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Monitoring microdeformations at Mount Etna: modelling, insights and interpretations of shallow magma convection and replenishment dynamics

^^Owen McCluskey^1^,Paolo Papale1, Chiara Montagna1, Antonella Longo1, Deepak Garg1, Joe Carthy2, Carmen Benitez2, Carolina Pagli3

  • Affiliations: ^1 ^Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di Pisa  ^2 ^Universidad de Granada ^3 ^Universita di Pisa

  • Presentation type: Poster

  • Presentation time: Monday 16:30 - 18:30, Room Poster Hall

  • Poster Board Number: 253

  • Programme No: 2.4.32

  • Theme 2 > Session 4

Abstract

Monitoring of volcanic inflation and deflation cycles at Mount Etna has shown characteristic changes in tilt in the order of 1 to 10 microradiants, that can be attributed to magma movements in the shallow plumbing system. This has been further supported numerically, as simulations of convective magma dynamics display oscillatory behavior in overpressures and subsequent ground deformation with periods ranging from 150 to 300 seconds (Ultra-Long Period), alongside tilt variations on the order of milliradiants. This research focuses on one-way coupled, time-dependent models of magma and rock interactions during multicomponent magma convection and mixing using the multiphysics finite element software GALES (Garg et al., 2021). These simulations explore different chamber-dyke systems, capturing the complexity of magma transport and mixing mechanisms within Mount Etna's subsurface; providing new insights into the interplay between magma storage regions throughout the volcanic system. Our model embeds a computational domain encompassing an area of 100 x 100 km with a depth of 50 km. Topographic features and heterogeneities in the rock properties derived from seismic tomography data are also accounted for. The signal recorded by real multiparametric monitoring stations on the surface are used for comparison with computed signals at corresponding locations. Synthetic space-time ground deformations are analysed against recorded tilt measurements obtained during the IMPROVE multiparametric experiment in July 2023.  These findings have the potential to improve the interpretation of observed replenishment dynamics and the interactions between various storage regions within volcanic systems, shedding light on their individual contributions to observed surface deformation.