Ground deformation at Mt. Etna detected by three GPS surveys carried out in 2004, 2005, and 2006 is analyzed. The data set encompasses the 2004–2005 eruptions and foreruns those of 2006. A wide deflation of the entire volcano was detected from 2004 to 2005, accompanying the 2004–2005 eruption; conversely an evident inflation phase, from 2005 to 2006, followed this eruption and preceded the 2006 one. In both cases, the deflation‐inflation cycle was accompanied by a continuous seaward motion of the eastern flank. We inverted both data sets (2004–2005 deflation and 2005–2006 inflation) using an optimization algorithm based on the Genetic Algorithm (GA) in order to detect the ground deformation sources. The wide contraction measured during the eruption reveals the drainage of a sill‐shaped magma reservoir located by data inversions at a depth of about 4.5 km b.s.l. The pressurizing source modeled for the 2005–2006 time interval indicates a refilling of the shallower near‐vertical plumbing system of the volcano. This could indicate a change in the geometry of the feeding system, active after the 2004–2005 eruption, with a new and shallower magma storage that could have enabled the resumption of volcanic activity that was observed at summit craters in 2006. These results improve the imaging of the plumbing system of Mt. Etna volcano.

[1] A study of the deformation pattern of Mount Etna volcano based on the results from the Permanent Scatterers (PS) technique is reported. Ground motion data provided by the interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) PS technique from 1995 to 2000 are compared and validated by GPS data. An analysis of the ascending and descending line of sight (LOS) components of ground velocities has yielded detailed ground deformation maps and cross sections. This analysis allows detection and constraint of discontinuities in the surface velocity field. LOS velocities have then been combined to calculate the vertical and horizontal (E-W) ground velocities. A wide inflation of the edifice has been detected on the western and northern flanks (over an area of about 350 km 2 ). A seaward motion of the eastern and southern flanks has also been measured. PS data allows the geometry and kinematics of the several blocks composing the unstable flanks to be defined even in the highly urbanized areas, and their displacement rates have been measured with millimeter precision. This analysis reveals the extension of some features beyond their field evidences and defines new important features. The results of this work depict a new comprehensive kinematic model of the volcano highlighting the gravitational reorganization of the unbuttressed volcanic pile on its slippery clay basement on the southern flank, but an additional drag force due to a strong subsidence of the continental margin facing the Etna volcano is necessary to explain the PS velocity field observed on the eastern flank.Components: 10,900 words, 6 figures.

[1] Ground deformation occurring on Mount Etna from 1994 to 1995 is analyzed in this paper. This period was characterized by intense volcanic activity at the four summit craters, with frequent strombolian activity, fire fountains, and emplacement of several new lava flows. Four GPS surveys were carried out during this time, two as routinely planned each year and an additional two in 1995 to acquire more data to follow the activity at the NE Crater. The comparisons between GPS surveys are reported in terms of horizontal and vertical displacements of each station and in terms of areal dilatation and principal strain axes. During the period considered in this work, a trend of increasing areal dilatation of the volcano (at a rate of about 5 mstrain/yr) was recognized; it was briefly interrupted by a small contraction (about 2 mstrain), in the autumn of 1995, when volcanic activity at the summit craters began. In detail, the strain distribution of the network is analyzed; it allows the detection of areas showing anomalous behavior, such as the summit zone or the Pernicana fault. Inversions of the ground displacement vectors have been performed by appropriately combining numerical and analytical approaches. Results of the inversions suggest structures defining an eastward and southward sliding of the eastern and southeastern sectors of Mount Etna.

[1] Between 2007 and early 2008, the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) monitoring networks on Etna volcano recorded a recharging phase that climaxed with a new effusive eruption on 13 May 2008 and lasted about 14 months. A dike-forming intrusion was accompanied by a violent seismic swarm, with more than 230 events recorded in the first 6 h, the largest being M L = 3.9. In the meanwhile, marked ground deformation was recorded by the permanent tilt and GPS networks, and sudden changes in the summit area were detected by five continuously recording magnetic stations. Poor weather conditions did not allow direct observation of the eruptive events, but important information was provided by infrared satellite images that detected the start of lava fountains from the eruptive fissure, feeding a lava flow. This flow spread within the Valle del Bove depression, covering 6.4 km on the southeastern flank of the volcano in a few hours. The seismicity and deformation pattern indicated that the dike-forming intrusion was propagating northward. It produced a dry fracture field, which generated concern for the possibility that the eruptive fissures could expand downslope toward populated areas. Monitoring and modeling of the multidisciplinary data, together with the simulations of ash dispersal and lava flows, allowed us both to infer the eruptive mechanisms and to provide correct interpretation of the ongoing phenomena, furnishing useful information for civil defense purposes. We describe how this approach of feedback between monitoring and research provides critical support to risk evaluation.

After the end of the 2002–2003 eruption, Mount Etna activity was characterized only by gentle degassing at the summit craters and some earthquake swarms. Suddenly, an eruption started on 7 September 2004 in complete absence of summit crater volcanic activity, seismicity or seismic tremor, and ground deformation. This is the first time that magma poured out passively without preeruptive and coeruptive volcanic and/or geophysical phenomena. The primary key to understanding this event is represented by the ground deformation pattern recorded through GPS measurements during the year before the eruption. The ground deformation shows inflation superimposed by a predominant eastward movement of the eastern sector at a rate never observed before in a noneruptive period. The images from satellite radar interferometry confirmed this pattern. The deformation field clearly shows that the maximum tension in the eastern sector of the volcano caused the opening of the eruptive fracture which favored the silent pouring out of already resident magma.