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Deception Island (South Shetland Islands) is one of the most active volcanoes in Antarctica. In the 1988–1989 austral summer, after the most recent eruptive process on the island (1967–1970), monitoring of volcanic activity through geophysical and geodetic techniques was resumed by Spanish and Argentinean scientists. In order to monitor the island's tectonic and volcanic behavior, a geodetic network was deployed. Currently, this network consists of 15 geodetic benchmarks located around Port Foster, Deception's inner bay open to the sea. Two additional geodetic benchmarks were installed outside Deception Island to be used as reference benchmarks for the differential positioning strategy. Since 1991–1992, geodetic ground-displacement velocities between the successive austral summer Antarctic campaigns have been computed and analyzed. The overall geodynamic behavior of Deception Island within the South Shetland Islands, Antarctic Peninsula and Bransfield Basin regional environment has been analyzed from geodetic ground-displacements. Results obtained demonstrate that Deception and Livingston island have a similar behavior derived from the Bransfield Basin extension and the Phoenix micro-plate subsidence processes. However, Deception Island is also highly influenced by its volcanic activity. Deception Island's volcanic behavior between 1991 and 2018 is shown by the velocity field, strain tensors and pressure source evolution obtained from the ground-displacements at the geodetic benchmarks. During this time period, it is possible to identify different inflation and deflation phases separated by transitional (or mixed) stages of extension without uplift and compression without subsidence. The most representative inflation and deflation periods were analyzed in detail, to show how they correlate with high and low seismic activity, respectively. The transitional or mixed stages, seem to be the precursors of the next inflation or deflation phase being the Bransfield basin rifting and NW-SE extension the potential related process. Finally, we have analyzed the processes that occurred prior to the volcanic unrests of 1999–2000 and 2012–2013. In both cases, an increase in detected seismic activity and/or soil and seawater temperature was observed and a mixed phase of extension without uplift seems to be precursory to the volcanic unrest. The correlation between the inflation processes, identified by ground-displacement of the network geodetic benchmarks, the increase in seismicity and the increment of soil and seawater temperature makes these transitional mixed phases potential precursors of Deception Island's volcanic unrest periods. • A GPS geodetic network of 15 geodetic stations is deployed in Deception Island. • Geodetic ground-displacement velocities have been computed and analyzed for the period 1991-2018. • Inflation-deflation processes are shown by the time evolution of the ground-displacement velocity models calculated. • Results demonstrate that Deception and Livingston islands have a similar behavior. • Deception Island is also highly influenced by its volcanic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deception Island is one of the most visited places in Antarctica. There are biological, geological, and archeological features that are major attractions within Port Foster, its horse shoe-shaped natural inner bay, and two scientific bases that are occupied during austral summers. Deception Island is an active volcano, however, and needs to be monitored in order to reduce risk to people on the island. Surface deformation in response to fluid pressure is one of the main volcanic activities to observe. Automated data acquisition and processing using the global navigation satellite systems allow measurements of surface deformation in near real time. Nevertheless, the positioning repeatability in sub-daily solutions is affected by geophysical influences such as ocean tidal loading, among others. Such periodic influences must be accurately modeled to achieve similar repeatability as daily solutions that average them. However, a single solution each 24 h will average out the deformation suffered during that period, and the position update waiting time can be a limitation for near real-time purposes. Throughout the last five austral summer campaigns in Deception, using simultaneous wireless communications between benchmarks, a processing strategy was developed to achieve millimeter-level half-hourly positioning solutions that have similar repeatability as those given by 24-h solutions. For these half-hourly solutions, a tidal analysis was performed to assess any mismodeling of ocean tide loading, and a discrete Kalman filter was designed and implemented to enhance the sub-daily positioning repeatability. With these solutions, the volcano-dynamic activity resulting in localized surface deformation for the last five austral summer campaigns is addressed. Although based on only three carefully located benchmarks, it is shown that Deception has been shortening and subsiding during these last 4 years. The method's accuracy in baselines up to a few hundred kilometers assures its applicability to other volcanoes worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY Surface deformation parameters and its use in volcano monitoring have evolved from classical geodetic procedures up to those based on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), in particular the most widely used and known Global Positioning System (GPS), profiting from the automated data processing, positioning precision and rates, as well as the large storage capacity and low power consumption of its equipments. These features have enabled the permanent GNSS-GPS data acquisition to ensure the continuous monitoring of geodetic benchmarks for the evaluation of surface deformation in active tectonic or volcanic areas. In Deception Island (Antarctica), a normal vector analysis is being used to give surface deformation based on three permanently observed GNSS-GPS benchmarks. Due to data availability, both in the past and for near real-time use, all benchmarks used are inside the monitored volcanic area, although the reference is away from thermal springs and/or fumaroles, unlike the other two. The time variation of slope distances to the reference benchmark and of the magnitude and inclination of the normal vector to the triangle defined by the reference benchmark and any other two, provides the spatial deformation in the volcanic area covered. The normal vector variation in magnitude gives information on compression or expansion, here called spatial dilatometer, while the changes in inclination gives information on relative uplift or subsidence, here called spatial inclinometer. In geodesy, the triangle is a basic geometric unit and the areal strain is commonly applied in tectonics and volcanism. The normal vector analysis conjugates both, benefiting from the method's precision, simplicity and possibility to model the surface using several triangles. The proposed method was applied to GNSS-GPS data collected every austral summer between 2001-2002 and 2009-2010 in Deception Island. The results evidence that Deception Island acts as a strain marker in the Bransfield Basin volcano-tectonic setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the nearly 40 years covered by the study, major height differences of over ± 25 m have been revealed in the volcanic landscape of the 1970 craters in Deception Island, an active volcano in the South Shetland Islands (West Antarctica). In the last 14 years, the mean volcanic filling rate has been 1 m yr-1 and the mean erosion rate has been -0.2 m yr-1. There has been considerable landform modification mainly associated with landslide-induced accumulation, and erosion may indicate the craters’ fill over the next 30–40 years. Deception Island's eruptions have been recorded since 1842. Special attention was paid to the zones affected by the most recent volcanic events and the geomorphological changes that have taken place in those zones since then (e.g. the 1970 volcanic craters area in the last episode occurring between 1967 and 1970). Historical maps (produced before and just after the 1970 eruption) were compared with maps plotted in 1992 and updated using a 2003 image from the Quickbird satellite and data obtained with Global Navigation Satellite System technology in 2006. Techniques used included both geodetic transformation and the geometric correcting of maps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the 2007–08 Spanish Antarctic campaign, two moorings of bottom pressure sensors were carried out over a ten week period. This paper presents the results of the tidal analysis from sea level records obtained at Deception and Livingston islands (South Shetland Islands, Antarctica). The main objective of this paper is to present a detailed study of the tidal characteristics at these two islands, for which statistical and harmonic analysis techniques are applied to the tidal records. A geodetic network was used to reference the pressure sensors. Geometric levelling, with an accuracy of 1 mm, allowed us to link the tidal marks with geodetic vertices located on Livingston and Deception islands. The amplitudes and phase lags obtained by harmonic analysis are compared to the harmonic constants of several coastal stations and co-tidal and co-range charts. Results show an evident influence of tides in the sea level signal, with a clear mixed semi-diurnal behaviour and a daily inequality between high and low waters. Measurements of salinity and temperature were made using electronic sensors. Results from this study showed that salinity and temperature were strongly influenced by tides. Seawater temperature varied in a manner that was consistent with the time series of residual bottom pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: When establishing the relative distance between two GNSS–GPS stations with sub-centimeter accuracy, it is necessary to have auxiliary data, some of which can only be collected some time after the moment of measurement. However, for monitoring highly-active geodynamic areas, such as volcanoes and landslides, data precision is not as essential as rapid availability, processing of data in real-time, and fast interpretation of the results. This paper describes the development of an integrated automatic system for monitoring volcanic deformation in quasi real-time, applied to the Deception volcano (Antarctica). This experimental system integrates two independent modules that enable researchers to monitor and control the status of the GNSS–GPS stations, and to determine a surface deformation parameter. It comprises three permanent stations, one of which serves as the reference for assessing the relative distance in relation to the other two. The availability of GNSS–GPS data in quasi real-time is achieved by means of a WiFi infrastructure and automated data processing. This system provides, in quasi real-time, a time series of varying distances that tells us the extent to which any ground deformation is taking place. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]