Search results for "Fumarole"
showing 10 items of 71 documents
Interaction between the deep fluids and the shallow groundwaters on Vulcano island (Italy)
2001
The aim of this work is to study the interactions processes between the fluids of deep origin and the shallow groundwaters of the Vulcano Porto area. During 1995, 13 well waters were sampled three times (May, July and November) and analysed for major and some minor elements (B, Br and NH4) and for dissolved gases. The close relationship of these waters with the deep magmatic source is highlighted by the composition of the dissolved gases. Furthermore, the areal distribution of dissolved species is controlled mainly by the gas fluxes from depth and by the presence of a deeper thermal aquifer. The distribution of major anomalies in the parameters measured in the groundwaters, in fact, overlap…
Soil and fumarole gases of Mount Etna: geochemistry and relations with volcanic activity
1998
Abstract Between 1993 and 1996, gas samples were collected on Mt. Etna volcano from both high- and low-temperature fumaroles and from soils in areas of anomalous degassing located on the flanks of the volcanic edifice. The chemical composition of all the emitted gases is consistent with their magmatic origin. During their transport to the surface, they would undergo shallow mixing processes, mostly with air. Locally, as in the case of a point in the lower southwestern flank of the volcano (P39), very high contents of He and CH4 indicate that deep gases mainly interact with ground waters and also with a hydrocarbon reservoir. The isotopic composition of carbon in CO2 from these gases also su…
Long-time variation of soil CO2 fluxes at the summit crater of Vulcano (Italy)
2012
Here, we report the first continuous data of geochemical parameters acquired directly from the active summit crater of Vulcano. This approach provides a means to better investigate deep geochemical processes associated with the degassing system of Vulcano Island. In particular, we report on soil CO2 fluxes from the upper part of Vulcano, a closed-conduit volcano, from September 2007 to October 2010. Large variations in the soil CO2 and plume SO2 fluxes (order of magnitude), coinciding with other discontinuous geochemical parameters (CO2 concentrations in fumarole gas) and physical parameters (increase of shallow seismic activity and fumarole temperatures) have been recorded. The results fro…
Volcanic CO2 flux measurement at Campi Flegrei by tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy
2014
Near-infrared room-temperature Tunable Diode Lasers (TDL) have recently found increased usage in atmospheric chemistry and air monitoring research, but applications in volcanology are still limited to a few examples. Here, we explored the potential of a commercial infrared laser unit (GasFinder 2.0 from Boreal Laser Ltd) for measurement of volcanic CO2 mixing ratios, and ultimately for estimating the volcanic CO2 flux. Our field tests were conducted at Campi Flegrei near Pozzuoli, Southern Italy, where the GasFinder was used during three campaigns in October 2012, January 2013 and May 2013 to repeatedly measure the path-integrated mixing ratios of CO2 along cross-sections of the atmospheric…
The evolution of a dynamic geological system: the support of a GIS for geochemical measurements at the fumarole field of Vulcano, Italy
1997
The island of Vulcano (Aeolian arc, Southern Italy) has displayed several periods of volcanic unrest since the end of the last eruption (1890). We report here results obtained from a long-term survey concerning variations of both the steam output and the exhaling surface area at the summit crater fumarolic field of La Fossa. The field measurements analysed in a Geographical Information System (GIS) show a highly dynamic volcanic system in which deep variations in the geochemistry and the temperature of the released fluids were accompanied by fluctuations in the mass output of steam and the topography of the crater field. The use of a GIS facilitated digitized reconstructions of maps of the …
The Problem of Volcanic Unrest: The Campi Flegrei Case History
1996
Campi Flegrei is one of the most densely populated active volcanic areas of the world. It consists of a complex structure with a multicollapse caldera and many postcaldera, explosive, mostly monogenetic vents. The last eruption was in 1538 (Mt. Nuovo). Progressive reduction of eruption energy has accompanied migration of the vents toward the center of the caldera. Campi Flegrei activity is fed by a shallow magma chamber in which trachybasaltic magma undergoes cooling and fractionation, producing trachytic residual melt that is periodically tapped and erupted to the surface. The depth of the chamber is estimated, from petrological and active and passive seismic data, to be about 4 km beneath…
Mobility of plume-derived volcanogenic elements in meteoric water at Nyiragongo volcano (Congo) inferred from the chemical composition of single rain…
2017
The chemical composition of single rainfall events was investigated at Nyiragongo volcano (Democratic Republic of Congo) with the aim of determining the relative contributions of plume-derived elements. The different locations of the sampling sites allowed both plume-affected samples (hereafter referred to as “fumigated samples”) and samples representative of the local background to be collected. The chemical composition of the local background reflects the peculiar geographic features of the area, being influenced by biomass burning, geogenic dust, and biological activity. Conversely, fumigated samples contain large amounts of volcanogenic elements that can be clearly distinguished from th…
The assessment of volcanic gas hazard by means of numerical models: An example from Vulcano Island (Sicily)
1999
Volcanic activity can inject large quantities of gases and aerosols into the atmosphere both during and between eruptions, creating a health risk for the local population. The paper describes how the volcanic gas concentration in the air can be computed by a flow model simulating the wind field over a digital terrain model of the volcano coupled with a Lagrangian particle model that uses the known (measured) gas emission rates to simulate gas dispersion. The coupling provides hazard maps for a number of meteorological conditions, introduced as boundary and initial conditions to the wind flow model, and permits the estimation of the risk both for actual and increased emission rates. An appli…
Active moss monitoring allows to identify and track distribution of metal(loid)s emitted from fumaroles on Vulcano Island, Italy
2014
Abstract Volatile metal(loid)s are known to be emitted from volcanoes worldwide. We tested the suitability of active moss monitoring for tracking volatile metal(loid)s released from the fumarolic field on Vulcano Island, Italy, and differentiated fumaroles from other sources of gaseous and particulate trace elements such as sea spray and soil. Metal(loid) accumulation on the mosses per day did depend neither on the state of the exposed moss (dead or living) nor exposure time (3, 6, or 9 weeks). After collection, mosses were digested with either HNO3/H2O2 or deionized water and analyzed by ICP-MS. While for most elements both extraction methods yielded similar concentrations, higher concentr…
Real-time simultaneous detection of volcanic Hg and SO2at La Fossa Crater, Vulcano (Aeolian Islands, Sicily)
2007
Measuring Hg/SO2 ratios in volcanic emissions is essential for better apportioning the volcanic contribution to the global Hg atmospheric cycle. Here, we report the first real-time simultaneous measurement of Hg and SO2 in a volcanic plume, based on Lumex and MultiGAS techniques, respectively. We demonstrate that the use of these novel techniques allows the measurements of Hg/SO2 ratios with a far better time resolution than possible with more conventional methods. The Hg/SO2 ratio in the plume of FO fumarole on La Fossa Crater, Vulcano Island spanned an order of magnitude over a 30 minute monitoring period, but was on average in qualitative agreement with the Hg/SO2 ratio directly measured…