The Pannonian Basin is one of the best natural laboratories in the world to study
the lithospheric response to continental extension and subsequent tectonic inversion.
Here we address the topic of lithospheric structure by a combined geochemical and
magnetotelluric analysis, which has been carried out in the framework of the Pannon
LitH2Oscope project. The main objective was to detect the resistivity distribution
over the entire lithosphere by magnetotelluric measurements, considering the lithological
resistivity properties and relate the results to the structure and evolution of the
Pannonian Basin. The Pannon LitH 2 Oscope MT array was used to estimate the depth
of the Lithosphere-Asthenosphere Boundary (LAB), considering the legacy MT data and
compared to previous estimates for the region. Using the MT and geomagnetic response
functions, major structural zones of the Pannonian basin, such as the Mid-Hungarian
Shear Zone or fault systems like the Makó Trough and the Békés Basin, were also imaged.
In addition, we used the apparent resistivity soundings to compare 1D resistivity
models computed from geochemistry and obtained from field MT measurements. This comparison
provided new constrains for the composition, fluid and melt content variations at
the local lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary. The Pannon LitH 2 Oscope MT dataset
and the results presented in this paper provide input for more complex 3D inversions
and further investigations of the lithospheric structure in the Carpathian-Pannonian
region.
