8Q (2024-2026): Collaborative Research: Magnetotelluric Investigation of the Salton Trough

• Oregon State University

The project involves two field campaigns in the Salton Trough, California, that will each take approximately one month to complete and will be performed during the winter/spring season when temperatures are cooler in the region, tentatively planned for March 2024 and March 2025. During the first field campaign in March 2024, we plan to collect an array of wideband and long-period MT data in the Salton Trough, with nominal station spacing of 5–10 km and 25 km, respectively. For the wideband, we are requesting: four (4) Phoenix MTU-5C instruments, 12 induction coil magnetometers, and 20 electrodes (for E-fields + ground channels), as well as electrode cables and a field laptop for instrument setup and data downloading. For the long-period, we are requesting: four (4) LEMI-424 instruments, 4 fluxgate magnetometers, and 4 electrodes, as well as electrode cables and a field laptop for instrument setup and data downloading. During the second field campaign in March 2025, we plan to collect an array of wideband MT data in the Salton Trough, with nominal station spacing of 5–10 km. We are requesting: four (4) Phoenix MTU-5C instruments, 12 induction coil magnetometers, and 20 electrodes (for E-fields + ground channels), as well as electrode cables and a field laptop for instrument setup and data downloading. This proposed project will inform Salton Trough electric properties and processes at several spatial scales in a way that complements past and present geoscientific networks in the region. One is a densification (~25 km station spacing) of the acquired USArray long-period MT component in southern California. These data will help address questions on variations in lithospheric-scale fabric (i.e., plate motion past and present), the dehydration of the subducted Farallon slab and the unknown influence of these liberated fluids on active earthquake faults and volcanic systems. Another covers the Salton Trough with MT stations spaced <10 km apart, resolving crustal and uppermost mantle conductivity anomalies of similar scale. Models derived from these data will highlight the partitioning of fluids, partial melt, and by inference strain, between the SSAF system that includes incipient rifting and other potential secondary tectonic branches in this complex area.

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