Steam and gas emission rate from La Soufriere volcano, Guadeloupe (Lesser Antilles): implications for the magmatic and hydrothermal fluid supply during degassing unrest

Since its last magmatic eruption in 1530 AD, La Soufrière andesitic volcano in Guadeloupe has displayed intense hydrothermal activity and six phreatic eruptive crises. Here we report on the first direct quantification of gas plume emissions from its summit vents,which gradually intensified during the past 20 years. Gas fluxes were determined in March 2006 and March 2012 by measuring the horizontal and vertical distributions of volcanic gas concentrations in the air-diluted plume and scaling to the speed of plume transport. Fluxes in 2006 combine realtime measurements of volcanic H2S concentrations and plume parameters with the composition of the hot (108.5 °C) fumarolic fluid at exit. Fluxe…