Search results for "Geochimica"
showing 10 items of 448 documents
Geochemistry and mineralogy of sediments and authigenic carbonates from the Malta Plateau, Strait of Sicily (Central Mediterranean): Relationships wi…
2010
Abstract A mud volcano field was recently discovered within the Malta Plateau in the Strait of Sicily (Central Mediterranean Sea). Box-core sediments and associated authigenic carbonates have been collected in water depths of 140–170 m from two distinctive sectors of the area, and analyzed for major, trace and rare earth elements, stable isotopes, and mineralogy. Relative homogeneity in the mineralogy and geochemistry of bulk sediments, and 210Pb activity distributions, argue against an active mud ejection activity. In the Malta Plateau western sector, the sediments show high concentrations of Fe, As, Sb, and Mo, exceeding the background values estimated for the Strait of Sicily. Active flu…
Methanotrophic activity and diversity of methanotrophs in volcanic geothermal soils at Pantelleria (Italy)
2014
Volcanic and geothermal systems emit endogenous gases by widespread degassing from soils, including CH4, a greenhouse gas twenty-five times as potent as CO2. Recently, it has been demonstrated that volcanic or geothermal soils are not only a source of methane, but are also sites of methanotrophic activity. Methanotrophs are able to consume 10–40 Tg of CH4 a−1 and to trap more than 50% of the methane degassing through the soils. We report on methane microbial oxidation in the geothermally most active site of Pantelleria (Italy), Favara Grande, whose total methane emission was previously estimated at about 2.5 Mg a−1 (t a−1). Laboratory incubation experiments with three top-soil samples from …
Gas Geochemistry and Fractionation Processes in Florina Basin, Greece
2019
Florina Basin is located in northern Greece, close to Mount Voras where the volcanic activity of Late Messinian age began. In the area, many CO2-rich gas emissions are present as a bubbling free-phase in groundwater (both springs and wells) and soil gases. Volcanism along with the geological and geodynamic regime of the basin, created the ideal conditions for CO2 accumulation in vertically stacked reservoirs. One of these, industrially exploited by the company Air Liquide Greece, produces 30,000 t/a of CO2. Results show that CO2 concentrations in the gases of Florina can arrive up to 99.8% and are mostly above 90%. Moreover, C-isotope composition (-2.1 to + 0.3 h vs. VPDB) indicates a mixed…
Origin of methane and light hydrocarbons in the gas manifestations of Greece.
2017
The geologic emissions of greenhouse gases (CO2 and CH4) give an important natural contribution to the global carbon budget. However, the contribution of these emissions to the global carbon cycle and their possible role on the climate change remain still poorly quantified (Guliyev and Feizullayev, 1997; Milkov, 2000; Etiope et al., 2015 and references therein). Methane, the most abundant organic compound in Earth's atmosphere, may be created either from existing organic matter or synthesized from inorganic molecules. Accordingly, it can be differentiated in two main classes: a) biotic (either microbial or thermogenic) and b) abiotic. For this study, 115 gas samples of fumarolic, thermal an…
Extreme isotope fractionation of hydrothermal methane due to oxidation processes in hot springs of Central Greece
2017
The Greek territory belongs to the geodynamically active Alpine-Himalayan orogenic belt. As such, it shows intense seismic activity, active volcanic systems and areas of enhanced geothermal fluxes. One of these areas is the Sperchios basin and the northern part of Evia island in central Greece, which present widespread thermal manifestations [1]. Five of them with temperatures from 33 to 80°C present bubbling gases whose dominating species are either CO2 or N2. All gases contain from 27 to 4000 ppm of CH4. The isotopic composition of CH4 in these gases covers a wide range with δ13C values ranging from -21.7 to +16.9‰ and δ2H values ranging from -124 to +301‰. The hottest manifestation displ…
Noble gas and CO2 isotopic signatures of the lithospheric mantle underneath Mexico and the Canary Islands: clues from mantle xenoliths and arc lavas
2022
Studying the isotopic composition of fluids trapped in mantle xenoliths opens avenues to understand the origin and cycling of volatiles in the Earth’s upper mantle. In this PhD dissertation, new and in most cases the very first data regarding the isotopic (noble gases and CO2) characterization of the lithospheric mantle portions of three different geodynamic environments are presented: (i) Central and NW Mexico, a continental setting dominated by extension; (ii) the Transmexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB) a subduction setting, and (iii) the Canary Islands, particularly El Hierro and Lanzarote, two oceanic islands formed by mantle plume-derived intraplate volcanism. In total 32 peridotites (includ…
Gas geochemistry and CO2 output estimation of Milos Island (Greece)
2018
Several gas samples have been collected from natural gas manifestations in the island of Milos. Most of them are located underwater along its coasts, whereas three anomalous degassing fumarolic areas (Kalamos, Paleochori and Adamas) were identified on land. Almost all the gases have CO2 as the prevailing gas species, with concentrations ranging from 88 to 99% for the samples taken underwater, while the on-land manifestations present a wider range (15-98%), being sometimes heavily contaminated by air. Methane reaches up to 1.0%, H2 up to 3.2% and H2S up to 3.5% indicating a hydrothermal origin of the gases. The isotope composition of He shows values ranging from 2.55 to 3.39 R/RA, highlighti…
Influence of pH and temperature on the early stage of mica alteration
2012
Mineral dissolution and precipitation reactions actively participate in controlling fluid chemistry during water–rock interaction. In this study, the changes in the biotite and muscovite basal surface nano-morphology were evaluated during interaction with fluids of different pH (pH = 1.1, 3.3 and 5.7) at different temperatures (T =2 5, 120, and 200 C). Results show that at the nanometre scale resolution of the atomic force microscope (AFM), dissolution generates etch pits with a stair-shaped pattern over the (0 0 1) surface. The flux of dissolved elements decreases when pH increases. However, at pH 5.7, a change was found in the flux after 42 h of reaction when abundant gibbsite and kaolini…
Signature of the 24th December 2018 eruption of Mt. Etna on the chemical composition of bulk deposition in the Siracusa area (Italy)
2020
Mt. Etna, in the eastern coast of Sicily (Italy), is one of the most active and most intensely monitored volcanoes of the planet. It is widely recognized as a big source of volcanic gases, such as CO2, SO2 and halogens, to the troposphere in the Mediterranean basin, and its gas emissions account for a significant percentage respect to the worldwide average volcanic budget. The SO2 flux from Mt. Etna’s plume has been routinely measured by the INGV since 1987. SO2 flux ranges between 600 to 25000 Mg/d; fluxes greater than 100000 Mg/d were prevalently measured during eruptive events. During eruptive periods, Etna’s emissions can be dispersed over long distances and cover wide areas of the Medi…
Active Moss biomonitoring of mercury in the mine-polluted area of Mt. Amiata (Central Italy)
2015
In the winter 2013, mercury concentrations in air from the mine-polluted area of Mt. Amiata (1738 m a.s.l.), in southern Tuscany (Central Italy), were measured by active moss biomonitoring. This area is part of the geologic anomaly of Hg in the Mediterranean basin, which contains about 65 % of the world’s cinnabar (HgS). Mt. Amiata covers some 400 km2 and is drained by several rivers. Esploitation activity at Abbadia S. Salvatore, in the SE sector of the mountain, sprang up during the 19th century as one of the largest mercury mining and smelting plants in Europe, after those of Almaden Spain. In this area, Sphagnum moss bags were exposed for about two months, from October to December 2013.…