Approach for Interpreting Impeller Flow Logs

A rigorous and practical approach for interpretation of impeller flow log data to determine vertical variations in hydraulic conductivity is presented and applied to two well logs from a Chalk aquifer in England. Impeller flow logging involves measuring vertical flow speed in a pumped well and using changes in flow with depth to infer the locations and magnitudes of inflows into the well. However, the measured flow logs are typically noisy, which leads to spurious hydraulic conductivity values where simplistic interpretation approaches are applied. In this study, a new method for interpretation is presented, which first defines a series of physical models for hydraulic conductivity variation with depth and then fits the models to the data, using a regression technique. Some of the models will be rejected as they are physically unrealistic. The best model is then selected from the remaining models using a maximum likelihood approach. This balances model complexity against fit, for example, using Akaike's Information Criterion.     

Imaging the Kristineberg mining area with two perpendicular magnetotelluric profiles in the Skellefte Ore District,northern Sweden

New magnetotelluric (MT) data from two perpendicular profiles in the Kristineberg area, northern Sweden, were analysed and modelled. In the Skellefte Ore District, the Kristineberg volcanic hosted massive sulphide (VHMS) deposit mine is one of the largest and deepest (1250 m). Seventeen broadband magnetotelluric stations were installed along two existing seismic reflection lines. The profiles were 6 and 12 km long with 500 m and 1 km site spacing, respectively. The obtained MT transfer functions in the period range of 0.0015–200 s are of fairly good quality. Detailed strike and dimensionality analysis reveal consistent but period dependent, strike directions, indicating a change in the geoelectrical strike with depth. From the two‐dimensional inversion of the determinant of the impedance tensor, two stable conductivity models with good data fit were obtained. The addition of seismic reflection information from the co‐located survey, improved the data fit of one of them. Extensive sensitivity analyses helped to delineate the well resolved regions of the models and to determine the position of pronounced boundaries. The results are in good agreement with previous studies, especially regarding the presence of a deep conductor interpreted as a structural basement to the district. They also reveal with more detail the configuration of the main geological units of the Skellefte Ore District, especially of the ore bearing volcanic rocks and the embedded alteration zones.     

Construction of regional and local seismic anisotropic structures from wide-angle seismic data: crustal deformation in the southeast of China

We present a method to obtain spatial distributions of seismic anisotropy associated with regional stress and local faulting in the crust from wide-angle seismic data. The method contains three steps. The first step consists of obtaining radial- and transverse-component seismic sections using a pre-stack depth migration algorithm from the S-wave velocity model determined by conventional interpretation of picked intra-crustal seismic events. In the second step, we compute time delays between split shear-waves and polarizations of fast split shear-waves by minimizing the transverse-component seismic energy. The time delay and polarization in each layer are derived using a layer-stripping method. The final step is to estimate the average splitting parameters along the whole profile. Thus, the average time delay and polarization can be regarded as caused by the effects owing to regional structure and stress fields, whereas the residual values of the splitting parameters are considered to be related to local structures and local faulting. Our method allows us to construct multi-layer anisotropic images, which may later be interpreted in terms of intra-layer coupling/decoupling or deformation. We present results from a set of three-component seismic data acquired by a controlled source experiment in the southeast region of China. The results demonstrate that the average polarizations and time delays are consistent with the direction and strength of the stress field, and their lateral variations related to local anisotropy match the spatial distribution of surface faulting crossing the acquisition seismic profile.     

APPLYING 3D INVERSION OF SINGLE-PROFILE MAGNETOTELLURIC DATA TO IDENTIFY THE SHADE AND YUNONGXI FAULTS

Many synthetic model studies suggested that the best way to obtain good 3D interpretation results is to distribute the MT sites at a 2D grid array with regular site spacing over the target area. However, MT 3D inversion was very difficult about 10 years ago. A lot of MT data were collected along one profile and then interpreted with 2D inversion. How to apply the state-of-the-art 3D inversion technique to interpret the accumulated mass MT profiles data is an important topic. Some studies on 3D inversion of measured MT profile data suggested that 2D inversions usually had higher resolution for the subsurface than 3D inversions. Meanwhile, they often made their interpretation based on 2D inversion results, and 3D inversion results were only used to evaluate whether the overall resistivity structures were correct. Some researchers thought that 3D inversions could not resolute the local structure well, while 2D inversion results could agree with the surface geologic features much well and interpret the geologic structures easily. But in the present paper, we find that the result of 3D inversion is better than that of 2D inversion in identifying the location of the two local faults, the Shade Fault(SDF)and the Yunongxi Fault(YNXF), and the deep structures. In this paper, we first studied the electrical structure of SDF and YNXF based on a measured magnetotelluric(MT) profile data. Besides, from the point of identifying active faults, we compared the capacity of identifying deep existing faults between 2D inversion models and 3D models with different inversion parameters. The results show that both 2D and 3D inversion of the single-profile data could obtain reasonable and reliable electrical structures on a regional scale. Combining 2D and 3D models, and according to our present data, we find that both SDF and YNXF probably have cut completely the high resistivity layer in the upper crust and extended to the high conductivity layer in the middle crust. In terms of the deep geometry of the faults, at the profile's location, the SDF dips nearly vertically or dips southeast with high dip angle, and the YNXF dips southeast at depth. In addition, according to the results from our measured MT profile, we find that the 3D inversion of single-profile MT data has the capacity of identifying the location and deep geometry of local faults under present computing ability. Finally, this research suggests that appropriate cell size and reasonable smoothing parameters are important factors for the 3D inversion of single-profile MT data, more specifically, too coarse meshes or too large smoothing parameters on horizontal direction of 3D inversion may result in low resolution of 3D inversions that cannot identify the structure of faults. While, for vertical mesh size and data error thresholds, they have limited effect on identifying shallow tectonics as long as their changes are within a reasonable range. 3D inversion results also indicate that, to some extent, adding tippers to the 3D inversion of a MT profile can improve the model's constraint on the deep geometry of the outcropped faults.     

青藏高原东南缘的地壳结构与动力学模式研究综述

青藏高原东南缘的川滇地区壳幔变形特征及地球动力学模式一直是研究的热点问题之一,多年来一直受到各国地球科学家的高度关注.青藏高原演变的"下地壳流模型"模拟得到的地表速度和变形场与GPS观测具有很好的一致性,该模型在当前国际地学界很流行,因而寻找下地壳流存在与否的证据,是深部地球物理学必须面对的一个科学问题.本文综合了川滇地区GPS观测、震源机制解和Pms相分裂的结果,旨在探讨川滇地区地壳演变模式的合理性;另外,从层析成像、接收函数反演和大地电磁测深结果分析,认为川滇地壳内存在大范围的低速层,但分布的几何形态较复杂.在云南地区,这一壳内低速区似乎被小江断裂和金沙江—红河断裂限制在特定的区域内.     

Composition and distribution of seabed and suspended sediments in north and central Torres Strait,Australia

Widespread seagrass dieback in central Torres Strait, Australia has been anecdotally linked to the delivery of vast quantities of terrigenous sediments from New Guinea. The composition and distribution, and sedimentological and geochemical properties, of seabed and suspended sediments in north and central Torres Strait have been determined to investigate this issue. In northern Torres Strait, next to Saibai Island, seabed sediments comprise poorly sorted, muddy, mixed calcareous–siliciclastic sand. Seabed sediments in this region are dominated by aluminosilicate (terrigenous) phases. In central Torres Strait, next to Turnagain Island, seabed and suspended sediments comprise moderately sorted coarse to medium carbonate sand. Seabed sediments in this region are dominated by carbonate and magnesium (marine) phases. Mean Cu/Al ratios for seabed sediments next to Saibai Island are 0.01, and are similar to those found in New Guinea south coastal sediments by previous workers. Mean Cu/Al ratios for seabed sediments next to Turnagain Island are 0.02, indicating an enrichment of Cu in central Torres Strait. This enrichment comes from an exogenous biogenic source, principally from foraminifers and molluscs. We could not uniquely trace terrigenous sediments from New Guinea to Turnagain Island in central Torres Strait. If sediments are a factor in the widespread seagrass dieback in central Torres Strait, then our data suggest these are marine-derived sediments sourced from resuspension and advection from the immediate shelf areas and not terrigenous sediments dispersed from New Guinea rivers. This finding is consistent with outputs from recently developed regional hydrodynamic and sediment transport models.     

Interpretation of 1992–1994 Gravity Changes around Mayon Volcano,Philippines, Using Point Sources

Significant gravity changes observed around the Mayon Volcano (Philippines) between 1992 and 1994 at 26 stations are interpreted in terms of an increase of mass and pressure changes at several point sources modelled using a fast inversion process. This inversion approach attempts to fit gravity and elevation changes by combining a random search for the positions of the sources and a linear least-squares fit for the incremental mass, pressure and possible common regional values for gravity or elevation changes. Some stabilizer terms are included in the misfit function. Models with one and two sources were tested against the observed changes at Mayon. Models with only one-source give a best fit for a shallow source with a positive mass increment, horizontally displaced far from the summit. The study using two sources gives a best fit that is similar to the one-source model, but in addition indicates anomalous behavior at stations in the SW. Neglecting the stations located southward from a local fracture, the best-fitting model suggests one central positive mass change source, which is likely to be an intrusion of about 0.5 MU with a depth of about 5 km beneath the volcano. Standard deviation for the residuals ranges from 7–8 μGal for one-source models to 6–7 μGal for models with two sources. Both of the cases are below the error value of 9.4 μGal estimated for the gravity data, so that it is not possible to discriminate between both possible interpretations without additional information.     

Tectonic insight into a pericratonic subcrustal lithosphere affected by anorogenic Cretaceous magmatism in central Brazil inferred from long-period Magnetotellurics

Long period magnetotelluric soundings are available in a 180-km long WSW–ENE profile across the Alto Paranaíba igneous province, a complex Cretaceous alkaline province situated mostly in the southern Neoproterozoic Brasília fold and thrust belt in central Brazil. The data indicate 3D complexity at upper and mid-crust and a simpler 2D regional structure at lower crustal and upper mantle depths. A 2D inversion emphasizing long period data identifies a highly resistive block at the uppermost mantle below the central part of the profile, surrounded by a rapid decrease in resistivity with depth. Resistivities at the block are typical of dry olivine under upper mantle conditions and a deep cratonic lithosphere is defined for this region. It is proposed that the resistive block is a rheologically enduring structure preserved within a southwestward extension of the pericratonic lithosphere of the Archean–Early Proterozoic São Francisco craton that lies beneath the nappes of the Brasília belt. Lower resistivities at shallower upper mantle depths beneath the Sanfranciscana basin at the northeastern end of the profile can be interpreted either as an increased conductivity within the lithosphere or as a localized thinned out lithosphere. The conductivity enhancement possibly arises from the addition of small amounts of water to mantle anhydrous minerals during previous metasomatic percolations.     

A Hybrid Model for the Summit Region of Merapi Volcano,Java, Indonesia,Derived from Gravity Changes and Deformation Measured between 2000 and 2002

Three-dimensional displacements and gravity changes were measured at 20 points between 2000 and 2002 at Merapi volcano, Java, Indonesia. Former models focused on the modeling of a single magmatic source located in the summit region of the volcano. Such models do not fit to our measurements between 2000 and 2002. A new hybrid model approach is developed consisting of an elastic-gravitational source described by a mass and energy term as well as a combined dip-slip/strike-slip fault zone in the summit region. Both nonlinear optimization problems, given by the common inversion of three-dimensional displacements and gravity changes, are solved by applying a genetic algorithm. The hybrid model fits the measurements accurately, tested by Fisher test statistics. Furthermore, our model for Merapi volcano confirms previous structural models for this region so that the new model is statistically proven as well as physically reliable.     

Simultaneous inversion of deformation and gravity changes in a horizontally layered half-space: Evidences for magma intrusion during the 1982–1984 unrest at Campi Flegrei caldera (Italy)

A very large uplift (about 1.8 m) occurred in the period 1982–1984 at Campi Flegrei caldera, Italy, without culminating in an eruption. A still-standing controversy accompanies the interpretation of deformation and gravity changes recorded during the unrest, which were interpreted to result from the sub-surface magmatic reservoir by some authors and from the hydrothermal system or hybrid sources by others. Here for the first time we take into account crustal layering while inverting leveling, EDM, and gravity data using uniformly-pressurized sources, namely small vertical spheroids and finite horizontal penny-shaped sources. The weight of EDM data in the misfit function is chosen from a trade-off curve in order to balance the compromise between fitting the leveling and the EDM data well. Models using a homogeneous medium cannot give a good simultaneous fit to leveling and EDM deformation data of the 1982–1984 unrest, whereas incorporating a layered structure (determined from seismically derived estimates of the P wave speed for the crust, and not adjusted to improve the fit in any of the inversions) allows a significantly better fit. Also, layering affects the sub-surface mass redistribution effects on gravity changes, and we show that the retrieved intrusion density is in full agreement with densities for highly evolved magmas expected at the Campi Flegrei caldera for depths of 3 to 4 km, ruling out hydrothermal fluids as the primary cause of the 1982–1984 unrest. The source of the 1982–1984 CF unrest was probably a shallow (about 3-km deep) penny-shaped magma intrusion fed by a deeper magma chamber; source overpressure was few MPa.     

青藏高原东南缘深部地壳流与地磁日变化短时畸变源电流的联系

在青藏高原东南缘,前人使用大地电磁探测和地震学方法得出的结果都揭示了可能存在部分熔融状态的地壳流,而这种地下熔融体与周围物质的作用可能引起了地下强电流异常,进一步导致地表地磁响应.基于连续的地磁观测,发现2018年7月31日在川滇块体周边出现大范围的地磁Z分量日变化短时畸变,畸变发生后100天内发生了4次5级以上地震.为了定量研究这一现象,本文基于Biot-Savart定理和采用SVD （Singular Value Decomposition,奇异值分解）的阻尼最小二乘法对地磁日变化短时畸变数据开展反演.结果显示：（1）以大地电磁测深给出的电性模型作为初始条件,反演得到的电流强度为3700~5000 A,有效深度为25~60 km;（2）地下畸变电流的空间分布位置和深度和地下电性高导体分布一致,与前人给出的地壳流位置吻合;（3）地壳流偶然微小运动可能引起了大范围的强电流,这种短时存在的高强度电流沿高导带分布,可能是地磁日变化短时畸变的源电流;（4）推测深部地壳流的运动具有传递应力作用,参与诱发了100天内发生多次5级以上地震.对源电流进行反演的定量化工作,以地下电流的方式佐证了可能存在地壳流.     

Geoelectrical structure of the central zone of Piton de la Fournaise volcano (Réunion)

 A study of the geoelectrical structure of the central part of Piton de la Fournaise volcano (Réunion, Indian Ocean) was made using direct current electrical (DC) and transient electromagnetic soundings (TEM). Piton de la Fournaise is a highly active oceanic basaltic shield and has been active for more than half a million years. Joint interpretation of the DC and TEM data allows us to obtain reliable 1D models of the resistivity distribution. The depth of investigation is of the order of 1.5 km but varies with the resistivity pattern encountered at each sounding. Two-dimensional resistivity cross sections were constructed by interpolation between the soundings of the 1D interpreted models. Conductors with resistivities less than 100 ohm-m are present at depth beneath all of the soundings and are located high in the volcanic edifice at elevations between 2000 and 1200 m. The deepest conductor has a resistivity less than 20 ohm-m for soundings located inside the Enclos and less than 60–100 ohm-m for soundings outside the Enclos. From the resistivity distributions, two zones are distinguished: (a) the central zone of the Enclos; and (b) the outer zone beyond the Enclos. Beneath the highly active summit area, the conductor rises to within a few hundred meters of the surface. This bulge coincides with a 2000-mV self-potential anomaly. Low-resistivity zones are inferred to show the presence of a hydrothermal system where alteration by steam and hot water has lowered the resistivity of the rocks. Farther from the summit, but inside the Enclos, the depth to the conductive layers increases to approximately 1 km and is inferred to be a deepening of the hydrothermally altered zone. Outside of the Enclos, the nature of the deep, conductive layers is not established. The observed resistivities suggest the presence of hydrated minerals, which could be found in landslide breccias, in hydrothermally altered zones, or in thick pyroclastic layers. Such formations often create perched water tables. The known occurrence of large eastward-moving landslides in the evolution of Piton de la Fournaise strongly suggests that large volumes of breccias should exist in the interior of the volcano; however, extensive breccia deposits are not observed at the bottom of the deep valleys that incise the volcano to elevations lower than those determined for the top of the conductors. The presence of the center of Piton de la Fournaise beneath the Plaine des Sables area during earlier volcanic stages (ca. 0.5 to 0.150 Ma) may have resulted in broad hydrothermal alteration of this zone. However, this interpretation cannot account for the low resistivities in peripheral zones. It is not presently possible to discriminate between these general interpretations. In addition, the nature of the deep conductors may be different in each zone. Whatever the geologic nature of these conductive layers, their presence indicates a major change of lithology at depth, unexpected for a shield volcano such as Piton de la Fournaise. Received: 3 November 1999 / Accepted: 15 September 1999