Search results for "Volcanic Ash"
showing 10 items of 35 documents
Colloidal stability of nanoparticles derived from simulated cloud-processed mineral dusts
2013
AbstractLaboratory simulation of cloud processing of three model dust types with distinct Fe-content (Moroccan dust, Libyan dust and Etna ash) and reference goethite and ferrihydrite were conducted in order to gain a better understanding of natural nanomaterial inputs and their environmental fate and bioavailability. The resulting nanoparticles (NPs) were characterised for Fe dissolution kinetics, aggregation/size distribution, micromorphology and colloidal stability of particle suspensions using a multi-method approach. We demonstrated that the: (i) acid-leachable Fe concentration was highest in volcanic ash (1mMg−1 dust) and was followed by Libyan and Moroccan dust with an order of magnit…
Alteration effects of volcanic ash in seawater: Anomalous Y/Ho ratios in coastal waters of the Central Mediterranean sea
2007
This paper presents the results of a study based on data collected during the oceanographic cruise ANSIC 2001 carried out in the Ionian Sea during the explosive activity of Mount Etna in the summer of 2001. Anomalous low values of Y/Ho ratios in seawater suggest extensive scavenging processes on the surfaces of smectitic alteration products, with Y and Ho fractionation controlled by the differences in their electronic configurations and behaviour during solution/surface complexation equilibria. These processes can also be traced through the presence of significant tetrad effects recorded in the chondrite-normalised Rare Earth Elements and Yttrium (YREEs) patterns of suspended particulate ma…
Classifying Major Explosions and Paroxysms at Stromboli Volcano (Italy) from Space
2021
Stromboli volcano has a persistent activity that is almost exclusively explosive. Predominated by low intensity events, this activity is occasionally interspersed with more powerful episodes, known as major explosions and paroxysms, which represent the main hazards for the inhabitants of the island. Here, we propose a machine learning approach to distinguish between paroxysms and major explosions by using satellite-derived measurements. We investigated the high energy explosive events occurring in the period January 2018–April 2021. Three distinguishing features are taken into account, namely (i) the temporal variations of surface temperature over the summit area, (ii) the magnitude of the …
One-Dimensional Transient Analysis of Rainfall Infiltration in Unsaturated Volcanic Ash
2015
The paper presents a one-dimensional hydro-mechanical analysis of rainfall infiltration in a loose volcanic ash and the utilisation of a factor of safety for the implementation of an early-warning system. Three different rainy seasons with different rainfall patterns were analysed . The analysis aims to understand the influence of the antecedent rainfall on the wetting front, the pore-water pressures and the factor of safety. The analysis was carried out in the context of a Master project of the first author at the Laboratory for Soil Mechanics of EPFL.
Influence of volcanic activity on the quality of water collected in roof water catchment systems at Stromboli Island (Italy)
2013
Abstract With the aim of detailing the interaction between volcanic emissions and water harvesting by Roof Water Catchment Systems (RWCSs), the present work illustrates the results of a study carried out at Stromboli Island, a small but densely populated active volcanic area in the South of Italy. Concentrations of major and trace elements determined in RWCS waters and sediments revealed clear clues of a contamination with gases and suspended particles of volcanic origin, even if the values of those contaminants considered by the World Health Organization as dangerous for human health are always below the Maximum Admitted Concentration (MAC). In particular, cistern water showed a compositio…
Reply to the “Comment by Delmelle et al. (2013) on ‘Scavenging of sulfur, halogens and trace metals by volcanic ash: The 2010 Eyjafjallajökull erupti…
2014
Abstract With this short communication we address the principal issues raised by Delmelle et al. (2014) in relation to the work of Bagnato et al. (2013) concerning the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajokull, Iceland. The principal conclusions of the work of Bagnato et al. (2013) include the observation that protracted gas-aerosol interaction in the plume promotes selective leaching of cation species from ash, with alkalis and Ca (and, among trace elements, Zn and Cu) being more rapidly re-mobilized (and transferred to soluble surface salts) relative to more inert elements (Mg, Ti). They also observed that adsorption onto ash surfaces is a major atmospheric sink of volcanic acidic gases, with 282…
Hydromechanical behaviour of a volcanic ash
2013
This paper presents experimental analysis and numerical modelling aimed at improved understanding and prediction of the hydromechanical behaviour of volcanic ash at various states of saturation. Results from a comprehensive experimental programme are presented in order to characterise the response of the material in terms of matric suction and confining stress changes. The evolution of the yield stress at different suction levels has been quantified. The volumetric response with suction variations allowed the analysis of the collapse-upon-wetting behaviour. Water retention and permeability are also addressed. Tests results are used to calibrate a constitutive model based on the effective s…
Yttrium and lanthanides in human lung fluids, probing the exposure to atmospheric fallout.
2011
International audience; Inhalation of airborne particles can produce crystallization of phosphatic microcrysts in intraaveolar areas of lungs, sometimes degenerating into pulmonary fibrosis. Results of this study indicate that these pathologies are induced by interactions between lung fluids and inhaled atmospheric dust in people exposed to volcanic dust ejected from Mount Etna in 2001. Here, the lung solid-liquid interaction is evaluated by the distribution of yttrium and lanthanides (YLn) in fluid bronchoalveolar lavages on selected individuals according the classical geochemical approaches. We found that shale-normalised patterns of yttrium and lanthanides have a 'V shaped' feature corre…
Scavenging of sulphur, halogens and trace metals by volcanic ash: The 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption
2013
The Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption in 2010 released considerable amounts of ash into the high troposphere-low stratosphere, leading to unprecedented disruption of air traffic over Europe. The role of such fine-grained tephra in adsorbing, and therefore rapidly scavenging, volcanogenic volatile elements such as sulphur and halogens, is explored here. We report on results (major to trace element chemistry) of leaching experiments carried out on 20 volcanic ash samples, taken from the deposits of the main phases of the eruption (March–April 2010), or directly while falling (5–9 May 2010). Ash leachate solutions from Eyjafjallajökull are dominated – among cations – by Ca and Na, and display…
Climate change and the collapse of the Akkadian empire: Evidence from the deep sea
2000
The Akkadian empire ruled Mesopotamia from the headwaters of the Tigris-Euphrates Rivers to the Persian Gulf during the late third millennium B.C. Archeological evidence has shown that this highly developed civilization collapsed abruptly near 4170 ± 150 calendar yr B.P., perhaps related to a shift to more arid conditions. Detailed paleoclimate records to test this assertion from Mesopotamia are rare, but changes in regional aridity are preserved in adjacent ocean basins. We document Holocene changes in regional aridity using mineralogic and geochemical analyses of a marine sediment core from the Gulf of Oman, which is directly downwind of Mesopotamian dust source areas and archeological si…