Search results for "Volcanic gas"

Devices and methods to measure H2 and CO2 concentrations in gases released from soils and low temperature fumaroles in volcanic areas

2009

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…

A CO2-gas precursor to the March 2015 Villarrica volcano eruption

2017

We present here the first volcanic gas compositional time-series taken prior to a paroxysmal eruption of Villarrica volcano (Chile). Our gas plume observations were obtained using a fully autonomous Multi-component Gas Analyser System (Multi-GAS) in the 3 month-long phase of escalating volcanic activity that culminated into the 3 March 2015 paroxysm, the largest since 1985. Our results demonstrate a temporal evolution of volcanic plume composition, from low CO$_2$/SO$_2$ ratios (0.65-2.7) during November 2014-January 2015 to CO$_2$/SO$_2$ ratios up to ≈ 9 then after. The H$_2$O/CO$_2$ ratio simultaneously declined to <38 in the same temporal interval. We use results of volatile saturatio…

Spatially resolved SO2 flux emissions from Mt Etna

2016

Abstract We report on a systematic record of SO2 flux emissions from individual vents of Etna volcano (Sicily), which we obtained using a permanent UV camera network. Observations were carried out in summer 2014, a period encompassing two eruptive episodes of the New South East Crater (NSEC) and a fissure‐fed eruption in the upper Valle del Bove. We demonstrate that our vent‐resolved SO2 flux time series allow capturing shifts in activity from one vent to another and contribute to our understanding of Etna's shallow plumbing system structure. We find that the fissure eruption contributed ~50,000 t of SO2 or ~30% of the SO2 emitted by the volcano during the 5 July to 10 August eruptive inter…

Lidar detection of carbon dioxide in volcanic plumes

2015

Volcanic gases give information on magmatic processes. In particular, anomalous releases of carbon dioxide precede volcanic eruptions. Up to now, this gas has been measured in volcanic plumes with conventional measurements that imply the severe risks of local sampling and can last many hours. For these reasons and for the great advantages of laser sensing, the thorough development of volcanic lidar has been undertaken at the Diagnostics and Metrology Laboratory (UTAPRAD-DIM) of the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA). In fact, lidar profiling allows one to scan remotely volcanic plumes in a fast and continuous way, and with high s…

Emission of Bromine and Iodine from Mt. Etna volcano

2005

Constraining fluxes of volcanic bromine and iodine to the atmosphere is important given the significant role these species play in ozone depletion. However, very few such measurements have been made hitherto, such that global volcanic fluxes are poorly constrained. Here we extend the data set of volcanic Br and I degassing by reporting the first measurements of bromine and iodine emissions from Mount Etna. These data were obtained using filter packs and contemporaneous ultraviolet spectroscopic SO2 flux measurements, resulting in time-averaged emission rates of 0.7 kt yr(-1) and 0.01 kt yr(-1) for Br and I, respectively, from April to October 2004, from which we estimate global Br and I flu…