Search results for " Vulcano"

Exploring methanotrophic activity in geothermal soils from Pantelleria Island (Italy)

2012

Methane is released to the atmosphere by a wide number of natural (geological and biological) and anthropogenic sources, and is the second most important greenhouse gas after CO2. Microbial oxidation in soils by methanotrophic bacteria contributes to the removal of CH4 from the atmosphere and methanotrophic activity was also detected in volcanic/geothermal areas where degassing of endogenous gases occurs. Our aim is to describe the methanotrophs at the main exhalative area of Le Favare site at Pantelleria Island, where high CH4 consumption (up to 950 ng/g/ per h) was measured. Total soil bacterial diversity was analysed by TTGE of amplified 16S rRNA genes and the diversity of proteobacteria…

Microbiology meets geochemistry: geothermal flux shapes different microbial communities at the same exhalative area

2015

Volcanic/geothermal areas are sites of complex interactions between geosphere and biosphere. Pantelleria island (Southern Mediterranean Sea) hosts a high enthalpy geothermal system characterized by high CH4 and low H2S fluxes. Two sites, FAV1 and FAV2, located a few meters apart at the main exhalative area of the island (Favara Grande), recorded similar physical conditions (soil temperature 60°C, soil gas composition enriched in CH4, H2 and CO2). However, while high methanotrophic activity (59.2 nmol g-1 h-1) and high diversity of methanotrophs was detected at FAV2, FAV1 was not active and appeared deprived of methanotrophs (1). Our aim was to investigate the main factors influencing methan…

Do Volcanic Eruptions Solve Global Atmospheric Mercury Pollution?

2011

Besides human activities, volcanoes also introduce significant quantities of potentially harmful chemical compounds into the environment, mainly in the forms of gases and particles. High-temperature emissions from persistently degassing volcanoes are a known source of trace metal emissions to the atmosphere which may have important environmental consequences. Among these metals, mercury (Hg) is of particular interest since it is a toxic volatile metal found at elevated concentrations in remote regions of the world. Many natural Hg pathways include a recycled component of anthropogenic material. The anthropogenic contribution to the global atmospheric Hg budget is now well constrained, with …

Plume chemistry and potential impacts of the plume from the recent activity at Halema’uma’u, Kilauea, USA.

2009

Since the 19 March 2008 explosion within Halema‘uma‘u that formed the new vent at Kilauea’s summit, degassing rates have been greatly elevated above the levels typical of previous years. The location and subsequent dispersion of this new degassing presents its own specific problems compared to that in the east rift zone. For example, throughout 2008 the Halema’uma’u plume was generally blown through the Kau desert, directly affecting downwind communities. In this study we present measurements made in July and halogens (HF, HCl, HBr and HI) in the new 2008. We characterize the gas chemistry in terms of SO 2 plume from Halema’uma’u in order to compare them with other plumes worldwide, includi…

3He/4He Ratio in Olivines from Linosa, Ustica, and Pantelleria Islands (Southern Italy)

2011

We report helium isotope data for 0.03–1Ma olivine-bearing basaltic hawaiites from three volcanoes of the southern Italy magmatic province (Ustica, Pantelleria, and Linosa Islands). Homogenous 3He/4He ratios (range: 7.3–7.6 Ra) for the three islands, and their similarity with the ratio of modern volcanic gases on Pantelleria, indicate a common magmatic end-member. In particular, Ustica (7.6 ± 0.2Ra) clearly differs from the nearby Aeolian Islands Arc volcanism, despite its location on the Tyrrhenian side of the plate boundary. Although limited in size, our data set complements the large existing database for helium isotope in southern Italy and adds further constraints upon the spatial exte…

Deep-sourced fluids released in central-western Europe: new evidences of active degassing in Serbia region

2021

Identification of transfer of mantle-derived fluids (e.g. CO2, N2, noble gases) in continental regions is critical for developing exploration strategies of natural resources (i.e., hydrocarbons, ore deposits, heat sources) and also to investigate the processes that control the deep and shallow evolution of Earth such as subduction, volcanism, natural degassing vs. active tectonic and earthquakes (e.g., O’Nions & Oxburgh, 1988; Caracausi et al., 2013; Labidi et al., 2020). Recently the outgassing of deep-mantle volatiles has been verified in different crustal segments of central-western Europe, but the geological and tectonic controls on migration of these deep fluids remain to be fully …

How trace element distributions can be used to probe human exposure to atmospheric fallout

2011

Medical literature recognised several effects of human exposure to inhalation of air dispersed particles that could induce pulmonary diseases, but the hypothesis that reactions occurring between inhaled particles and human respiratory fluids could involve trace element leaching was poorly understood and only a scarce literature about in-vitro experiments suggested it. The present research was carried out on a group of volunteer patients exposed to the natural inhalation of atmospheric particles in a highly anthropized area close to Mt. Etna under explosive volcanic eruption in Summer 2001. Collected data shoed, for the first time, that the dissolution of inhaled solids influenced the chemis…

Lifestyle influence on trace element contents in human scalp hair of young residents in different urban contexts. Preliminary results.

2010

A causal relationship between earth material and human health, although not always proven, is highly plausible because many chemical elements in rocks and soils are directly inhaled by respiration or transmitted, via air, water and vegetation, into food chain and then to human body. It is well known that metals and metalloids may result essential to biochemical and physiological functions, but it is also well known that health problems may derive from either dietary deficiencies or excesses. Among the techniques employed to assess the exposure of living organisms to metals and metalloids present in the environment, the human biomonitoring has attracted the attention of investigators over th…

Solid-liquid interactions in human lung system enhanced by yttrium and REE distribution in Broncho-alveolar lavages.

2010

Integrated hydrogeochemical and geophysical surveys for a study of sea-water intrusion

2010

The CFTA Department of the University of Palermo in collaboration with ARPA SICILIA has carried out a study of the sea intrusion phenomenon in the aquifer between the cities of Marsala and Mazara del Vallo (south-western Sicily) using geophysical techniques (TDEM, ERT and MASW) and geochemical analysis of well water. The aim of the research was to optimize the acquisition techniques, data processing and data interpretation for the geometry reconstruction of aquifers, their characterization, and the determination of concentration of pollutants. The analysis of the geophysical results reveals the existence of very low resistivity values in correspondence of the area from the coastline to a ki…