Search results for " geochimica"

The impact of Mt. Etna volcanic emissions on the atmospheric deposition: developments and improvements during three decades of studies

2022

Volcanic emissions are an important source of gases and particles to the atmosphere. Mount Etna discharges a permanent volcanic plume consisting of water vapor and gaseous species (CO2, SO2, HCl and HF, mainly), metals, acid droplets, and solid particles. This plume interacts with meteoric water during precipitations events, so the chemical signature of the plume is impressed on the rainwater. Over the past 32 years, the impact of Etna's emissions on atmospheric deposition has been investigated in many research projects by our team. Sampling methodologies and analytical procedures have been improved over the years. The first study of the concentration of water-soluble inorganic ions in week…

Plume composition changes during the birth of a new lava lake - Nyamulagira volcano, DR Congo

2016

Nyamulagira, in the Virunga Volcanic Province (VVP), Democratic Republic of Congo, is one of the most active volcanoes in Africa. The volcano is located about 25 km north-northwest of Lake Kivu in the Western Branch of the East African Rift System (EARS) with a distance of only 15 km to Nyiragongo, which is well known for its decades-old active lava lake. Nyamulagira is a shield volcano with a 3058 m high and 2000 m wide summit caldera. The volcano is characterized by frequent eruptions, which occur both from the summit crater and from the flanks (31 flank eruptions over the last 110 years). Due to the low viscosity lava, although significantly higher than the one of Nyiragongo, wide lava f…

Impact of Etna’s volcanic emission on major ions and trace elements composition of the atmospheric deposition

2022

Mt. Etna, on the eastern coast of Sicily (Italy), is one of the most active volcanoes on the planet and it is widely recognized as a big source of volcanic gases (e.g., CO2 and SO2), halogens, and a lot of trace elements, to the atmosphere in the Mediterranean region. Especially during eruptive periods, Etna’s emissions can be dispersed over long distances and cover wide areas. A group of trace elements has been recently brought to attention for their possible environmental and human health impacts, the Technology-critical elements. The current knowledge about their geochemical cycles is still scarce, nevertheless, recent studies (Brugnone et al., 2020) evidenced a contribution from the vol…

Chemistry and fluxes of major and trace element from worldwide passive degassing volcanoes: a critical review

2015

Volcanic emissions represent one of the most important natural sources of trace elements (e.g. As, Cd, Cu, Hg, Pb, Sb, Tl and Zn) into the atmosphere, sequentially influencing the hydrosphere, lithosphere and biosphere. The human health hazard during episodic volcanic eruptions generally follows from deposition of coarse and fine particles (2.5-10 and < 2.5 μm) that produces effects such as asthma and lung and respiratory disease. Regarding passive degassing volcanoes, the harmful effects of fluorine fumigation are known both for vegetation (foliar necrosis) and human/animals (fluorosis), but only a few studies have been focused on the effects of potentially toxic trace elements. From a …

A model of degassing for Stromboli volcano

2010

International audience; A better understanding of degassing processes at open-vent basaltic volcanoes requires collection of new datasets of H2O–CO2–SO2 volcanic gas plume compositions, which acquisition has long been hampered by technical limitations. Here, we use the MultiGAS technique to provide the best-documented record of gas plume discharges from Stromboli volcano to date. We show that Stromboli's gases are dominated by H2O (48–98 mol%; mean, 80%), and by CO2 (2–50 mol%; mean, 17%) and SO2 (0.2–14 mol%; mean, 3%). The significant temporal variability in our dataset reflects the dynamic nature of degassing process during Strombolian activity; which we explore by interpreting our gas m…

Major and trace element geochemistry of neutral and acidic thermal springs at El Chichón volcano, Mexico. Implications for monitoring of the volcani…

2008

Four groups of thermal springs with temperatures from 50 to 80 °C are located on the S–SW–W slopes of El Chichón volcano, a composite dome-tephra edifice, which exploded in 1982 with a 1 km wide, 160 m deep crater left. Very dynamic thermal activity inside the crater (variations in chemistry and migration of pools and fumaroles, drastic changes in the crater lake volume and chemistry) contrasts with the stable behavior of the flank hot springs during the time of observations (1974–2005). All known groups of hot springs are located on the contact of the basement and volcanic edifice, and only on the W–SW–S slopes of the volcano at almost same elevations 600–650 m asl and less than 3 km of di…

Mercury emissions from active volcanic areas of Italy

2005

Noble gases in tracking volcanic processess

2007

The expressions able to evaluate the contributions of the three natural sources of helium (e.g., atmosphere,in magma, following the solubility model proposed by Nuccio and Paonita (2001). In particular, variations of He/Ne and He/CO2 ratios have been used to compute the initial and final pressure of an ascending magma (Fig. 2) (Caracausi et alii 2003b, Rizzo et alii 2006). This model was subsequently implemented with S, Cl and F (Aiuppa et alii 2004), providing an useful geochemical tool aimed at giving an early warning for forecasting volcanic eruptions. The high helium flux measured at Mefite d’Ansanto in the Irpinian Apennines, displaying a He isotope composition analogous to that of Mt.…

Selenium around Etna Volcano, Italy

2010

Humans are attracted by the fertile properties of volcanic soils and currently around 10% of the world population lives within active volcanic areas. Volcanoes emit significantly amounts of potentially toxic elements such as selenium (Se), even in the absence of obvious volcanic activity. Although Se is an essential element for humans, ingestion of an excess amount of Se can produce adverse effects. Mt. Etna, the biggest volcano in Europe, is persistently active for the last 200,000 years and one of the most intensely monitored volcanoes. We have studied selenium in rainwater and soils from Mt Etna volcano. Bulk depositions were collected from April 2006 to December 2007, using a network of…

Rapid sensing of volcanic SO₂ fluxes using a dual ultraviolet camera system: new techniques and measurements at Southern Italian volcanoes

2012

Volatiles carry crucial information on pre- to sin-eruptive processes at active volcanoes. Measurements of gas emission rates (crater plumes, fumaroles, diffuse soil degassing) therefore improve our understanding of degassing processes and subsurface magmatic and hydrothermal conditions, and contribute to eruption forecasting. Recent technological developments in spectroscopy have allowed, over the last 30 years, the remote sensing of magmatic volatile emissions from quiescent and erupting degassing volcanoes. These data-sets have contributed to discovering cyclic gas flux components due to periodic magma supply and replenishment in magma storage zones, and/or timescales of magma migration …