Velocity structure beneath the southern Puna plateau: evidence for delamination

The high elevation of the southern Puna plateau, the widespread melting of its crust, the gap in intermediate depth seismicity and the recent eruptions of ignimbrite complexes can be explained by delamination of the lithospheric mantle beneath it. To test this hypothesis, an array consisting of 73 broad band and short period seismic stations was deployed in the region for a period of 2 years starting in 2007. We inverted the data using the two plane wave approach and obtained 1-D and 3-D Rayleigh wave phase velocities. Our dispersion curve shows that at short periods (