Bellomo, S

Brusca, L

CALABRESE, Sergio

D’Alessandro, W

MILAZZO, Silvia

PARELLO, Francesco

Archivio istituzionale della ricerca - Università di Palermo

Geophysical Research AbstractsVol. 16, EGU2014-5723, 2014EGU General Assembly 2014© Author(s) 2014. CC Attribution 3.0 License.Tellurium in active volcanic environments: Preliminary resultsSilvia Milazzo (1), Sergio Calabrese (1), Walter D’Alessandro (2), Lorenzo Brusca (2), Sergio Bellomo (2), andFrancesco Parello (1)(1) Dipartmento di Scienze della Terra e del Mare (DiSTeM), University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy(silv.milazzo@gmail.com), (2) Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), Palermo, ItalyTellurium is a toxic metalloid and, according to the Goldschmidt classification, a chalcophile element. In the lastyears its commercial importance has considerably increased because of its wide use in solar cells, thermoelectricand electronic devices of the last generation. Despite such large use, scientific knowledge about volcanogenictellurium is very poor. Few previous authors report result of tellurium concentrations in volcanic plume, amongwith other trace metals. They recognize this element as volatile, concluding that volcanic gases and sulfur depositsare usually enriched with tellurium.Here, we present some results on tellurium concentrations in volcanic emissions (plume, fumaroles, ash leachates)and in environmental matrices (soils and plants) affected by volcanic emissions and/or deposition. Samples werecollected at Etna and Vulcano (Italy), Turrialba (Costa Rica), Miyakejima, Aso, Asama (Japan), Mutnovsky(Kamchatka) at the crater rims by using common filtration techniques for aerosols (polytetrafluoroethylene filters).Filters were both eluted with Millipore water and acid microwave digested, and analyzed by inductively coupledplasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Volcanic ashes emitted during explosive events on Etna and Copahue(Argentina) were analyzed for tellurium bulk composition and after leaching experiments to evaluate the solublefraction of tellurium. Soils and leaves of vegetation were also sampled close to active volcanic vents (Etna,Vulcano, Nisyros, Nyiragongo, Turrialba, Gorely and Masaya) and investigated for tellurium contents.Preliminary results showed very high enrichments of tellurium in volcanic emissions comparing with othervolatile elements like mercury, arsenic, thallium and bismuth. This suggests a primary transport in the volatilephase, probably in gaseous form (as also suggested by recent studies) and/or as soluble salts (halides and/orsulfates) adsorbed on the surface of particulate particles and ashes. First estimates of volcanic flux of telluriumfrom Etna range from 1 to 5 tons per year, confirming that this volcano is one of the biggest point sources of traceelements to the atmosphere. Analysis of tellurium in soils and plants close to active vents allowed to highlightthe impact of this toxic elements, particularly evident close to the craters. Especially, the leaves of plants usedas bioaccumulators of trace metals, showed also high enrichment of tellurium in comparison with other toxicelements.

Tellurium in active volcanic environments: Preliminary results

https://iris.unipa.it/retrieve/handle/10447/103753/141418/EGU2014-5723.pdf

Tellurium in active volcanic environments: Preliminary results

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Archivio istituzionale della ricerca - Università di Palermo