As ex-Marine John struggles with what Gregorio could mean to him, will Gregorio erupt and destroy them both?

Although geodetic monitoring techniques have been widely used in areas of seismic or volcanic activity, the difficulty inherent to their discrete nature means that they must be deployed carefully to ensure the best possible detection or sensitivity of these points (see e. g. , BALDI and UNGUENDOLI, 1987; JOHNSON and WYATT, 1994; SEGALL and MATTHEWS, 1997; Yu et al. , 2000). In many cases, a more global monitoring method, is required yet at the same time one that offers the highest level of sensitivity which enables detection of the phenomenon. Interferometry radar (InSAR) techniques have been shown to play an important role in seismic and volcanic monitoring because they cover large areas (100 x 100 km) and can be easily systematized in monitoring (see e. g. , MASSONNET and FEIGL, 1998; BDRGMANN et al. , 2000; MASSONNET and SIGMUNDSON, 2000; HANSSEN, 2001). The limitations inherent to the GPS and InSAR techniques (mainly observations at discrete surface points in the case of GPS and existence of non-coherent areas and the fact that, at present, the three displacement components cannot be obtained in SAR interferometry) can be overcome by using them together or other techniques (e. g. , PUGLISI and COLTELLI, 2001; RODRiGUEZ-VELASCO et al. , 2002; FERNANDEZ et al. , 2003).

Assisting readers in experiencing this geological phenomena, the authors draw upon actual encounters with volcanoes, often through firsthand accounts of those who have witnessed eruptions and miraculously survived the terrifying aftermath. 46 line illustrations. 85 halftones.