Gravity Survey at the Ceboruco Volcano Area (Nayarit, Mexico): a 3-D Model of the Subsurface Structure

Ceboruco volcano (−104°30′, 21°7′, 2150 m asl) is located in the western portion of the trans-Mexican volcanic belt and NW extreme of the Tepic-Zacoalco rift zone, a structure composed of a series of NNW-trending en echelon fault-bounded basins constituting the NE boundary between the north-American plate and the Jalisco block (JB). Ceboruco experimented a Plinian eruption about 1000 years ago and several more of different styles afterward; the last one in 1870 CE. This volcano poses a significant risk because of the relatively large population in its surroundings. Ceboruco has been studied by mostly from the point of view of petrology, geochemistry, and physical volcanology; however, no geophysical studies about its internal structure have been published. In this paper, we present the results of a gravimetric survey carried out in its surroundings and a model of the internal structure obtained from inversion of the data. The Ceboruco area is characterized by a negative Bouguer anomaly spanning the volcanic structure. The probable causative body modeled with the data of the survey is located about 1 km below mean sea level and has a volume of 163 km3. We propose that this body is the magma chamber from where the products of its eruptions in the last 1000 years ensued.