History‐dependent volcanic ground deformation from broad‐spectrum viscoelastic rheology around magma reservoirs

Abstract

Geodetic timeseries suggest that volcanoes exhibit a wide range of deformation patterns. Viscoelastic deformation around crustal magma storage zones is an expected contributor to such observations, but is challenging to characterize robustly. Here we present a novel approach to modeling crustal deformation around magma reservoirs that identifies frequency‐domain signatures of viscoelastic response for temperature‐dependent crustal rheology. We develop a transfer function that links unsteady reservoir pressure forcing to surface displacement, finding that thermomechanical properties and geometry of the magmatic system are encoded in viscoelastic response on timescales where geodetic observations are routinely made. Inhomogeneous viscoelasticity is reflected by spatially variable relaxation of host rocks that results in a viscous aureole whose size depends on the frequency spectrum of forcing. We explore viscoelastic signatures of broadband pressurization episodes, identifying a history dependence of volcano deformation in which past activity influences the stress state and surface deformation patterns of future episodes.