0000000000311669

AUTHOR

Geoffroy Avard

Measurements of volcanic SO2 and CO2 fluxes by combined DOAS, Multi-GAS and FTIR observations: a case study from Turrialba and Telica volcanoes

Over the past few decades, substantial progress has been made to overcome the technical difficulties of continuously measuring volcanic SO2 emissions. However, measurements of CO2 emissions still present many difficulties, partly due to the lack of instruments that can directly measure CO2 emissions and partly due to its strong atmospheric background. In order to overcome these difficulties, a commonly taken approach is to combine differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) by using NOVAC scan-DOAS instruments for continuous measurements of crateric SO2 emissions, and electrochemical/NDIR multi-component gas analyser system (multi-GAS) instruments for measuring CO2/SO2 ratios of exc…

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Turmoil at Turrialba volcano (Costa Rica): Degassing and eruptive behavior inferred from high-frequency gas monitoring

Eruptive activity at Turrialba volcano (Costa Rica) has escalated significantly since 2014, causing airport and school closures in the capital city of San José. Whether or not new magma is involved in the current unrest seems probable but remains a matter of debate as ash deposits are dominated by hydrothermal material. Here, we use high frequency gas monitoring to track the behavior of the volcano between 2014 and 2015, and to decipher magmatic vs. hydrothermal contributions to the eruptions. Pulses of deeply-derived CO2-rich gas (CO2/Stotal > 4.5) precede explosive activity, providing a clear precursor to eruptive periods that occurs up to two weeks before eruptions, which are accompanied…

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Turmoil at Turrialba Volcano (Costa Rica): Degassing and eruptive processes inferred from high-frequency gas monitoring

Eruptive activity at Turrialba Volcano (Costa Rica) has escalated significantly since 2014, causing airport and school closures in the capital city of San Jose. Whether or not new magma is involved in the current unrest seems probable but remains a matter of debate as ash deposits are dominated by hydrothermal material. Here we use high-frequency gas monitoring to track the behavior of the volcano between 2014 and 2015 and to decipher magmatic versus hydrothermal contributions to the eruptions. Pulses of deeply derived CO2-rich gas (CO2/S-total>4.5) precede explosive activity, providing a clear precursor to eruptive periods that occurs up to 2weeks before eruptions, which are accompanied by…

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Gas measurements from the Costa Rica–Nicaragua volcanic segment suggest possible along-arc variations in volcanic gas chemistry

Obtaining accurate estimates of the CO2 output from arc volcanism requires a precise understanding of the potential along-arc variations in volcanic gas chemistry, and ultimately of the magmatic gas signature of each individual arc segment. In an attempt to more fully constrain the magmatic gas signature of the Central America Volcanic Arc (CAVA), we present here the results of a volcanic gas survey performed during March and April 2013 at five degassing volcanoes within the Costa Rica-Nicaragua volcanic segment (CNVS). Observations of the volcanic gas plume made with a multicomponent gas analyzer system (Multi-GAS) have allowed characterization of the CO2/SO2-ratio signature of the plumes …

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Insights Into the Mechanisms of Phreatic Eruptions From Continuous High Frequency Volcanic Gas Monitoring: Rincón de la Vieja Volcano, Costa Rica

OVSICORI Understanding the trigger mechanisms of phreatic eruptions is key to mitigating the effects of these hazardous but poorly forecastable volcanic events. It has recently been established that high-rate volcanic gas observations are potentially very suitable to identifying the source processes driving phreatic eruptions, and to eventually detecting precursory changes prior to individual phreatic blasts. In February-May 2017, we deployed a Multi-GAS instrument to continuously monitor gas concentrations in the crater lake plume of Rincón de la Vieja, a remote and poorly monitored active volcano in Costa Rica, site of frequent phreatic/phreatomagmatic eruptions. Forty-two phreatic/phreat…

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Short-period volcanic gas precursors to phreatic eruptions: Insights from Poás Volcano, Costa Rica

Texto completo del documento Volcanic eruptions involving interaction with water are amongst the most violent and unpredictable geologic phenomena on Earth. Phreatic eruptions are exceptionally difficult to forecast by traditional geophysical techniques. Here we report on short-term precursory variations in gas emissions related to phreatic blasts at Poás volcano, Costa Rica, as measured with an in situ multiple gas analyzer that was deployed at the edge of the erupting lake. Gas emitted from this hyper-acid crater lake approaches magmatic values of SO2/CO21–6 days prior to eruption. The SO2flux derived from magmatic degassing through the lake is measureable by differential optical absorpti…

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Insights on Hydrothermal‐Magmatic Interactions and Eruptive Processes at Poás Volcano (Costa Rica) From High‐Frequency Gas Monitoring and Drone Measurements

Texto completo del documento Identification of unambiguous signals of volcanic unrest is crucial in hazard assessment. Processes leading to phreatic and phreatomagmatic eruptions remain poorly understood, inhibiting effective eruption forecasting. Our 5‐year gas record from Poás volcano, combined with geophysical data, reveals systematic behavior associated with hydrothermal‐magmatic eruptions. Three eruptive episodes are covered, each with distinct geochemical and geophysical characteristics. Periods with larger eruptions tend to be associated with stronger excursions in monitoring data, particularly in SO2/CO2 and SO2 flux. The explosive 2017 phreatomagmatic eruption was the largest erupt…

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