Summit Fumaroles Research Articles

Meteoric interaction with magmatic discharges in Japan and the significance for mineralization

The andesitic volcanoes Kirishima, Kyushu, and Esan, Hokkaido, discharge 94 to 225 °C HCl-bearing vapors from summit fumaroles. At Kirishima a geothermal system exists on the flanks of the large volcanic massif (1500 m relief and 12 km radius). In contrast, Esan is a small dome (600 m relief and 1 km radius) with ephemeral hot springs. The chemical and isotopic compositions of the fumarole gases and condensates, and of waters from hot springs, indicate that Esan discharges are dominated by magmatic water and gases, whereas those at Kirishima are mainly meteoric. The Kirishima geothermal system contains acid fluids that are neutralized by interaction with the host rock and dilution by meteoric ground water; the acidity is probably of magmatic origin. A large ground-water carapace at Kirishima condenses a majority of magmatic volatiles and metals before they can discharge to the surface, in contrast to Esan, where the volatiles (including metals) degas to the atmosphere. This suggests that a meteoric system may be necessary to condense metals in this high-level volcanic environment to provide a situation conducive to hydrothermal mineralization at epithermal depths.

Physical-chemical conditions of the Teide volcanic system (Tenerife, Canary Islands)

The Teide volcano (3717 m) is the central structure of the island of Tenerife and at present its morphology is that of a stratovolcano which has grown on a large caldera with a collapse 17 km in diameter, which was generated some 0.6 million years ago. The different studies that have been carried out seem to indicate that, in a oversimplified model, there is an intermediate magma chamber with an approximate volume of 30 km3 and located 2–3 km below the actual base of the caldera, i.e., almost at sea level, with a temperature of 430 ± 50°C, and a pressure of 400 ± 100 bar. The summit fumarole emissions are 85°C and are formed mainly of CO2 with small amounts of sulphur species, H2, CH4 and He. The water vapor (68–82%) emitted with the gases comes from the vaporization of a perched aquifer in the upper cone, as shown by the isotopic analyses.

Contents, volume 33, 1987

La Soufrière of Guadeloupe is an active volcano of Lesser Antilles that is closely monitored due to a high eruptive hazard potential. Since 1992 it exhibits a medium-level but sustained background hydrothermal activity with low-energy and shallow seismicity, hot springs temperature increase and high flux acidic gas fumaroles at the summit. The problem of estimating the heat balance and quantifying the evolution of hydrothermal activity has become a key challenge for surveillance. This work is the first attempt of a global mapping and quantification of La Soufrière thermal activity performed in February 2010 using aerial thermal infrared imagery. After instrument calibration and data processing, we present a global map of thermal anomalies allowing to spot the main active sites: the summit area (including the fumaroles of Tarissan Pit and South Crater), the Ty Fault fumarolic zone, and the hot springs located at the vicinity of the dome. In a second step, we deduce the mass and the energy fluxes released by the volcano. In particular, we propose a simple model of energy balance to estimate the mass flux of the summit fumaroles from their brightness temperature and size. In February 2010, Tarissan Pit had a 22.8 ± 8.1 kg s -1 flux (1970 ± 704 tons day -1), while South Crater vents had a total of 19.5 ± 4.0 kg s -1 (1687 ± 348 tons day -1). Once converted into energy flux, summit fumaroles represent 98% of the 106 ± 30 MW released by the volcano, the 2% remaining being split between the hot springs and the thermal anomalies at the summit and at the Ty Fault fumarolic zone. These values are in the high range of the previous estimations, highlighting the short-term variability of the expelled fluxes. Such a heat flux requires the cooling of 1500 m 3 of magma per day, in good agreement with previous geochemical studies.

Eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz Volcano, Colombia, on 13 November 1985: Gas Flux and Fluid Geochemistry

The 13 November 1985 eruption of Nevado del Ruiz volcano, in Colombia, released a small volume of pyroclastic material and a disproportionately large volume of volcanic gas. Before the eruption, summit fumarole gases became less water-rich, and the sulfur/chlorine ratio increased. Remote measurements of sulfur dioxide flux after the eruption indicated active degassing at levels associated with eruptive or inter-eruptive stages of other volcanoes. Thermal water analyses revealed increases in magnesium, calcium, and potassium and an increase in the magnesium/chlorine ratio, suggesting that these elements may have been leached from new magma. Ash leachate data showed sulfate and chloride concentrations and ratios that would be expected for the late stages ofa major Plinian eruption. Water from the lahar contained high concentrations of sulfate and had a sulfur/chlorine ratio of 4.67, suggesting that water ejected from the crater lake and turbulent mixing of pyroclasts and glacial ice triggered the lahar. Microprobe analyses of pumice from this eruption and the most recent previous event showed similar mixed andesites. The uniform composition of the pumices and the unusually high ratio of gas to magma suggest that, although a new batch of magma triggered this eruption, the pumice that erupted may actually be old. Large volumes of new magma and glacial ice make the volcano dangerous and should stimulate development of an integrated long-term monitoring program to include Tolima volcano, 25 kilometers to the south.

Carbon and sulphur isotopic composition of Kilauea parental magma

All the available data for the isotopic composition of carbon in gases emitted from summit fumaroles at Kilauea volcano, Hawaii, indicate that the carbon is enriched in 13C compared with oceanic tholeiite and in contrast to most estimates for the isotopic composition of mantle carbon1–6. Several mechanisms proposed to explain this enrichment of 13C have proved unsatisfactory2. We show here that recent models7,8 for the volatile contents and degassing of Kilauea magma permit a satisfactory reinterpretation of carbon and sulphur isotope data1–3,9,10 for Kilauea. The results indicate that Kilauea parental magma is significantly enriched in 13C compared with mid-oceanic basalts and with inferred isotopic compositions for mantle carbon3–6. Hence, mantle sources of hot-spot and mid-oceanic basalts may differ in δ13C. In contrast, the isotopic composition of sulphur in Kilauea parental magma is similar to that of mid-oceanic basalts11.

Thermal areas on Kilauea and Mauna Loa Volcanoes, Hawaii

Active thermal areas are concentrated in three areas on Mauna Loa and three areas on Kilauea. High-temperature fumaroles (115–362° C) on Mauna Loa are restricted to the summit caldera, whereas high-temperature fumaroles on Kilauea are found in the upper East Rift Zone (Mauna Ulu summit fumaroles, 562° C), middle East Rift Zone (1977 eruptive fissure fumaroles), and in the summit caldera. Solfataric activity that has continued for several decades occurs along border faults of Kilauea caldera and at Sulphur Cone on the southwest rift zone of Mauna Loa. Solfataras that are only a few years old occur along recently active eruptive fissures in the summit caldera and along the rift zones of Kilauea. Steam vents and hot-air cracks also occur at the edges of cooling lava ponds, on the summits of lava shields, along faults and graben fractures, and in diffuse patches that may reflect shallow magmatic intrusions.

Research and Teaching in Forensic Science

Identifying the onset of volcano unrest and providing an unequivocal identification of volcano reawakening remain challenging problems in volcanology. At Piton de la Fournaise, renewal of eruptive activity in 2014–2015, after 41 months of quiescence and deflation, was associated with long-term continuous edifice inflation measured by GNSS. Inflation started on June 9, 2014, and its rate progressively increased through 2015. Inflation onset was rapidly followed by an eruption on June 20–21, 2014, showing that volcano reactivation can be extremely fast, even after long non-eruptive phases. This short-lived eruption involved a shallow source (1.3–1.9 km depth below the summit). The inflation that followed, and eruptions in 2015, involved a larger depth range of fluid accumulation, constrained by inverse modeling at ca. 3.9 to 1.2–1.7 km depth. This time evolution reveals that volcano reawakening was associated with continuous pressurization of the shallowest parts of its plumbing system, triggered by progressive upwards transfer of magma from greater depth. A deep magma pulse occurred in mid-April 2015 and was associated with deep seismicity (3 to 9.5 km depth) and CO2 enrichment in fluids emitted by summit fumaroles. From this date, ground deformation accelerated and the output rates of eruptions increased, culminating in the long-lasting, large-volume, August–October eruption (~ 36 Mm3). This evolution suggests that deep magma/fluid transfer through an open conduit system first provoked the expulsion of the top of the plumbing system in June 2014, and then induced the progressive vertical transfer of the entire plumbing system down to 9 km (four eruptions in 2015). The new sustained feeding of the volcano was also at the origin of the hydrothermal system perturbation and the acceleration of the eastern flank motion, which favor lateral dike propagation and the occurrence of frequent and increasingly large eruptions. Our results highlight the fast and progressive way in which basaltic magmatic systems can wake up.