Large scale ground deformation of Etna observed by GPS between 1994 and 2001

Abstract

We have processed thirty Global Positioning System (GPS) campaigns carried out at Etna from 1994 to early 2001 between the last two main flank eruptions of the Mt. Etna (Sicily, Italy). This rest period allowed us to investigate the deep magma plumbing system of the Mt. Etna. The temporal dynamics of twenty-three points observed three times or more were analyzed. All the time series show a first-order linear trend during the five years period. It suggests that the volcano was continuously deformed by the action of a deep source while a discrete activity of the volcano was observed at the summit. We have interpreted the residual deformation field as the result of an major eastward motion of the eastern flank of the volcano.