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Over the last 7 years, geodetic data have detected periods of uplift and subsidence of the active volcano Ol Doinyo Lengai in Tanzania. Although numerous eruptions of the volcano have occurred historically, a systematic investigation of transient deformation using continuous Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data has not been undertaken. We use the Targeted Projection Operator (TPO) to assess 7 years of continuous GNSS data from the TZVOLCANO network for transient signals and find rapid uplift spanning March 2022–December 2022 and then steady‐state uplift through August 2023. We conduct a nonlinear inversion of the GNSS velocities associated with the transient signal using dMODELS and find consistency with an inflating spheroidal source located 2.3 ± 0.6 km beneath the crater. Prior to March 2022, geodetic data indicated quiescence just below Ol Doinyo Lengai, thus detecting transient deformation with TPO allows for tracking changes in the magmatic system over time in the Natron Rift. Plain Language Summary: Ol Doinyo Lengai is an active stratovolcano in the youthful Natron Rift characterized by alternating periods of calm lava flows and explosive eruptions. Volcanic hazards and risk are major issues in the Natron Rift largely because of nearby communities, tourism, and air traffic. Volcanic eruptions are often preceded by magma intruding into a shallow reservoir that causes observable surface uplift. The uplift phase normally occurs before an eruption and is regarded as a key precursor for eruptive processes. These precursory uplift signals can be quite small. In this study we use high precision terrestrial data to monitor surface motions and use numerical approaches to detect potential volcanic signals due to magma reservoir changes. We detect rapid uplift from March 2022 to December 2022 and continued steady uplift through August 2023. Modeling suggests the uplift is from an active shallow magmatic source. This work demonstrates the ability to detect temporal changes in surface uplift at an active volcano. Key Points: Continuous Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data systematically detect transient deformation for the first time at Ol Doinyo LengaiNo transient motion is detected before March 2022, then a period of rapid uplift until December 2022, and afterward steady‐state upliftTransient signal detection with the Targeted Projection Operator (TPO) allows for tracking temporal changes in the magmatic system [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continental rifts begin and develop through repeated episodes of faulting and magmatism, but strain partitioning between faulting and magmatism during discrete rifting episodes remains poorly documented. In highly evolved rifts, tensile stresses from far-field plate motions accumulate over decades before being released during relatively short time intervals by faulting and magmatic intrusions (1-3). These rifting crises are rarely observed in thick lithosphere during the initial stages of rifting. Here we show that most of the strain during the July-August 2007 seismic crisis in the weakly extended Natron rift, Tanzania, was released aseismically. Deformation was achieved by slow slip on a normal fault that promoted subsequent dyke intrusion by stress unclamping. This event provides compelling evidence for strain accommodation by magma intrusion, in addition to slip along normal faults, during the initial stages of continental rifting and before significant crustal thinning., In July-August 2007, a seismo-magmatic crisis in the Natron basin (Fig. 1) was accompanied by the first dyking event ever captured geodetically in a continental rift (4). The < 5-Myr-old [...]