Three dimensional resistivity structure of the Serra da Cangalha crater inferred from magnetotelluric modeling

In view of the circular geometry of the Serra da Cangalha impact crater, we have carried out a 3D forward modeling computation for twenty-five MT data in order to obtain the 3D resistivity forward model for the crater region. The 3D resistivity forward model revealed a five-layer model, showing a significant reduction in the basement resistivity. We suggest that this, perhaps, could be due to the structural disturbances that have been caused by the meteorite impact on the crater about 220 million years ago resulting in brecciation, fracturing, alteration and shocked zone filled with fluids. Also, the sensitivity analysis of the 3D model chosen indicates that 3D models having a crater diameter greater than 151 are inconsistent with our data because the 3D model responses are very sensitive to changes in the diameter beyond 15 km. This analysis also reveals that, the depth limits (for the 3D body) causing the anisotropic effects seen on some of our apparent resistivity curves maximally does not extend beyond 1.2 km depth.