Volcanic Gases:Silent Killers

This is the accepted manuscript. The final version is available at http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F11157_2015_14.Volcanic gases are insidious and often overlooked hazards. The effects of volcanic gases on life may be direct, such as asphyxiation, respiratory diseases and skin burns; or indirect, e.g. regional famine caused by the cooling that results from the presence of sulfate aerosols injected into the stratosphere during explosive eruptions. Although accounting for fewer fatalities overall than some other forms of volcanic hazards, history has shown that volcanic gases are implicated frequently in small-scale fatal events in diverse volcanic and geothermal regions. In order to mitigate risks due to volcanic gases, we must identify the challenges. The first relates to the difficulty of monitoring and hazard communication: gas concentrations may be elevated over large areas and may change rapidly with time. Developing alert and early warning systems that will be communicated in a timely fashion to the population is logistically difficult. The second challenge focuses on education and understanding risk. An effective response to warnings requires an educated population and a balanced weighing of conflicting cultural beliefs or economic interests with risk. In the case of gas hazards, this may also mean having the correct personal protection equipment, knowing where to go in case of evacuation and being aware of increased risk under certain sets of meteorological conditions. In this chapter we review several classes of gas hazard, the risks associated with them, potential risk mitigation strategies and ways of communicating risk. We discuss carbon dioxide flows and accumulations, including lake overturn events which have accounted for the greatest number of direct fatalities, the hazards arising from the injection of sulfate aerosol into the troposphere and into the stratosphere. A significant hazard facing the UK and northern Europe is a “Laki”-style eruption in Iceland, which will be associated with increased risk of respiratory illness and mortality due to poor air quality when gases and aerosols are dispersed over Europe. We discuss strategies for preparing for a future Laki style event and implications for society

Rates of sulfur dioxide and particle emissions from White Island volcano, New Zealand, and an estimate of the total flux of major gaseous species

Airborne correlation spectrometry (COSPEC) was used to measure the rate of SO2 emission at White Island on three dates, i.e., November 1983, 1230 ± 300 t/d; November 1984, 320 ± 120 t/d; and January 1985, 350 ± 150 t/d (t = metric tons). The lower emission rates are likely to reflect the long-term emission rates, whereas the November 1983 rate probably reflects conditions prior to the eruption of December 1983. The particle flux in the White Island plume, as determined with a quartz crystal microbalance/cascade in November 1983, was 1.3 t/d, unusually low for volcanic plumes. The observed plume particles, as shown from scanning electron microscopy, include halite, native sulfur, and silicates and are broadly similar to other volcanic plumes. Gas analyses from high-temperature volcanic fumaroles collected from June 1982 through November 1984 werde used together with the COSPEC data to estimate the flux of other gas species from White Island. The rates estimated are indicative of the long-term volcanic emission, i.e., 8000–9000 t/d H2O, 900–1000 t/d CO2, 70–80 t/d HCl, 1.5–2 t/d HF, and about 0.2 t/d NH3. The long-term thermal power output at White Island is estimated at about 400 MW

Carbon dioxide degassing at Latera caldera (Italy): Evidence of geothermal reservoir and evaluation of its potential energy

In order to test the potentiality of soil CO2 diffuse degassing measurements for the study of underground mass and heat transfer in geothermal systems detailed surveys were performed at Latera Caldera which is an excellent test site, due to the abundant available subsurface data. Over 2500 measurements of soil CO2 flux revealed that endogenous CO2 at Latera Caldera concentrates on a NE-SW band coinciding with a structural high of fractured Mesozoic limestones hosting a water-dominated high-enthalpy geothermal reservoir. The total hydrothermal CO2 degassing from the structural high has been evaluated at 350 t d-1 from an area of 3.1 km2. It has been estimated that such a CO2 release would imply a geothermal liquid flux of 263 kg s-1, with a heat release of 239 MW. The chemical and isotopic composition of the gas indicates a provenance from the geothermal reservoir and that CO2 is partly originated by thermal metamorphic decarbonation in the hottest deepest parts of the system and partly has a likely mantle origin. The ratios of CO2, H2, CH2 and CO to Ar, were used to estimate the T-P conditions of the reservoir. Results cluster at T ~ 200-300°C and PCO2 ~ 100-200 bars, close to the actual well measurements. Finally the approach proved to be an excellent tool to investigate the presence of an active geothermal reservoir at depth and that the H2-CO2-CH4-CO-Ar gas composition is a useful T-P geochemical indicator for such CO2 rich geothermal systems.PublishedB122041.2. TTC - Sorveglianza geochimica delle aree vulcaniche attive2.4. TTC - Laboratori di geochimica dei fluidi4.5. Degassamento naturaleJCR Journalpartially_ope

Geochemistry of the magmatic-hydrothermal fluid reservoir of Copahue volcano (Argentina): insights from the chemical and isotopic features of fumarolic discharges

This study present the chemical (inorganic and organic) and isotopic compositions (d13C-CO2, d15N, 3He/4He, 40Ar/36Ar, d13C-CH4, dD-CH4, and dD-H2O and d18O-H2O) of gases from fluid discharges located at the foot of Copahue volcano. Gas samples were collected during 6 campaigns carried out from 1976 to 2012. Gas composition is typical of hydrothermal fluids from volcanic areas, since it consists of dominant CO2 and relatively high concentrations of H2S, H2, CH4 and N2. The isotopic ratios of He are the highest observed for a Southern American volcano to date (R/Ra up to 7.94). This feature is not common for gases from a classic arc-like setting, and is possibly related to an extensional regime subdued to asthenospheric thinning. The CO2/3He ratios (from 1.4 to 8.8×109) slightly exceeding that of MORB gases, and the d15N values (+5.3 to +5.5 ? vs. air) point to an occurrence of an additional crustal source for CO2 and N2. Gas discharges of the northern sector of the volcanic edifice are likely produced by mixing of hydrothermal gases with fluids from a shallow source permeating through local fault systems. Gas geothermometry based on chemical reactions characterized by slow kinetics, such as those involving the CO2-CH4 redox pair, are quenched at temperatures (~260 °C) and redox conditions [log(XH2/XH2O) = -2.8)] consistent with those measured in the goethermal wells. On the contrary, the C3H6-C3H8 pair, H2 and CO tend to re-adjust at decreasing temperatures and more oxidizing conditions [log(XH2/XH2O) ≤ -3.4] in the uprising vapor phase. The hydrothermal reservoir is mainly recharged by meteoric water whose isotopic signature is modified by water-rock interactions. The N2/He ratios measured in 2006-2007 were significantly lower than those of 2012, possibly due to variations of N2-bearing species in sediments interacting with the magmatic source. Considering that the R/Ra values of the 2006-2007 period were significantly higher than those measured in 2012, such compositional variation may also be explained by the injection of fresh N2and 3He-rich magma that triggered the 2000 eruption. This hypothesis, although speculative since no geochemical data of fumaroles are available from 1997 to 2006, implies that a geochemical monitoring of inert gas compounds discharged from the hydrothermal emissions could be used to detect the occurrence at depth of injections of new magma batches.Fil: Tassi, Franco. Università degli Studi di Firenze; ItaliaFil: Agusto, Mariano Roberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber"; ArgentinaFil: Vaselli, Orlando. Università degli Studi di Firenze; ItaliaFil: Chiodini, Giovanni. Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia; Itali

39 Years of Geochemical Monitoring of Laguna Caliente Crater Lake, Poás: Patterns from the Past as Keys for the Future

Since 1978 water chemistry of the Laguna Caliente crater lake has been used to monitor volcanic activity at Poás, Costa Rica, making it arguably the best studied hyper-acidic crater lake on Earth. During these 39 years, three of water of Laguna Caliente, independent on previous deterministic research and resulting conceptual models. Common patterns of chemical parameters in relation with phreatic eruptive activity for the period 1978–Septem- ber 2014 are sought, applying the objective statistical method of Pattern Recognition. This resulted in the definition of the strongest precursory signals and their respective thresh- olds. Numerical outcomes often confirm find- ings based on geochemical models (e.g. SO4, SO4/Cl and pH are strong monitoring param- eters). However, some surprising parameters (opposite behavior of Mg/Cl ratios, decreases in Ca and Mg concentrations, increasing Al/Mg ratios) still need a geochemical expla- nation and should be a focus for future research strategies. The obtained parameters and thresholds were retrospectively applied for the “test period” of the Pattern Recognition method (November 2014–February 2016). This test provided hints that suggested that eruptive activity at Poás was not yet over, despite apparent quiescence in early 2016. Indeed, after new phreatic eruptions since May 2016, the 2006–2016 phreatic eruptive cycle culminated in phreatomagmatic activity in April 2017. We conclude that evaluating time series of chemical composition of crater lakes framed in the Pattern Recognition method can be a useful monitoring approach. Moreover, increased sampling frequency can provide more details and more adequate phases of unrest occurred, manifested through frequent phreatic eruptions, with each a dura- tion of several years to over a decade (1978– 1980, 1986–1996, 2006–2016). We here present a novel technique to deal with the long time series of the chemical compositionPublished213-2334V. Processi pre-eruttiv