The central Andean Altiplano-Puna magma body

Receiver function analysis of 14 teleseismic events recorded by 6 temporary PASSCAL broadband stations within the Altiplano-Puna volcanic complex (APV C) shows a consistent similar to 2 s negative-polarity P-to-S conversion fo r all stations for all available azimuths. Forward modeling of the largest amplitudes suggests that this conversion is produced by the top of a very l ow velocity zone at a depth of similar to 19 km, with a Vs < 0.5 km/s and a thickness of 750-810 m. We interpret the characteristics of the low-veloci ty zone (low Vs, areal extent, and flatness) to be consistent with a sill-l ike magma body. On the basis of additional data from the German ANCORP expe riment, the Altiplano-Puna magma body appears to underlie much of the APVC, and it may therefore be the largest known active continental crustal magma body.