Abstract
The Methana peninsula in Greece is the westernmost dormant but geodynamically and hydrothermally active volcanic system of the Hellenic Volcanic Arc, which formed from the subduction of the African tectonic plate beneath the Eurasian plate. Volcanic hazard in Methana is considered “low” as the last historic eruption was registered in approximately 230 BC and no alarming signs were observed in recent times. Nevertheless, several aspects (including the proximity to a densely populated region and the city of Athens) provide sufficient motivation for a dedicated investigation into present-day deformation patterns at the volcano. This study exploits a long stack of 99 C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images acquired by the Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite constellation along ascending track 102 in the period from March 2015 to August 2019. A Multi-Temporal Interferometric SAR (MT-InSAR) processing approach is exploited using both Persistent (PS) and Distributed (DS) scatterers. Satellite geodetic data from permanent GNSS stations and 2006-2019 GPS benchmark surveying are used as reference to calibrate the MT-InSAR data analysis, as well as to validate MT-InSAR results accuracy. MT-InSAR and geodetic results are combined with geological, seismological and geomorphological data, to better understand the observed potential ground deformation patterns and trends. Line-of-sight displacement velocities within the peninsula reach −18.1 mm/year. The results suggest a complex displacement pattern across the volcano edifice, including local-scale land surface processes, such as settlement in the suburban zones, mass movements and some seasonal fluctuation overlapping with the long-term trend. The retrieved geoinformation provide a first account of deformation patterns, that can feed into the volcano baseline hazard assessment, as well as the monitoring system that is being built in these recent years. Reference: GATSIOS, T.; CIGNA, F.; TAPETE, D.; SAKKAS, V.; PAVLOU, K.; PARCHARIDIS, I. Copernicus Sentinel-1 MT-InSAR, GNSS and seismic monitoring of deformation patterns and trends at the Methana volcano, Greece. Applied Sciences 2020, 10, 6445, doi:10.3390/app10186445
Highlights
The Methana peninsula in Greece is the westernmost dormant but geodynamically and hydrothermally active [1], volcanic system belonging to the Hellenic volcanic arc
Its last historic eruption occurred in ∼230 BC, and no alarming signs were observed in recent times, so volcanic hazard in Methana is considered “low” [2]
To the best of our knowledge, no Interferometric SAR (InSAR) investigation has been previously focused on Methana, the present study aims to start filling this knowledge gap
Summary
The Methana peninsula in Greece is the westernmost dormant but geodynamically and hydrothermally active [1], volcanic system belonging to the Hellenic volcanic arc. Satellite Interferometric SAR (InSAR) has been largely exploited to study surface deformation at many volcanic centers of the arc (e.g., [4,5,6,7,8]), proving its effectiveness to provide a spatially distributed estimation of volcanic activity due to magma chamber processes, as well as shallow deformation associated to hydrothermal activity. Despite this abundant literature, to the best of our knowledge, no InSAR investigation has been previously focused on Methana, the present study aims to start filling this knowledge gap.
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