Panarea volcano (Aeolian Islands, Italy) was \ud
considered extinct until November 3, 2002, when a \ud
submarine gas eruption began in the area of the islets of \ud
Lisca Bianca, Bottaro, Lisca Nera, Dattilo, and Panarelli, \ud
about 2.5 km east of Panarea Island. The gas eruption \ud
decreased to a state of low degassing by July 2003. Before \ud
2002, the activity of Panarea volcano was characterized by \ud
mild degassing of hydrothermal fluid. The compositions of \ud
the 2002 gases and their isotopic signatures suggested that \ud
the emissions originated from a hydrothermal/geothermal \ud
reservoir fed by magmatic fluids. We investigate crustal \ud
deformation of Panarea volcano using the global position- \ud
ing system (GPS) velocity field obtained by the combina- \ud
tion of continuous and episodic site observations of the \ud
Panarea GPS network in the time span 1995–2007. We \ud
present a combined model of Okada sources, which \ud
explai ns the GPS results acquired in the area from \ud
December 2002. The kinematics of Panarea volcano show \ud
two distinct active crustal domains characterized by \ud
different styles of horizontal deformation, supported also \ud
by volcanological and structural evidence. Subsidence on \ud
order of several millimeters/year is affecting the entire \ud
Panarea volcano, and a shortening of 10−6 year−1 has been estimated in the Islets area. Our model reveals that the \ud
degassing intensity and distribution are strongly influenced by \ud
geophysical-geochemical changes within the hydrothermal/ \ud
geothermal system. These variations may be triggered by \ud
changes in the regional stress field as suggested by the \ud
geophysical and volcanological events which occurred in \ud
2002 in the Southern Tyrrhenian area