High-resolution ambient noise tomography of La Palma island: Revealing the shallow crustal structure

• Javier Tortosa ^[1] ; Iván Cabrera-Pérez ^[2] ; Douglas Stumpp ^[2] ; Luca D'Auria ^[5] ; Benjamin Heit ^[3] ; Xiaohui Yuan ^[3] ; Rafael Abella ^[4] ; Javier Almendros ^[1]
  1. [1] Universidad de Granada

     Universidad de Granada

     Granada, España

     
  2. [2] Université de Genève

     Université de Genève

     Genève, Suiza

     
  3. [3] Helmholtz Centre Potsdam - GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences

     Helmholtz Centre Potsdam - GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences

     Kreisfreie Stadt Potsdam, Alemania

     
  4. [4] Instituto Geográfico Nacional

     Instituto Geográfico Nacional

     Madrid, España

     
  5. [5] Instituto Volcanológico de Canarias

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• Localización: Cosmológica, ISSN 2792-7423, Nº. Extra 1 (Conferencia Internacional: Erupción del Tajogaite (Los Llanos de Aridane, noviembre de 2025)), 2025, págs. 157-157
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • We study the shallow velocity structure of La Palma Island using continuous ambient seismic noise recorded by a temporary dense broadband network. As part of the IMAGMASEIS project, multiple dense seismic deployments were established to improve our understanding of the uppermost crustal structure of the island. We use 37 broadband stations, provided by GFZ and the University of Granada, complemented by 11 permanent stations operated by IGN and 10 by INVOLCAN. With average inter-station distances of approximately 5 km and maximum separations of up to 40 km, the network ensures dense coverage across the island. In addition, we used 200 short-period sensors distributed around the island in 299 different positions provided by GFZ. This study focuses on data collected over a period of 13 months, from September 2023 to October 2024. Cross-correlation of ambient noise waveforms allows us to retrieve empirical Green’s functions and derive surface-wave dispersion curves. These are used in a tomographic inversion to produce a high-resolution S-wave velocity model of the shallow structure beneath the island. Our results align with previous studies, indicating higher S-wave velocities in the northern part of the island, associated with older geological formations and plutonic intrusions, and lower velocities in the southern sector, where more recent volcanic activity has occurred and possibly related to hydrothermal systems.