Search results for "fumarole"
showing 10 items of 71 documents
Mercury content and speciation in the Phlegrean Fields volcanic complex: evidence from hydrothermal system and fumaroles
2009
Abstract Mercury is outstanding among the global environmental pollutants of continuing concern. Although degassing of active volcanic areas represents an important natural source of mercury into the atmosphere, still little is known about the amount and behaviour of Hg in volcanic aquifers, especially regarding its chemical speciation. In order to assess the importance of mercury emissions from active volcanoes, thermal waters were sampled in the area surrounding La Solfatara, Pozzuoli bay. This is the most active zone of the Phlegrean Fields complex (coastal area north–west of Naples), with intense hydrothermal activity at present day. Studied groundwaters show total Hg (THg) concentratio…
The geological CO2degassing history of a long-lived caldera
2015
The majority of the ~100 Holocene calderas on Earth host vigorously active hydrothermal systems, the heat and volatile budgets of which are sustained by degassing of deeply stored magma. Calderas may thus contribute a nontrivial, although poorly quantified, fraction of the global budget of magmatic volatiles such as CO2. Here we use original isotopic a d petrological results from Campi Flegrei volcano, Italy, to propose that hydrothermal calcites are natural mineral archives for the magmatic CO2 that reacted with reservoir rocks during the geological history of a caldera. We show that Campi Flegrei calcites, identified in core samples extracted from 3-km-deep geothermal wells, formed at iso…
Deep fluid transfer evidenced by surface deformation during the 2014–2015 unrest at Piton de la Fournaise volcano
2016
International audience; Identifying the onset of volcano unrest and providing an unequivocal identification of volcano reawakening remain challenging problems in volcanology. At Piton de la Fournaise, renewal of eruptive activity in 2014–2015, after 41 months of quiescence and deflation, was associated with long-term continuous edifice inflation measured by GNSS. Inflation started on June 9, 2014, and its rate progressively increased through 2015. Inflation onset was rapidly followed by an eruption on June 20–21, 2014, showing that volcano reactivation can be extremely fast, even after long non-eruptive phases. This short-lived eruption involved a shallow source (1.3–1.9 km depth below the …
Geochemical investigations applied to active fault detection in a volcanic area: the North-East Rift on Mt. Etna (Sicily, Italy)
1999
Geochemical investigations were performed on the Northeast Rift of Mt. Etna, a prominent volcanic structure of this volcano. Low-temperature fumaroles were found on the upper part of this area and the isotopic compositions of C(CO2) and He suggest a likely magmatic origin of the emitted gases. On the contrary, very low degassing was found in the lower part of the NE-Rift, with CO2 concentrations generally very close to those in air. This pattern is probably due to sealing of the eruptive fissures by the repeated injections of magma solidified into dikes and by consequent shallow hydrothermal alteration of the fissured rocks due to residual magma degassing. High soil CO2 concentrations were …
Helium isotope systematics of volcanic gases and thermal waters of Guadeloupe Island, Lesser Antilles
2014
Abstract The island of Guadeloupe is located in the middle of the 850 km long Lesser Antilles island arc. Present-day volcanic and geothermal activity is concentrated in two systems both located in the southwestern part of the island (Basse Terre): the La Soufriere volcanic complex and the Bouillante hydrothermal system, some 20 km to the northwest of the volcano. We report here the largest isotopic data set for helium isotopes in hydrothermal gases and waters from both systems, acquired between 1980 and 2012. 3 He/ 4 He ratios in the fumarolic gases of La Soufriere volcano have been quite homogeneous and stable over the last thirty years. The average ratio of 8.2 ± 0.2 R a confirms that th…
Carbon dioxide diffuse emission and thermal energy release from hydrothermal systems at Copahue-Caviahue Volcanic Complex (Argentina)
2015
Fil: Chiodini, Giovanni. Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di Bologna. Bologna, Italia. Fil: Cardellini, Carlo. Università degli Studi di Perugia, Dipartimento di Fisica e Geologia. Perugia, Italy. Fil: Lamberti, María C. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Estudios Andinos. Buenos Aires, Argentina. Fil: Agusto, Mariano. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Estudios Andinos. Buenos Aires, Argentina. Fil: Caselli, Alberto Tomás Universidad Nacional de Río Negro. Instituto de Investigación en Paleobiología y Geología. Río Negro. Argentina. Fil: Liccioli, Caterina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Estudios Andinos. Buenos Aires, Argentina. Fil: Tambure…
Halogen (Cl, F) release during explosive, effusive, and intrusive phases of the 2011 rhyolitic eruption at Cordón Caulle volcano (Chile)
2019
We investigate sulphur, chlorine and fluorine release during explosive, effusive and intrusive phases of the 2011 Cordon Caulle eruption, with a focus on halogen devolatilization. Petrological analysis shows halogen release to have been promoted by isobaric crystallization in slowly-cooled magma that was emplaced in a lava flow and sub-vent intrusion. Fluorine in particular mobilized only after extensive groundmass crystallization and incipient devitrification. By 2017, the gas emitted from vent-proximal fumaroles had hydrothermal compositions, with HCl/HF ratios decreasing with decreasing temperature. We estimate that the eruption could eventually emit up to 0.84 Mt of SO2, 6.3 Mt of HCl, …
Geochemical surveillance of the Solfatara of Pozzuoli (Phlegraean Fields) during 1983
1984
Geochemical surveillance of the Phlegraean Fields area has been intensified since 1983, in response to the increased uplift rate (brady-seismic activity). Fumarolic gases from Solfatara (Pozzuoli) were sampled and analyzed monthly. A Reducing Capacity (RC) monitoring unit was installed at Soffione, the most active fumarole in the Solfatara system. The preliminary analysis of the RC temporal variations suggest they are consistent with the rate of the seismic energy release. The composition of fumarolic gases indicates that the equilibrium temperature and pressure are higher than those of sampling. The observed variations in CH4 content are explained as an increase of pressure (from 1982 to t…
Anomalous Behavior of Zirconium and Hafnium in Volcanic Fumarolic Fluids
2022
The Zirconium and Hafnium concentrations in worldwide fumaroles fed by magmatic fluids reveal that the Zr/Hf ratio is inversely related to the temperature of emission. Lower Zr/Hf ratio values below the chondritic signature are found in fluids having the highest temperature while super-chondritic Zr/Hf ratio values are found in lower temperatures. Sub-chondritic values of the Zr/Hf ratio may be related to larger volatility of Hf-chloride gas species with respect to Zr-Cl gas species, while super-chondritic ratios may correspond to fluid-rock processes resulting from cooling of uprising magmatic fluids. We propose that subchondritic Zr/Hf ratio values in fumaroles associated with high temper…
The precious treasure of Mariano Valenza: The history of Ludovico Sicardi and the birth of geochemical volcano monitoring
2020
I was lucky enough to meet Mariano Valenza in September 1995. I was hitchhiking on the highway that leads from Cefalu to Palermo to go back home. I had spent my summer holidays in the beautiful and wild Madonie mountains. An off-road vehicle (a Land Rover Defender) stopped and a refined gentleman with a curious and charismatic gaze offered me a ride. During our journey, we chatted pleasantly and he told he was originally from that area. When I told him, I was a Geology student, he smiled at me and said Then we will meet again soon, I am going to be your Teacher of Geochemistry!. After a few weeks the lessons began and I met again Professor Valenza in Via Archirafi 36, at the University of P…