Quantifying carbon dioxide flux from dormant volcanoes with low-temperature fumarolic activity: demonstration from measurements at La Soufrière, Guadeloupe and Campi Flegrei, Italy

Quantifying the flux of magma derived CO2 dissipated by fumarolic fields at dormant volcanoes is fundamental to assess their current state of hydrothermal activity and, therefore, the likelihood of a future phreatic/magmatic eruption. There is, in fact, documented evidence that gas fluxes, and CO2 flux in particular, can increase substantially during volcanic unrests and prior to eruption, due to either degassing of new ascending magma or changes in the hydrothermal system physical regime. Quantifying CO2 emissions is relatively straightforward at open-conduit volcanoes with high-temperature gas venting, which release high enough quantities of SO2 remotely measurable with UV spectroscopy an…

Intense magmatic gas leakage through the lake of Copahue volcano.

CO2 degassing at La Solfatara volcano (Phlegrean Fields): Processes affecting d13C and d18O of soil CO2

Abstract The soil CO2 degassing is a ected by processes of isotope exchange and fractionation during transport across the soil, which can deeply modify the pristine isotope composition. This has been observed in 10 the Solfatara volcano, upon a eld survey of 110 points, where the CO2 ux was measured, together with temperature, CO2 concentra- tion and oxygen and carbon isotopes within the soil. Furthermore, in some selected sites, the measurements were made at di erent depths, in order to analyze vertical gradients. Oxygen isotope composition 15 appears controlled by exchange with soil water (either meteoric or fumarolic condensate), due to the fast kinetic of the isotopic equilib- rium betw…

• Volcanic CO2 measurements via Tunable Diode Laser Spectrometer

The analysis of volcanic gas datasets offer key information to build/validate geological models relevant to a variety of volcanic processes and behaviours, including eruptions. In the last decades, near-infrared room-temperature diode lasers, though in an experimental phase, are finding applications in volcanic gas studies. Here, we report on the application of the GasFinder 2.0, a commercial tunable diode infrared laser-receiver unit, operating in the 1.3-1.7 μm wavelength range, to measuring CO2 concentrations in volcanic gas emissions. At first, our field tests were conducted in three different campaigns at Campi Flegrei volcano (near Pozzuoli, Southern Italy), and, subsequently, also in…