Very shallow dyke intrusion and potential slope failure imaged by ground deformation: The 28 December 2014 eruption on Mount Etna

Abstract

AbstractOn 28 December 2014, eruptive activity resumed at Mount Etna with fire fountain activity feeding two lava flows on the eastern and southwestern upper flanks of the volcano. Unlike all previous summit activity, this eruption produced clear deformation at the summit of the volcano. GPS displacements and Sentinel‐1A ascending interferograms were calculated in order to image the ground deformation pattern accompanying the eruption. The displacements observed by GPS depict a local ground deformation pattern, affecting only the upper part of the volcano. Despite snow cover on the summit, differential interferometry synthetic aperture radar (DInSAR) data allowed obtaining more detail on the ground deformation pattern on the upper eastern side of the volcano. Three‐dimensional GPS displacements inversion located a very shallow NE‐SW intrusion just beneath the New Southeast Crater. However, this model cannot justify all the deformation observed by DInSAR thus revealing a gravitational failure of the lava flow field.