Since the second half of the 1990s, the eruptive activity of Mount Etna has provided evidence that both explosive and effusive eruptions display periodic variations in discharge and eruption style. In this work, a multiparametric approach, consisting of comparing volcanological, geophysical, and geochemical data, was applied to explore the volcano's dynamics during 2009–2011. In particular, temporal and/or spatial variations of seismicity (volcano‐tectonic earthquakes, volcanic tremor, and long‐period and very long period events), ground deformation (GPS and tiltmeter data), and geochemistry (SO₂ flux, CO₂ flux, CO₂/SO₂ ratio) were studied to understand the volcanic activity, as well as to investigate magma movement in both deep and shallow portions of the plumbing system, feeding the 2011 eruptive period. After the volcano deflation, accompanying the onset of the 2008–2009 eruption, a new recharging phase began in August 2008. This new volcanic cycle evolved from an initial recharge phase of the intermediate‐shallower plumbing system and inflation, followed by (i) accelerated displacement in the volcano's eastern flank since April 2009 and (ii) renewal of summit volcanic activity during the second half of 2010, culminating in 2011 in a cyclic eruptive behavior with 18 lava fountains from New Southeast Crater (NSEC). Furthermore, supported by the geochemical data, the inversion of ground deformation GPS data and the locations of the tremor sources are used here to constrain both the area and the depth range of magma degassing, allowing reconstructing the intermediate and shallow storage zones feeding the 2011 cyclic fountaining NSEC activity.

Seismic, deformation, and volcanic gas observations offer independent and complementary information on the activity state and dynamics of quiescent and eruptive volcanoes and thus all contribute to volcanic risk assessment. In spite of their wide use, there have been only a few efforts to systematically integrate and compare the results of these different monitoring techniques. Here we combine seismic (volcanic tremor and long‐period seismicity), deformation (GPS), and geochemical (volcanic gas plume CO₂/SO₂ ratios) measurements in an attempt to interpret trends in the recent (2007–2008) activity of Etna volcano. We show that each eruptive episode occurring at the Southeast Crater (SEC) was preceded by a cyclic phase of increase‐decrease of plume CO₂/SO₂ ratios and by inflation of the volcano's summit captured by the GPS network. These observations are interpreted as reflecting the persistent supply of CO₂‐rich gas bubbles (and eventually more primitive magmas) to a shallow (depth of 1–2.8 km asl) magma storage zone below the volcano's central craters (CCs). Overpressuring of the resident magma stored in the upper CCs' conduit triggers further magma ascent and finally eruption at SEC, a process which we capture as an abrupt increase in tremor amplitude, an upward (>2800 m asl) and eastward migration of the source location of seismic tremor, and a rapid contraction of the volcano's summit. Resumption of volcanic activity at SEC was also systematically anticipated by declining plume CO₂/SO₂ ratios, consistent with magma degassing being diverted from the central conduit area (toward SEC).