Deformation of volcanic edifices is typically attributed to the movement of magma within the volcanic plumbing system, but a wide range of magmatic processes are capable of producing significant volume variations and may also produce deformation. In order to understand the evolution of magmatic systems prior to eruption and correctly interpret monitoring signals, it is necessary to quantify the patterns and timescales of surface deformation that processes such as crystallisation, degassing and expansion of the hydrothermal system can produce. We show how the combination of petrology and thermal modelling can be applied to geodetic observations to identify the processes occurring in a magmatic reservoir during volcanic unrest. Thermal modelling and petrology were used to determine the timescales and volumetric variations associated with cooling, crystallisation and gas exsolution. These calculations can be performed rapidly and highlight the most likely processes responsible for the variation of a set of monitoring parameters. We then consider the magnitude and timescales of deformation produced by other processes occurring within the vicinity of an active magma system. We apply these models to a time series of geodetic data spanning the period between the 1997 and 2008 eruptions of Okmok volcano, Aleutians, examining scenarios involving crystallisation, degassing and remelting of the crystallising shallow magmatic body and including a viscoelastic shell or hydrothermal system. The geodetic observations are consistent with the injection of a water-saturated basalt, followed by minor crystallisation and degassing. Other scenarios are not compatible either with the magnitude or rate of the deformation signals.