Global positioning system measurements of ground deformation caused by magma intrusion and lava discharge: the 1990–1995 eruption at Unzendake volcano, Kyushu, Japan

Global positioning system (GPS) measurements made around Unzendake volcano, Kyushu, Japan, since January 1991 have detected ground deformation caused by magma intrusion and lava discharge. In the intermittent phreatic and phreatomagmatic eruption stage, the ground was inflating. After growth of the lava dome and following frequent pyroclastic flows at Unzendake volcano, the ground began deflating. These ground deformations are explained by the inflation and deflation of a Mogiʹs source model (a point source model) located about 6 km west of the active crater at a depth of 11 km, at an aseismic region. The observed horizontal displacement vectors pointed radially away from the estimated pressure source during inflation and pointed to the pressure source during deflation. The horizontal displacements at the reference GPS station calculated from contraction of the estimated pressure source coincide well with the actual horizontal displacements observed from other GPS baseline systems. These observations validate our estimates for the pressure source. Based on the relation between the deformation volume of the ground surface and the discharged volume of the lava, it is estimated that during the eruption there was magma supply from the deeper portion as well as magma discharge at the crater. Magma is estimated to be supplied to the reservoir at an average rate of 1.1×105 m3/day; magma intrusion began in December 1989 at the latest and continued for 1.9×103 days.