Tracking Magma Storage: New Perspectives From 40 Years (1980-2020) of Ground Deformation Source Modeling on Etna Volcano

A key issue on active volcanoes is to investigate the position and characteristics of the magma reservoirs over time. The aim is to better understand the crustal magma transfer, therefore also to define the volcanic hazard and plan the mitigation strategies. Mt. Etna volcano is characterized by a lively eruptive activity with frequent major flank eruptions that can be both purely effusive and explosive-effusive. This volcano has been monitored over 40 years by ground deformation measurements. The studies and modeling of the eruptive processes through these data have mainly concerned single eruptions and the recharge phases that preceded them. In this study, for the first time, we present four decades of numerous recharge periods modeled over time by using the same typology of measurements (geodetic baselines) and the same modeling method. This uniform approach enables tracking the location of magma storage in a robust and unambiguous way during its recharging, which causes the volcano to inflate. In particular, the recharging periods that preceded the main eruptive activities were investigated. The tracking of the source positions contributes to update the representation of the shallow-intermediate plumbing system (last 10 km). Moreover, as a new result, we highlight that the recharges preceding the explosive eruptions are accompanied by a deepening over time of the centroid of the pressure source. This result opens up new scenarios on the relationship between the position of the recharging storage and the subsequent eruptive style.

Automated summary

One key issue in active volcanoes is to study the position and characteristics of magma reservoirs over time in order to understand crustal magma transfer, define volcanic hazard, and plan mitigation strategies. Mount Etna volcano has been monitored for over 40 years through ground deformation measurements, mainly focusing on single eruptions and their preceding recharge phases. This study presents four decades of recharge periods modeled using the same measurements and methods, tracking magma storage locations during recharging and highlighting a deepening pressure source before explosive eruptions.