0000000001055969
AUTHOR
T Mather
Mercury from volcanoes: fluxes and speciation
Mercury is a toxic bio-accumulating metal that, due to its volatility has an extended atmospheric lifetime. Understanding Hg sources and sinks is therefore has importance on the global scale. We present new measurements of volcanic Hg from Mount Etna and Vulcano in Italy and Masaya volcano in Nicaragua to improve our estimates of the volcanic Hg flux. In contrast to other metals emitted from volcanoes, volcanic Hg can exist in 3 forms, namely gaseous elemental mercury (GEM), reactive gaseous mercury (RGM) and in the particle phase. These measurements also represent the first fully speciated measurements of volcanic Hg, as well as the first high time resolution measurements of gaseous Hg. Vo…
Sources, size distribution, and downwind grounding of aerosols from Mount Etna
The number concentrations and size distributions of aerosol particles >0.3 μ diameter were measured at the summit of Mount Etna and up to 10 km downwind from the degassing vents during July and August 2004. Aerosol number concentrations reached in excess of 9 × 106 L-1 at summit vents, compared to 4-8 × 104 L-1 in background air. Number concentrations of intermediate size particles were higher in emissions from the Northeast crater compared to other summit crater vents, and chemical composition measurements showed that Northeast crater aerosols contained a higher mineral cation content compared to those from Voragine or Bocca Nuova, attributed to Strombolian or gas puffing activity withi…
Active volcanoes as emission point sources of atmospheric mercury
ercury emissions from active volcanoes are of interest for estimating the volcanogenic contribution of Hg to the atmosphere and for monitoring volcanic activity. The global Hg flux from natural sources is poorly known and considerable uncertainty still exists with respect to the complex physical and chemical reactions taking place in the atmosphere among the various Hg forms. The environmental hazard of Hg have been widely demonstrated for its high toxicity. Previous estimates from volcanic plumes are based on limited measurements and poorly determined speciation of Hg in volcanic emissions which is crucial for making reliable estimates of volcanic Hg source strengths and for predicting atm…