Carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide emission rates from an alkaline intra-plate volcano: Mt. Erebus, Antarctica

Abstract

This is the first report of CO and CO 2 flux from Mt. Erebus, Antarctica, an alkaline intra-plate volcano with a convecting lava lake. The CO 2 flux from the Mt. Erebus plume was measured by in-plume infrared analysis during December 1997, December 1999 and January 2001. The CO 2 emission rates were consistently close to the average of 22.3 kg/s (1930 Mg/day) for the three measurements conducted over a 4-year period even though the third measurement (January 2001) was conducted at a time of elevated activity. As CO 2 is considered a good indicator of eruptive activity a more frequent type of monitoring system may be necessary to detect changes related to activity at Mt. Erebus. Increased CO 2 emissions lost via Strombolian eruptions in the lava lake were not accounted for in our airborne measurements. Carbon monoxide flux, determined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy in December 1995, yielded a rate of 1.74 kg/s (150 Mg/day) and a high CO:CO 2 ratio of 0.12.