Abstract
The radon concentration in volcanic gas at the oceanic volcano Surtsey, off the southern coast of Iceland, was found to range from 120 to 170 pC/1 of noncondensing gases. The release of gas from ascending magma is briefly discussed and the suggestion made that radon could be used as a tracer for calculating the amount of water released from the erupted magma. For this purpose, information on the distribution coefficient between magma and vapor bubbles for radon is required. This information might be obtained in laboratory experiments on the release of radon and water from molten lava. From the present data it may only be concluded that the basaltic magma erupted at Surtsey contained less than 0.75 wt. % of dissolved water.
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