Volcanic processes inferred from GPS geodesy, Dominica, Lesser Antilles

In 2001 the University of Arkansas Geodesy Lab began conducting campaign style GPS work in Dominica, a volcanic island within the Lesser Antilles arc. The network originally consisted of 9 sites and has since grown to 27 sites, designed to detect surface deformation related to volcanic processes occurring on the island. GPS geodetic data can be analyzed and integrated with shallow seismicity to model the location and activity of shallow magmatic deformation sources below Dominica. These models can also be used to determine how changes in these magmatic sources may affect the island in the future. This type of modeling is useful and important because it may serve as a predictive tool for the location of future shallow earthquakes or the onset of magmatic eruptions from one of the many quiescent centers on Dominica.