Search results for "Geothermal"
showing 10 items of 104 documents
A new approach for the measurement of gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) and H2S in air from anthropogenic and natural sources: Examples from Mt. Amiata…
2017
Real-time measurements of GEM and H2S discharged from natural and anthropogenic sources are a valuable tool to investigate the dispersion dynamics of these contaminants in air. In this study, a new approach to measure GEM and H2S concentrations in air, carried out by coupling a portable Zeeman atomic absorption spectrometer with high frequency modulation of light polarization (Lumex RA-915M) and a pulsed fluorescence gas analyzer (Thermo Scientific Model 450i), was applied to two distinct areas: (i) in the surroundings of Piancastagnaio (Siena, Central Italy), located in the eastern flanks of Mt. Amiata (a 200,000Â years old volcano), where three geothermal plants are operating and whose ex…
Sulphur-gas concentrations in volcanic and geothermal areas in Italy and Greece: Characterising potential human exposures and risks
2013
Abstract Passive samplers were used to measure the atmospheric concentrations of SO 2 naturally emitted at three volcanoes in Italy (Etna, Vulcano and Stromboli) and of H 2 S naturally emitted at three volcanic/geothermal areas in Greece (Milos, Santorini and Nisyros). The measured concentrations and dispersion patterns varied with the strength of the source (open conduits or fumaroles), the meteorological conditions and the area topography. At Etna, Vulcano and Stromboli, SO 2 concentrations reach values that are dangerous to people affected by bronchial asthma or lung diseases (> 1000 μg m − 3 ). H 2 S values measured at Nisyros also exceed the limit considered safe for the same group of …
Gas geochemistry and CO2 output estimation at the island of Milos, Greece
2018
Abstract Twenty gas samples have been collected from the natural gas manifestations of Milos Island, the majority of which is found underwater along its coast. Furthermore, three anomalous degassing fumarolic areas (Kalamos, Paleochori and Adamas) have been recognized on-land. Almost all the gases are CO2-dominated with CO2 ranging from 88 to 99% vol for the samples taken underwater, while the on-land manifestations show a wider range (15–98%) due to air contamination. Methane reaches up to 1.0% vol, H2 up to 3.2% vol and H2S up to 3.5% vol indicating a hydrothermal origin of the gases. The isotope composition of He points out to mantle contributions up to 45%, while the C-isotope compositi…
Focused and diffuse effluxes of CO2 from mud volcanoes and mofettes south of Mt. Etna (Italy).
2007
Abstract Several sites with anomalous emissions of carbon dioxide were investigated in the region south of Mt. Etna volcano in order to assess the types of emission (focused and/or diffuse), their surface extension and the total output of CO 2 . Most of the studied emissions are located on the southwest boundary of Mt. Etna, near the town of Paterno. They consist of three mud volcanoes (known as Salinelle), one spring with bubbling gas (Acqua Grassa) and one area of diffuse degassing (Pescheria). Another site (Naftia Lake) with remarkable gas emissions (bubbling gas into a lake as well as adjacent areas of diffuse soil degassing) is located further southwest of Mt. Etna in an area of extinc…
Massive submarine gas output during the volcanic unrest off Panarea Island (Aeolian arc, Italy): Inferences for explosive conditions
2005
The possibility of understanding natural processes leading to explosive events in volcanic systems provides advantages for a better management of possible volcanic crises. On account of the possibility of the occurrence of other phenomena, such as tsunamis, the explosions driven by submarine volcanic systems are of particular interest, although little investigated. The recent sudden increase in the degassing activity of the submarine geothermal system of Panarea Island (Aeolian arc), has allowed us to better understand the way in which the quiet degassing activity of a submarine hydrothermal system may develop if new magma or magmatic gases feed it. We focused our investigations on the crat…
A geochemical traverse along the “Sperchios Basin – Evoikos Gulf” graben (Central Greece): Origin and evolution of the emitted fluids
2014
The studied area is a 130 km long fast spreading graben in Central Greece. Its complex geodynamical setting includes both the presence of a subduction slab at depth responsible for the recent (Quaternary) volcanic activity in the area and the western termination of a tectonic lineament of regional importance (the North-Anatolian fault). A high geothermal gradient is made evident by the presence of many thermal springs with temperatures from 19 to 82 °C, that discharge along the normal faults bordering the graben. In the period 2004–2012, 58 gas and 69 water samples were collected and their chemical and isotopic analysis revealed a wide range of compositions. Two main groups of thermal water…
Fluid geochemistry of the San Vicente geothermal field (El Salvador)
1997
The volcano Chichontepeque (San Vicente) is one of the nine recent volcanoes making up the El Salvador sector of the WNW-ESE-trending active Central American volcanic belt. Thermal activity is at present reduced to a few thermal springs and fumaroles. The most important manifestations (Agua Agria and Los Infernillos Ciegos) are boiling springs and fumaroles located on the northern slope of the volcano (850 m a.s.l.) along two radial faults. The chloride acid waters of the Los Infernillos area are partly fed by a deep hydrothermal aquifer (crossed at 1100–1300 m by a geothermal exploration well), which finds a preferential path to the surface through the radial fault system. C02 is the most …
Numerical modelling of PT-paths related to rapid exhumation of high-pressure rocks from the crustal root in the Variscan Erzgebirge Dome (Saxony/Germ…
2002
Abstract The Bohemian Massif in the Central European Variscides contains many crustal slices with (ultra-)high-pressure rocks related to continent-continent collision. After closure of pre-existing oceans during the Devonian, excess crustal thickness was maintained for about 50 Ma until at around 340 Ma large volumes of high-pressure rocks from the crustal root were exhumed within a few million years. We relate this event to delamination and complete detachment of the lithospheric mantle, causing a crustal-scale isostatic instability. In the Erzgebirge dome, a model region in the northern part of the massif, an array of interrelated PTtd-paths with “decompression/cooling” and “decompression…
Mercury fluxes from volcanic and geothermal sources: An update
2015
OVSICORI, IAMC-CNR We review the state of knowledge on global volcanogenic Hg emissions to the atmosphere and present new data from seven active volcanoes (Poás, Rincón de la Vieja, Turrialba, Aso, Mutnovsky, Gorely and Etna) and two geothermal fields (Las Pailas and Las Hornillas). The variability of Hg contents (c. 4-125 ng m-3) measured in gaseous emissions reflects the dynamic nature of volcanic plumes, where the abundances of volatiles are determined by the physical nature of degassing and variable air dilution. Based on our dataset and previous work, we propose that an average Hg/SO2 plume mass ratio of c. 7.8 × 10-6 (± 1.5 × 10-6; 1 SE, n = 13) is best representative of open-conduit …
Methanotrophic activity and bacterial diversity in volcanic-geothermal soils at Pantelleria island (Italy)
2014
Abstract. 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/geothermal soils are source of methane, but 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 island (Italy), Favara Grande, whose total methane emission was previously estimated in about 2.5 t a−1. Laboratory incubation experiments with three top-soil samples from Favara Gra…