Focused and diffuse effluxes of CO2 from mud volcanoes and mofettes south of Mt. Etna (Italy).

Abstract Several sites with anomalous emissions of carbon dioxide were investigated in the region south of Mt. Etna volcano in order to assess the types of emission (focused and/or diffuse), their surface extension and the total output of CO 2 . Most of the studied emissions are located on the southwest boundary of Mt. Etna, near the town of Paterno. They consist of three mud volcanoes (known as Salinelle), one spring with bubbling gas (Acqua Grassa) and one area of diffuse degassing (Pescheria). Another site (Naftia Lake) with remarkable gas emissions (bubbling gas into a lake as well as adjacent areas of diffuse soil degassing) is located further southwest of Mt. Etna in an area of extinc…