New geological and hydrogeological implications of the resistivity distribution inferred from audiomagnetotellurics over La Fournaise young shield volcano (Reunion Island)

An audiomagnetotelluric survey has been performed along an inactive flank of La Fournaise volcano massif in Reunion island, to study the subsurface resistivity structure. One-dimensional modelling of the AMT data at each site revealed an extensive low-resistivity (less than 10 Ω m) zone at a few hundred meters below the surface. The significance of this unexpected conductive substratum is discussed in relation with the proposed impact of volcano-tectonic processes (caldera and landslides collapses), and a new interpretation of the geological structure is proposed. Moreover, it is likely that these conductors are poorly permeable argilaceous materials; then they coincide with a limit in permeability and determine groundwater behavior.