Magmatic Carbon Dioxide Research Articles

Identification of subsiding areas undergoing significant magmatic carbon dioxide degassing, along the northern shore of Lake Kivu, East African Rift

We processed InSAR time series of ENVISAT ASAR descending and ascending datasets and identified two new deforming areas on the northern shore of Lake Kivu, characterized by steady ground subsidence of up to ~1 cm/year over a time period of about seven years (December 2002/January 2003–March 2010). Two distinct areas can be identified: one centered on the Rumoka volcanic cone, which built up during the 1912 eruption of Nyamulagira volcano, and a broader one centered on the Bulengo area on the northern shoreline of Lake Kivu. Both areas include high density of diffuse magmatic degassing areas (“mazuku”), which are topographic depressions in which substantial amount of carbon dioxide accumulates. The steady deflation of at least two fluid reservoirs is consistent with geodetic data but the presence of weak, porous layers, possibly connected with hydrothermal and hydrogeological processes in aquifers and Lake Kivu, could also account for the observed subsidence. The subsidence could be due to pore pressure decrease in porous layers, which may also serve as preferential pathways for escaping gases percolating from the aquifers and Lake Kivu.

Volcanic plume fingerprint in the groundwater of a persistently degassing basaltic volcano: Mt. Etna

The chemical composition of the groundwater at Mt. Etna was investigated in order to determine the extent to which the persistent plume affects the chemical composition of circulating waters. Samples from 31 springs and wells were collected during June and July 2014 and analyzed for their chemical compositions. The content of dissolved elements derives from the bulk deposition (wet and dry deposition) at the recharge areas as well as from the weathering of volcanic rocks during the infiltration and transport of groundwater. In its early phase, the chemical weathering of volcanic rocks and ashes is promoted by the acid rain that characterizes the area and subsequently by the huge amount of deep magmatic carbon dioxide (CO2) coming up through the volcanic edifice and dissolving in the water. The high content of chlorine is mainly derived from interactions between the plume and rainwater, while the total alkalinity can be completely ascribed to the dissociation of carbonic acid (H2CO3) after the hydration of CO2. The relative contributions of plume-derived elements/weathering and CO2-driven weathering has been computed for each element. In addition, the comparison between the chemical compositions of the bulk deposition and of groundwater provides a new understanding about the mobility of volatile elements. The proposed approach has revealed that the persistent plume strongly affects the chemical composition of groundwater at Mt. Etna and probably also at other volcanoes characterized by huge open-conduit degassing activity.

Structural controls on the emission of magmatic carbon dioxide gas, Long Valley Caldera, USA

AbstractWe present a degassing study of Long Valley Caldera that explores the structural controls upon emissions of magmatic carbon dioxide gas. A total of 223 soil gas samples were collected and analyzed for stable carbon isotopes using a field‐portable cavity ring‐down spectrometer. This novel technique is flexible, accurate, and provides sampling feedback on a daily basis. Sampling sites included major and minor volcanic centers, regional throughgoing faults, caldera‐related structures, zones of elevated seismicity, and zones of past and present hydrothermal activity. The classification of soil gases based on their δ13C and CO2 values reveals a mixing relationship among three end‐members: atmospheric, biogenic, and magmatic. Signatures dominated by biogenic contributions (~4 vol %, −24‰) are found on the caldera floor, the interior of the resurgent dome, and areas associated with the Hilton Creek and Hartley Springs fault systems. With the introduction of the magmatic component (~100 vol %, −4.5‰), samples acquire mixing and hydrothermal signatures and are spatially associated with the central caldera and Mammoth Mountain. In particular, they are concentrated along the southern margin of the resurgent dome where the interplay between resurgence‐related reverse faulting and a bend in the regional fault system has created a highly permeable fracture network, suitable for the formation of shallow hydrothermal systems. This contrasts with the south moat, where despite elevated seismicity, a thick sedimentary cover has formed an impermeable cap, inhibiting the ascent of fluids and gases to the surface.

Carbon dioxide controlled earthquake distribution pattern in the NW Bohemian swarm earthquake region, western Eger Rift, Czech Republic – gas migration in the crystalline basement

AbstractThe ascent of magmatic carbon dioxide in the western Eger (Ohře) Rift is interlinked with the fault systems of the Variscian basement. In the Cheb Basin, the minimum CO2 flux is about 160 m3 h−1, with a diminishing trend towards the north and ceasing in the main epicentral area of the Northwest Bohemian swarm earthquakes. The ascending CO2 forms Ca‐Mg‐HCO3 type waters by leaching of cations from the fault planes and creates clay minerals, such as kaolinite, as alteration products on affected fault planes. These mineral reactions result in fault weakness and in hydraulically interconnected fault network. This leads to a decrease in the friction coefficient of the Coulomb failure stress (CFS) and to fault creep as stress build‐up cannot occur in the weak segments. At the transition zone in the north of the Cheb Basin, between areas of weak, fluid conductive faults and areas of locked faults with frictional strength, fluid pressure can increase resulting in stress build‐up. This can trigger strike‐slip swarm earthquakes. Fault creep or movements in weak segments may support a stress build‐up in the transition area by transmitting fluid pressure pulses. Additionally to fluid‐driven triggering models, it is important to consider that fluids ascending along faults are CO2‐supersaturated thus intensifying the effect of fluid flow. The enforced flow of CO2‐supersaturated fluids in the transitional zone from high to low permeability segments through narrowings triggers gas exsolution and may generate pressure fluctuations. Phase separation starts according to the phase behaviour of CO2‐H2O systems in the seismically active depths of NW Bohemia and may explain the vertical distribution of the seismicity. Changes in the size of the fluid transport channels in the fault systems caused, or superimposed, by fault movements, can produce fluid pressure increases or pulses, which are the precondition for triggering fluid‐induced swarm earthquakes.

Unrest in Long Valley Caldera, California, 1978–2004

Abstract Long Valley Caldera and the Mono-Inyo Domes volcanic field in eastern California lie in a left-stepping offset along the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada, at the northern end of the Owens Valley and the western margin of the Basin and Range Province. Over the last 4 Ma, this volcanic field has produced multiple volcanic eruptions, including the caldera-forming eruption at 760 000 a bp and the recent Mono-Inyo Domes eruptions 500–660 a bp and 250 a bp . Beginning in the late 1970s, the caldera entered a sustained period of unrest that persisted through the end of the century without culminating in an eruption. The unrest has included recurring earthquake swarms; tumescence of the resurgent dome by nearly 80 cm; the onset of diffuse magmatic carbon dioxide emissions around the flanks of Mammoth Mountain on the southwest margin of the caldera; and other indicators of magma transport at mid- to upper-crustal depths. Although we have made substantial progress in understanding the processes driving this unrest, many key questions remain, including the distribution, size, and relation between magma bodies within the mid-to-upper crust beneath the caldera, Mammoth Mountain, and the Inyo Mono volcanic chain, and how these magma bodies are connected to the roots of the magmatic system in the lower crust or upper mantle.

Pathways for Escape of Magmatic Carbon Dioxide to Soil Air at Unzen Volcano, SW Japan

Estimation of the magmatic contribution to soil air at Unzen Volcano, SW Japan, was carried out using carbon isotopes, both 14C and 13C, and a mixing model of isotopic mass balance in order to assess the spatial variation of magmatic influence from the volcano. The advantage of using soil air samples is that a wide range of gas sampling sites can be selected. Magmatic CO2 contributed mostly in the eastern region from Unzen Volcano. The high magmatic contribution to soil air appeared along the Akamatsudani fault zone located southeast of the volcano. Our observations across the fault also showed remarkable peaks of CO2 concentration and δ13C values, suggesting that magmatic fluid comes up along the fracture zone as for the normal fault system of the graben.

Carbon dioxide degassing by advective flow from Usu volcano, Japan.

Magmatic carbon dioxide (CO2) degassing has been documented before the 31 March 2000 eruption of Usu volcano, Hokkaido, Japan. Six months before the eruption, an increase in CO2 flux was detected on the summit caldera, from 120 (September 1998) to 340 metric tons per day (September 1999), followed by a sudden decrease to 39 metric tons per day in June 2000, 3 months after the eruption. The change in CO2 flux and seismic observations suggests that before the eruption, advective processes controlled gas migration toward the surface. The decrease in flux after the eruption at the summit caldera could be due to a rapid release of CO2 during the eruption from ascending dacitic dikes spreading away from the magma chamber beneath the caldera.

Radiocarbon in Hydrologic Systems Containing Dissolved Magmatic Carbon Dioxide

In regions of active volcanism, the presence of magmatic carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) in regional hydrologic systems provides a radiocarbon-depleted tracer for delineating ground-water transport and mixing processes and provides a means of assessing regional magmatic carbon fluxes. Variations in the stable carbon isotopic composition (δ 13 C) and carbon-14 values of springs and surface waters from the southern Cascade Range show consistent patterns of carbon isotopic mixing between magmatic, biogenic, and atmospheric CO 2 reservoirs. Radiocarbon measurements of waters from the Lassen region in northern California were used to construct a ground-water carbon-14 contour map, revealing principal subsurface flow paths and a broad region of diffuse magmatic CO 2 flux.

Continental-Scale Magmatic Carbon Dioxide Seepage Recorded by Dawsonite in the Bowen-Gunnedah-Sydney Basin System, Eastern Australia

ABSTRACT Dawsonite, NaAlCO3(OH)2, is widespread as a cement, replacement, and cavity filling in Permo-Triassic sedimentary rocks of the Bowen-Gunnedah-Sydney basin system, eastern Australia. The origin of dawsonite in these rocks was studied by petrographic and stable isotope analysis. Dawsonite d13C (PDB) values range from -4.0 to +4.1% and are remarkably consistent throughout the Bowen-Gunnedah-Sydney basin system. These values indicate either a marine carbonate or magmatic source for carbon in the dawsonite. A magmatic carbon source is considered more likely on the basis that (1) evidence of and the cause for widespread marine carbonate dissolution in the sedimentary successions are not apparen , (2) dawsonite is widespread in both marine and nonmarine facies, (3) the region has been the site of major igneous activity, (4) other dawsonite deposits of similar carbon isotopic composition are linked to igneous activity, and (5) magmatic CO2 accumulations are known in parts of the Bowen-Gunnedah. Sydney basin system. The timing of igneous activity in the Bowen Basin constrains the timing of dawsonite formation in the Bowen-Gunnedah-Sydney basin system to the Tertiary, consistent with textural relationships, which indicate that dawsonite formed late during the burial history of the Permo-Triassic sequences. The distribution and interpreted origin of dawsonite implies magmatic CO2 seepage in the Bowen-Gunnedah-Sydney basin system on a continental scale.

Magmatic carbon dioxide at the crust's surface in the Carpathian Basin

More than hundred carbon isotopic data were examined statistically for the CO2 discharges from the Carpathian Basin, central Europe. The δ13C values from the central Carpathian Basin show a normal distribution with the average value of –5 ± 2.5‰, whereas those from north-eastern part of Slovakia show a distribution slightly skewed towards heavier values. The average δ13C value indicates the mantle origin of the carbon, despite the lack of recent volcanic activity in the region. This is consistent with the existence of mantle He in the CO2 discharges.

Origin of carbon dioxide emanation from the 1979 Dieng eruption, Indonesia: Implications for the origin of the 1986 Nyos catastrophe

Abstract In February 1979, CO2 emanations accompanying a phreatic eruption killed 142 people at Dieng volcano, Central Java. The gas emitted was nearly pure carbon dioxide, with subordinate amounts of methane and sulfur compounds. The δ3C of the carbon dioxide was −4.0‰, identical to that of magmatic CO2 from the nearby Merapi volcano and close to that of mantle-derived carbon. This, and data on helium supports the hypothesis that magmatic carbon dioxide was involved. Lower δ13C, ranging from −4.6 in −8.4‰ were measured in the fumarole gases from the area. The lightest CO2 occurs in samples in which methane is more abundant and which are poorer in 13C and thus may partly derive from biogenic carbon. The su34 S 32 S ratio of sulfur in all samples suggests a volcanic origin. It is proposed that magmatic carbon dioxide, accumulated beneath the Dieng volcanic complex, was the source of the lethal gas, the effusion of which was triggered by the pressure release generated by the phreatic eruption. The total CO2 discharge of the 1979 Dieng event might have approached 0.1 km3, i.e. close to the lower output estimated for the 1986 Nyos catastrophe. The Dieng example demonstrates that expansion and then effusion of pure magmatic carbon dioxide, accumulated at shallow levels beneath volcanoes, may account for a major hazard from phreatic eruptions, be it a trigger or only a consequence of the eruptions.