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Tenerife has been the subject of numerous studies covering a wide range of fields. Many studies have been focused on characterising the magmatic plumbing system. Even so, a controversy still exists regarding the location and size of the current magma chambers. Several magnetotelluric (MT) surveys have been carried out in the island, but no conductivity anomalies associated with the chambers have been detected. We report the results of a set of tests conducted against the 3-D resistivity model of the island, to determine the characteristics of the detectable chambers with the MT data. The most remarkable results indicate that the MT dataset is incompatible with a large-scale mafic reservoir located at shallower depths than 8 km b.s.l. However, shallower phonolitic chambers smaller than 3 × 3 × 1 km3could be undetected by the existing MT sites and new data should be acquired to confirm or not their existence. This new information is essential in volcanic islands like Tenerife, since many volcanic hazards are related to the size and depth of the sources of magma. Additionally, a joint interpretation of the obtained results together with other information is summarised in a hypothetical model, allowing us to better understand the internal structure of the island.

Saltwater intrusion is one of the main environmental concerns within coastal aquifers. In this study we test the audiomagnetotelluric (AMT) method as a technique that can detect changes in electrical resistivity as a result of seasonal groundwater salinity changes. AMT is a frequency domain electromagnetic induction technique ideally suited for hydrogeophysical investigations at the basin scale, specifically in low resistivity environments such as saltwater encroachments areas. We present numerical seawater intrusion models to explore the effects of saline content variability on the model resolution. Survey data were also acquired during a long‐term AMT monitoring experiment in a natural condition aquifer system and these results were compared to the numerical modelling results. The aquifer system is located in the deltaic zone of the Tordera River (north‐eastern of Iberian Peninsula), where a main paleochannel that works as a seawater intrusion path was already identified in previous studies. Every four months, between 2004 and 2006, seven AMT soundings were recorded along a 1700 m long profile over the paleochannel. The final models reveal dynamic changes in the seawater‐freshwater interface that correspond directly with the hydrologic state of the aquifer system.

Diverse magnetotelluric data (apparent resistivity, phase or geomagnetic transfer function) used during the inversion process provide different information on the model as a consequence of data error. The relative influence of these data constitutes a subject of interest on the inversion process. This influence can be evaluated from the error ratio between two types of data; thus, when phase and the logarithm of apparent resistivity are involved, the well-known ratio of one half is obtained. A new error ratio between the geomagnetic transfer function and the logarithm of apparent resistivity is presented. We deduced this ratio, which is bounded by one half of the amplitude of the geomagnetic transfer function. In order to verify this new ratio, we employed a technique based on the study of the RMS misfit, obtained after an intensive inversion computation whilst taking different error values for the different data. This technique was applied to synthetic and experimental data, and the results agree with the proposed value. This value should be taken into account for setting error floors when performing joint data inversion in order to obtain the same influence from the different data.

Galvanic distortion of magnetotelluric (MT) data is a common problem in the study of the Earth’s electrical properties. These distortions are local, they affect independently each MT site, and where restricted to distortion of the electric field are manifest as vertical shifts in the apparent resistivity curves (static shift). The removal of the static shift is necessary to avoid misinterpreting MT data. We present a method that allows us to partially retrieve the regional response of the TE-mode data in a 2D case. The method determines relative changes between distortion parameters along a profile, and is based in the Faraday’s law, and uses only magnetotelluric responses: measured impedance tensor and geomagnetic transfer function (tipper). The method is valid under the assumption that the variation of horizontal magnetic field can be neglected, and a test for checking this criterion has been developed. The mathematics involved in the procedure are straightforward, and can be stated as a linear regression. We present successful applications to both synthetic and real (COPROD data) datasets.

The Lorca earthquake (May 11th, 2011, Mw 5.2) stands as the most destructive one in Spain over the last 50 years, interpreted as having occurred in an intersegment zone of the strike–slip Alhama de Murcia Fault (AMF) (Eastern Betics, Spain). Magnetotelluric data were acquired along a profile to the SW of Lorca (La Torrecilla profile), to characterize its signature at depth, as part of the multidisciplinary project “INTERGEOSIMA”. Given the short distance between stations, some station pairs were recorded simultaneously, with magnetic sensors in only one of them. In order to properly understand the resulting impedances (called interstation impedances), and the effects of inverting them, we used synthetic models to compare the impedances and the interstation impedances and to analyze the corresponding inversion results, together with the inversion of the quasi-impedance (inversion of the interstation impedances, considering them as impedances). The results are sensitive to the location of the magnetic sensors and the resistivity underneath, but in general the use of the quasi-impedances in the inversion can be considered a valid procedure. Both the 2D and the 3D resistivity models obtained through the inversion allowed us to complement the previous ERT models and represent the continuation of the main fault gouge in depth showing its extension towards the SE.

An MT profile which roughly coincides with the south side of the ECORS-Pyrenees deep reflection seismic profile was made from the North Pyrenean zone through the central Pyrenees and Ebro basin. The periods recorded ranged from 0.0128 s to 2000 s. Analysis of MT data shows a 2-D conductive structure. The strike direction of the structure is E-W, parallel to the Pyrenean chain. Interpretation of the data includes geomagnetic transfer functions and is constrained by some relevant geometric crustal features observed in seismic data. Accordingly, a 2-D resistivity cross-section has been obtained. The most striking results are: (1) detection of subvertical conductors in the upper crust coinciding with major fault zones; (2) detection of a deep, high-conductivity zone at the contact between the Iberian and the European plates, (3) the fact that the European plate is thicker and more resistive than the Iberian one. Interpretation of the deep high conductivities suggests the existence of partial melting in the Pyrenees related to the subduction of the Iberian plate beneath Europe.