Evaluating Sparse Magnetotelluric Arrays for Imaging Deep Volcanic Plumbing Systems: Insights from Sensitivity and PSF Analyses

Volcanic magma plumbing systems is essential for understanding crustal–mantle material exchange and the dynamics of volcanic activity. The magnetotelluric method (MT) offers an effective tool for imaging conductive features from the crust to the lithospheric mantle. However, current survey strategies face a tradeoff between imaging resolution and acquisition cost. Here, we construct a lithosphere-scale synthetic model of a magma plumbing system and use 3D MT inversion, sensitivity analysis, and point spread function evaluation to assess the resolving capability of sparse versus dense arrays. Our results show that large-scale conductive anomalies in the mid–lower crust and lithospheric mantle can be reliably imaged using a sparse regional array with targeted densification in the crustal anomaly zone. This approach reduces field costs and computational demand. Guided by these findings, we conducted MT observations across the Longgang volcanic field and identified low-resistivity anomalies extending from the lithospheric mantle into the mid–lower crust. These features are consistent with the dense array MT inversion results. Our study demonstrates that an array strategy combining wide-area sparse coverage with targeted densification offers a cost-effective approach to image deep conductive structures, which may provide practical guidance for optimizing MT survey design in volcanic regions.