Field workshop on volcanic gases, Vulcano (Italy), 1982. General report

Abstract

At the 1981 Congress of the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth Interior (IAVCEI) the Working Group on Volcanic decided to organize one or more field workshops in order to test and compare the different sampling and analysing techniques in the same place at the same moment. The first Field Workshop on Volcanic Gases was held at Vulcano island (Italy) from 21 to 27 September 1982; it was organized by IAVCEI in cooperation with the Italian National Research Council. It was attended by 19 participants from France, Israel, Italy, Japan, U.S.A., grouped into eight teams. Three more teams (one from France, two from Italy) were also present at Vulcano during the workshop; their results are included in this report. Two field trips were also organized: a three-day one to Mt. Etna before the workshop, and a post-workshop one (three days) to Vesuvius and Pompeii. During the former excursion some participants had the opportunity of collecting aerosols in the plume issuing from Etna's main cra'ters, which were in a mild activity stage. Besides the field work, during the workshop at Vulcano several informal sessions were held, communications being presented by each team on its specific field of research, with reference to the goal of the workshop; discussions among participants were active throughout all sessions. The field work at Vulcano (Figs 1 and 2) was done shifting the teams every day, with the different techniques used commonly by each team in routine work, after a briefing to all participants. Two types of fumaroles were chosen: medium-temperature (300°C) at the crater (elevation 300 m a.s.l.) and low-temperature (100°C) at the beach. The main topics of the workshop were: the main components, condensates, noble gases and their isotopes,