Hydrothermal activity and subsoil complexity: implication for degassing processes at Solfatara crater, Campi Flegrei caldera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Montanaro, Cristian; Mayer, Klaus; Isaia, Roberto; Gresse, Marceau; Scheu, Bettina; Yilmaz, Tim I.; Vandemeulebrouck, Jean; Ricci, Tullio; Dingwell, Donald B.

2017-12-01

The Solfatara area and its fumaroles are the main surface expression of the vigorous hydrothermal activity within the active Campi Flegrei caldera system. At depth, a range of volcanic and structural processes dictate the actual state of the hydrothermal system below the crater. The presence of a large variety of volcanic products at shallow depth (including pyroclastic fallout ash beds, pyroclastic density current deposits, breccias, and lavas), and the existence of a maar-related fault system appears to exert major controls on the degassing and alteration behavior. Adding further to the complexity of this environment, variations in permeability and porosity, due to subsoil lithology and alteration effects, may further influence fluid flow towards the surface. Here, we report results from a field campaign conducted in July 2015 that was designed to characterize the in situ physical (temperature, humidity) and mechanical (permeability, strength, stiffness) properties of the Solfatara crater subsoil. The survey also included a mapping of the surficial hydrothermal features and their distributions. Finally, laboratory measurements (porosity, granulometry) of selected samples were performed. Our results enable the discrimination of four main subsoils around the crater: (1) the Fangaia domain located in a topographic low in the southwestern sector, (2) the silica flat domain on the western altered side, (3) the new crust domain in the central area, and (4) the crusted hummocks domain that dominates the north, east, and south parts. These domains are surrounded by encrusted areas, reworked material, and vegetated soil. The distribution of these heterogeneous subsoils suggests that their formation is mostly related to (i) the presence of the Fangaia domain within the crater and (ii) a system of ring faults bordering it. The subsoils show an alternation between very high and very low permeabilities, a fact which seems to affect both the temperature distribution and surficial degassing. A large range of surface temperatures (from 25 up to 95 °C) has been measured across these surfaces, with the hottest spot corresponding to the mud pools, the area of new crust formation, and the crusted hummocks. In the subsoil, the distribution of temperature is more complex and controlled by the presence of coarser, and more permeable, sandy/pebbly levels. These act as preferential pathways for hot hydrothermal fluid circulation. In contrast, low permeability, fine-grained levels act as thermal insulators that remain relatively cold and hinder fluid escape to the surface. Hot gases reach the surface predominantly along (vertical) fractures. When this occurs, mound-like structures can be formed by a cracking and healing process associated with significant degassing. It is anticipated that the results presented here may contribute to an improved understanding of the hazard potential associated with the ongoing hydrothermal activity within the Solfatara crater. At this site the permeability of the near-surface environment and its changes in space and time can affect the spatial and temporal distribution of gas and heat emission. Particularly, in areas where reduction in permeability occurs, it can produce pore pressure augmentation that may result in explosive events.

P- and S-wave models and statistical characterization of scatterers at the Solfatara Volcano using active seismic data from RICEN experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Serra, Marcello; Festa, Gaetano; Roux, Philippe; Vandemeulebrouck, Jean; Gresse, Marceau; Zollo, Aldo

2017-04-01

RICEN (Repeated and InduCed Earthquakes and Noise) is an active and passive experiment organized at the Solfatara volcano, in the framework of the European project MEDSUV. It was aimed to reveal and track the variations in the elastic properties of the medium at small scale through repeated observations over time. It covered an area of 90m x 115m by a regular grid of 240 receivers and 100 shotpoints at the center of the volcano. A Vibroseis truck was used as seismic source . We cross-correlated the seismograms by the source time function to obtain the Green's functions filtered in the frequency band excited by the source. To estimate the phase and the group velocities of the Rayleigh-waves we used the coherence of the signal along the seismic sections. In subgrids of 40m x 40m we realigned the waveforms or their envelope in different frequency bands, to maximize the amplitude of the stack function, the phase or the group velocities being those speeds proving this maximum. We jointly inverted the dispersion curves to obtain a locally layered 1-D medium in term of S-waves. Finally the collection of all the models provides us with a 3-D image of the investigated area. The S-wave velocity decreases toward the "Fangaia", due to the water saturation of the medium, as confirmed by geoelectric results. Since the Solfatara is a strongly heterogeneous medium, it is not possible to localize the velocity anomalies at different scales and a description of the medium through statistical parameters, such as the mean free path (MFP) and the transport mean free path (TMFP) was provided. The MFP was recovered from the ratio between coherent and incoherent intensities of the surface waves measured in different frequency bands. It decreases with frequency from about 40m at 8.5 Hz to 10m at 21.5 Hz, this behavior being typical of volcanic areas. The TMFP was measured fitting the decay of the coda of the energy at different distances. As expected it is larger than the MFP and strongly affected by inelastic attenuation of the medium. Finally, using a linear-array of 400 m crossing the explored area, we performed a beamforming analysis in order to infer the propagation properties of the first P-wave arrivals. From the complete array we selected subarrays of sources and receivers and, for all possible combinations of subarrays, we computed the spectrograms, and the P- wave velocity as a function of the subarray distance.

Electromagnetic outline of the Solfatara-Pisciarelli hydrothermal system, Campi Flegrei (Southern Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Troiano, Antonio; Giulia Di Giuseppe, Maria; Patella, Domenico; Troise, Claudia; De Natale, Giuseppe

2014-05-01

We describe the results from a combined CSAMT and MT survey carried out in the Solfatara-Pisciarelli area, located in the central part of the Campi Flegrei composite caldera, west of Naples, Southern Italy. The Solfatara-Pisciarelli area represents the most active zone within the CF area, in terms of hydrothermal manifestations and local seismicity. Since 1969, the caldera is experiencing ground deformation, seismicity and geochemical fluid changes, which are particularly evident in this area. A 1 km long, nearly W-E directed CSAMT-MT profile crossing the fumaroles field was carried out with the aim of deducting an EM model of the structural setting of the hydrothermal system in the first 3 km depth. An interpretation of the EM modelled section is given in this paper, taking advantage from already existing seismic, gravity and geochemical data in the same area. Three well distinct EM zones have been outlined. The first EM zone is a very shallow, electrically conductive body localized beneath the westernmost segment of the profile, which, within a short distance of about 100 m, dips westwards from near surface down to some hundred metres depth. Mostly accounting for the very low resistivity (1-10 Ωm) and the exceedingly high values of vP/vS (>4), this shallow zone has been ascribed to a water-saturated, high-pressurized geothermal reservoir. The second EM zone, which has been localized below the west-central portion of the EM transect, appears as a composite body made of a nearly vertical plumelike structure that escapes at about 2.25 km depth from the top edge of the east side of a presumably horizontal platelike body. The plumelike structure rises up to the free surface in correspondence of the fumaroles field, whereas the platelike structure deepens at least down to the 3 km of maximum EM exploration depth. The combined interpretation of resistivity, wave velocity, gravity and geochemical data indicates the plumelike portion is likely associated with a steam/gas-saturated column and the platelike portion to a high temperature (>300°C), over-pressurized, gas-saturated reservoir. Finally, the third EM zone, which has been localized beneath the eastern half of the EM transect, from about 1.2 km down to about 3 km of depth, is also characterized by the lowest resistivity values (1-10 Ωm). When jointly interpreted with seismic and gravity data, this feature can be associated to a hydrothermally mineralized, clay-rich body.

Silica in a Mars analog environment: Ka u Desert, Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii

USGS Publications Warehouse

Seelos, K.D.; Arvidson, R. E.; Jolliff, B.L.; Chemtob, S.M.; Morris, R.V.; Ming, D. W.; Swayze, G.A.

2010-01-01

Airborne Visible/Near-Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) data acquired over the Ka u Desert are atmospherically corrected to ground reflectance and used to identify the mineralogic components of relatively young basaltic materials, including 250-700 and 200-400 year old lava flows, 1971 and 1974 flows, ash deposits, and solfatara incrustations. To provide context, a geologic surface units map is constructed, verified with field observations, and supported by laboratory analyses. AVIRIS spectral endmembers are identified in the visible (0.4 to 1.2 ??m) and short wave infrared (2.0 to 2.5 ??m) wavelength ranges. Nearly all the spectral variability is controlled by the presence of ferrous and ferric iron in such minerals as pyroxene, olivine, hematite, goethite, and poorly crystalline iron oxides or glass. A broad, nearly ubiquitous absorption feature centered at 2.25 ??m is attributed to opaline (amorphous, hydrated) silica and is found to correlate spatially with mapped geologic surface units. Laboratory analyses show the silica to be consistently present as a deposited phase, including incrustations downwind from solfatara vents, cementing agent for ash duricrusts, and thin coatings on the youngest lava flow surfaces. A second, Ti-rich upper coating on young flows also influences spectral behavior. This study demonstrates that secondary silica is mobile in the Ka u Desert on a variety of time scales and spatial domains. The investigation from remote, field, and laboratory perspectives also mimics exploration of Mars using orbital and landed missions, with important implications for spectral characterization of coated basalts and formation of opaline silica in arid, acidic alteration environments. Copyright 2010 by the American Geophysical Union.

Use of multiple in situ instruments and remote sensed satellite data for calibration tests at Solfatara (Campi Flegrei volcanic area)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silvestri, Malvina; Musacchio, Massimo; Fabrizia Buongiorno, Maria; Doumaz, Fawzi; Andres Diaz, Jorge

2017-04-01

Monitoring natural hazards such as active volcanoes requires specific instruments to measure many parameters (gas emissions, surface temperatures, surface deformation etc.) to determine the activity level of a volcano. Volcanoes in most cases present difficult and dangerous environment for scientists who need to take in situ measurements. Remote Sensing systems on board of satellite permit to measure a large number of parameters especially during the eruptive events but still show large limits to monitor volcanic precursors and phenomena at local scale (gas species emitted by fumarole or summit craters degassing plumes and surface thermal changes of few degrees) for their specific risk. For such reason unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) mounting a variety of multigas sensors instruments (such as miniature mass spectrometer) or single specie sensors (such as electrochemical and IR sensors) allow a safe monitoring of volcanic activities. With this technology, it is possible to perform monitoring measurements of volcanic activity without risking the lives of scientists and personnel performing analysis during the field campaigns in areas of high volcanic activity and supporting the calibration and validation of satellite data measurements. These systems allowed the acquisition of real-time information such as temperature, pressure, relative humidity, SO2, H2S, CO2 contained in degassing plume and fumaroles, with GPS geolocation. The acquired data are both stored in the sensor and transmitted to a computer for real time viewing information. Information in the form of 3D concentration maps can be returned. The equipment used during the campaigns at Solfatara Volcano (in 2014, 2015 and 2016) was miniaturized instruments allowed measurements conducted either by flying drones over the fumarolic sites and by hand carrying into the fumaroles. We present the results of the field campaign held in different years at the Solfatara of Pozzuoli, near Naples, concerning measurements of CO2, H2S and SO2. The campaigns were carried out in collaboration with the University of Costa Rica and Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, California) and has allowed the acquisition of a number of measures through scientific miniaturized multi-gas, thermal cameras and spectro-radiometer. The acquired measurements have also permitted the calibration and validation of satellite data as ASTER and LANDSAT8 (in collaboration with USGS). We believe that the rapid increasing of technology developments will permit the use UAS to integrate geophysical measurements and contribute to the necessary calibration and validation of current and future satellite missions dedicated to the measurements of surface temperatures and gas emissions in volcanic areas.

Audiomagnetotellurics-Magnetotelluric (AMT-MT) survey of the Campi Flegrei inner caldera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siniscalchi, Agata; Tripaldi, Simona; Romano, Gerardo; D'Auria, Luca; Improta, Luigi; Petrillo, Zaccaria

2017-04-01

In the framework of the EU project MED-SUV, an audiomagnetotellurics-magnetotelluric (AMT-MT) survey in the frequency band 0.1-100kHz was performed in the eastern border of the Campi Flegrei inner caldera comprising the area where seismicity is concentred in the last decade. This survey was aimed to provide new insights on the electrical resistivity structure of the subsoil. Among all the collected MT soundings, twenty-two, on a total of forty-three, were selected along a WSW-ENE alignment that crosses the main fumarole emissions (Solfatara, Pisciarelli and Agnano) and used for 2D regularized inversion. The obtained model is characterized by a quite narrow resistivity range that well matches typical range of enhanced geothermal environment as largely documented in the international literature. In particular focusing on the Solfatara and Pisciarelli districts the resistivity distribution clearly calls to mind the behavior of a high temperature geothermal system with a very conductive cap in the shallower part. Here the presence of gaps in this conductor just in correspondence of the main superficial emissions describes the inflow and outflow pathway of the shallow fluids circulation. A high resistive reservoir appearing at a depth of about 500 m b.s.l.. WithinWithin this region we selected a vertical resistivity profile just in correspondence of a Vp/Vs profile versus depth coming from a passive seismic tomography (Vanorio et al., 2005). The comparison of the two behaviors shows a clear anti-correlation between the two physical parameters (high resistivity and low Vp/Vs) in the depth range 500-1000 m supporting the interpretation that an over-pressurized gas bearing rocks under supercritical conditions constituting the reservoir of the enhanced geothermal system. On the eastern side of this resistive plume up to 2.5 km of depth is present a local relative conductive unit underneath the Pisciarelli area. In the same volume most of the recent (from 2005 up to date) micro-earthquake hypocenters are confined suggesting that in this volume geothermal fluid, pushed by the reservoir pressure and mixed with the powerful aquifer (testified in the well CF23), propagates in widespread pores and cracks triggering microseismicity. The present resistivity model is limited to 3 km of depth due to the adopted frequency range, thus does not investigate the magma feeding system of the Plegrean Field caldera that seismic imaging suggest to be a large magmatic sill within the basement formations at about 7.5 km of depth (Zollo et al., 2008). On the contrary it well image for the first time with higher resolution than in the past the geothermal system underneath Solfatara-Pisciarelli districts giving insights of the whole hydro-geothermal circulation.

Volcanic gas emissions and their impact on ambient air character at Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sutton, A.J.; Elias, T.; Navarrete, R.

1994-12-31

Gas emissions from Kilauea occur from the summit caldera, along the middle East Rift Zone (ERZ), and where lava enters the ocean. We estimate that the current ERZ eruption of Kilauea releases between 400 metric tonnes of SO{sub 2} per day, during eruptive pauses, to as much as 1850 metric tonnes per day during actively erupting periods, along with lesser amounts of other chemically and radiatively active species including H{sub 2}S, HCl and HF. In order to characterize gas emissions from Kilauea in a meaningful way for assessing environmental impact, we made a series of replicate grab-sample measurements of ambientmore » air and precipitation at the summit of Kilauea, along its ERZ, and at coastal sites where lava enters the ocean. The grab-sampling data combined with SO{sub 2} emission rates, and continuous air quality and meteorological monitoring at the summit of Kilauea show that the effects of these emissions on ambient air character are a complex function of chemical reactivity, source geometry and effusivity, and local meteorology. Prevailing tradewinds typically carry the gases and aerosols released to the southwest, where they are further distributed by the regional wind regime. Episodes of kona, or low speed variable winds sometimes disrupt this pattern, however, and allow the gases and their oxidation products to collect at the summit and eastern side of the island. Summit solfatara areas of Kilauea are distinguished by moderate to high ambient SO{sub 2}, high H{sub 2}S at one location, and low H{sub 2}S at all others, and negligible HCl concentrations, as measured 1 m from degassing point-sources. Summit solfatara rain water has high sulfate and low chloride ion concentrations, and low pH.« less

Permeability estimates from artificial drawdown and natural refill experiments at Solfatara volcano, Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woith, Heiko; Chiodini, Giovanni; Mangiacapra, Annarita; Wang, Rongjiang

2016-04-01

The hydrothermal system beneath Campi Flegrei is strongly affected by sub-surface processes as manifested by a geothermal "plume" below Solfatara, associated with the formation of mud-pools (Fangaia), fumaroles (Bocca Grande, Pisciarelli), and thermal springs (Agnano). Within the frame of MED-SUV (The MED-SUV project has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme FP7 under Grant agreement no 308665), pressure transients in the hydrothermal system of Campi Flegrei are being continuously monitored at fumaroles, mudpools, hot springs, and geothermal wells. In total, waterlevel and temperature is recorded at 8 sites across the hydrothermal plume along a profile aligned between Agnano Termal in the East and Fangaia in the West. Autonomous devices are used to record the water level and water temperature at 10 minute intervals. At Fangaia mudpool water level and water temperature are dominantly controlled by rain water. Thus, the pool is refilled episodically. Contrary, the water level at a well producing hot water (82°C) for the Pisciarelli tennis club drops and recovers at nearly regular intervals. The induced water level changes are of the order of 1-2m and 3-4m in case of the mudpool and the hot-water-well, respectively. At first glance, both monitoring sites might seem to be fully useless to access natural changes in the Campi Flegrei fluid system. At a second thought, both timeseries provide a unique opportunity to monitor potential permeability changes in the aquifer system. A similar approach had been proposed to deduce earthquake-related permeability changes from Earth tide variations. Contrary to the indirect Earth tide approach, we have the chance to estimate the hydraulic aquifer properties from our monitoring data directly, since each time series contains a sequence of discrete hydraulic tests - namely drawdown tests and refill experiments. Although our Cooper-Jacob approach is really crude, we obtained reasonable permeability estimates for both sites. Preliminary permeability timeseries are presented.

Solfatara volcano subsurface imaging: two different approaches to process and interpret multi-variate data sets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernardinetti, Stefano; Bruno, Pier Paolo; Lavoué, François; Gresse, Marceau; Vandemeulebrouck, Jean; Revil, André

2017-04-01

The need to reduce model uncertainty and produce a more reliable geophysical imaging and interpretations is nowadays a fundamental task required to geophysics techniques applied in complex environments such as Solfatara Volcano. The use of independent geophysical methods allows to obtain many information on the subsurface due to the different sensitivities of the data towards parameters such as compressional and shearing wave velocities, bulk electrical conductivity, or density. The joint processing of these multiple physical properties can lead to a very detailed characterization of the subsurface and therefore enhance our imaging and our interpretation. In this work, we develop two different processing approaches based on reflection seismology and seismic P-wave tomography on one hand, and electrical data acquired over the same line, on the other hand. From these data, we obtain an image-guided electrical resistivity tomography and a post processing integration of tomographic results. The image-guided electrical resistivity tomography is obtained by regularizing the inversion of the electrical data with structural constraints extracted from a migrated seismic section using image processing tools. This approach enables to focus the reconstruction of electrical resistivity anomalies along the features visible in the seismic section, and acts as a guide for interpretation in terms of subsurface structures and processes. To integrate co-registrated P-wave velocity and electrical resistivity values, we apply a data mining tool, the k-means algorithm, to individuate relationships between the two set of variables. This algorithm permits to individuate different clusters with the objective to minimize the sum of squared Euclidean distances within each cluster and maximize it between clusters for the multivariate data set. We obtain a partitioning of the multivariate data set in a finite number of well-correlated clusters, representative of the optimum clustering of our geophysical variables (P-wave velocities and electrical resistivities). The result is an integrated tomography that shows a finite number of homogeneous geophysical facies, and therefore permits to highlight the main geological features of the subsurface.

Time-lapse integrated geophysical imaging of magmatic injections and fluid-induced fracturing causing Campi Flegrei 1983-84 Unrest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Siena, Luca; Crescentini, Luca; Amoruso, Antonella; Del Pezzo, Edoardo; Castellano, Mario

2016-04-01

Geophysical precursors measured during Unrest episodes are a primary source of geophysical information to forecast eruptions at the largest and most potentially destructive volcanic calderas. Despite their importance and uniqueness, these precursors are also considered difficult to interpret and unrepresentative of larger eruptive events. Here, we show how novel geophysical imaging and monitoring techniques are instead able to represent the dynamic evolution of magmatic- and fluid-induced fracturing during the largest period of Unrest at Campi Flegrei caldera, Italy (1983-1984). The time-dependent patterns drawn by microseismic locations and deformation, once integrated by 3D attenuation tomography and absorption/scattering mapping, model injections of magma- and fluid-related materials in the form of spatially punctual microseismic bursts at a depth of 3.5 km, west and offshore the city of Pozzuoli. The shallowest four kilometres of the crust work as a deformation-based dipolar system before and after each microseismic shock. Seismicity and deformation contemporaneously focus on the point of injection; patterns then progressively crack the medium directed towards the second focus, a region at depths 1-1.5 km south of Solfatara. A single high-absorption and high-scattering aseismic anomaly marks zones of fluid storage overlying the first dipolar centre. These results provide the first direct geophysical signature of the processes of aseismic fluid release at the top of the basaltic basement, producing pozzolanic activity and recently observed via rock-physics and well-rock experiments. The microseismicity caused by fluids and gasses rises to surface via high-absorption north-east rising paths connecting the two dipolar centres, finally beingq being generally expelled from the maar diatreme Solfatara structure. Geophysical precursors during Unrest depict how volcanic stress was released at the Campi Flegrei caldera during its period of highest recorded seismicity and deformation; they may work as a template for modelling future events in the case the volcano was approaching eruption conditions.

Diffuse emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) from soil in volcanic and hydrothermal systems: evidences for the influence of microbial activity on the carbon budget

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Venturi, Stefania; Tassi, Franco; Fazi, Stefano; Vaselli, Orlando; Crognale, Simona; Rossetti, Simona; Cabassi, Jacopo; Capecchiacci, Francesco

2017-04-01

Soils in volcanic and hydrothermal areas are affected by anomalously high concentrations of gases released from the deep reservoirs, which consists of both inorganic (mainly CO2 and H2S) and organic (volatile organic compounds; VOCs) species. VOCs in volcanic and hydrothermal fluids are mainly composed of saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons (alkanes, aromatics, alkenes, and cyclics), with variable concentrations of O- and S-bearing compounds and halocarbons, depending on the physicochemical conditions at depth. VOCs in interstitial soil gases and fumarolic emissions from four volcanic and hydrothermal systems in the Mediterranean area (Solfatara Crater, Poggio dell'Olivo and Cava dei Selci, in Italy, and Nisyros Island, in Greece) evidenced clear compositional differences, suggesting that their behavior is strongly affected by secondary processes occurring at shallow depths and likely controlled by microbial activity. Long-chain saturated hydrocarbons were significantly depleted in interstitial soil gases with respect to those from fumarolic discharges, whereas enrichments in O-bearing compounds (e.g. aldehydes, ketones), DMSO2 and cyclics were commonly observed. Benzene was recalcitrant to degradation processes, whereas methylated aromatics were relatively instable. The chemical and isotopic (δ13C in CO2 and CH4) composition of soil gases collected along vertical profiles down to 50 cm depth at both Solfatara Crater and Poggio dell'Olivo (Italy) showed evidences of relevant oxidation processes in the soil, confirming that microbial activity likely plays a major role in modifying the composition of deep-derived VOCs. Despite their harsh conditions, being typically characterized by high temperatures, low pH, and high toxic gases and metal contents, the variety of habitats characterizing volcanic and hydrothermal environments offers ideal biomes to extremophilic microbes, whose metabolic activity can consume and/or produce VOCs. In the Solfatara Crater, microbial diversity was assessed by new generation sequencing (NGS) of 16S rDNA. Microbiological analyses of samples collected from selected vertical profiles in the soil, where temperatures were up to 60 °C, revealed total prokaryotic abundances ranging from 7.23×106 to 439×106 cell/g WW. The highest abundances were recorded in sites affected by the highest and the lowest CO2 (3,350 and 110 gm-2day-1, respectively) and CH4 (0.059 and 0.00021 gm-2day-1, respectively) soil fluxes, and H2S concentrations ranging from 0.05 to 1.9 mmol/mol. The composition of both archaeal and bacterial communities showed remarkable changes depending on the sampling site, the most abundant phyla being represented by Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Euryarchaeota at the highest inputs of hydrothermal fluids, corresponding to VOCs concentrations up to 898 nmol/mol (mainly alkanes and aromatics). Conversely, Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Firmicutes, Chloroflexi and Thaumarchaeota dominated in those sites where low gas fluxes and VOCs contents (≤300 nmol/mol; mainly alkanes and O-bearing species) were recognized. The intimate relation between microbial distribution and hydrothermal gas concentrations and gas fluxes demonstrated the critical interplay between soil gases and microorganisms, remarking the potential biodegradation efficiency at extremely high VOCs concentrations in the soil.

First field determination of the 13C/12C isotope ratio in volcanic CO2 by diode-laser.

PubMed

Castrillo, A; Casa, G; van Burgel, M; Tedesco, D; Gianfrani, L

2004-12-27

Carbon isotope ratio analysis using a laser-based technique has been performed in the field, on the gaseous emissions from an active volcano. We here describe that 13CO2/12CO2 determinations can be carried out in a quasi-continuous regime using a compact, selective and sensitive diode laser spectrometer at a wavelength of 2 mum. Within the Solfatara crater (near Naples, Italy), in a very harsh environment, we were able to determine relative 13CO2/12CO2 values, on the highest flux fumarole, with an accuracy of 0.5 per thousand. Regular and frequent observations of the carbon isotopes in volcanic gases, which become possible with our methodology, are of the utmost importance for geochemical surveillance of volcanoes.

Using fumarolic inert gas composition to investigate magma dynamics at Campi Flegrei (Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chiodini, G.; Caliro, S.; Paonita, A.; Cardellini, C.

2013-12-01

Since 2000 the Campi Flegrei caldera sited in Neapolitan area (Italy), has showed signs of reactivation, marked by ground uplift, seismic activity, compositional variations of fumarolic effluents from La Solfatara, an increase of the fumarolic activity as well as of soil CO2 fluxes. Comparing long time series of geochemical signals with ground deformation and seismicity, we show that these changes are at least partially caused by repeated injections of magmatic fluid into the hydrothermal system. The frequency of these degassing episodes has increased in the last years, causing pulsed uplift episodes and swarms of low magnitude earthquakes. We focus here in the inert gas species (CO2-He-Ar-N2) of Solfatara fumaroles which displayed in the time spectacular and persistent variation trends affecting all the monitored vents. The observed variations, which include a continuous decrease of both N2/He and N2/CO2 ratios since 1985, paralleled by an increase of He/CO2, can not be explained neither with changes in processes of boiling-condensation in the local hydrothermal system nor with changes in the mixing proportions between a magmatic vapour and hydrothermal fluids. Consequently we investigated the possibility that the trends of inert gas species are governed by changes in the conditions controlling magma degassing at depth. We applied a magma degassing model, with the most recent updates for inert gas solubilities, after to have included petrologic constraints from the ranges of melt composition and reservoir pressure at Campi Flegrei. The model simulations for mafic melts (trachybasalt and shoshonite) show a surprising agreement with the measured data. Both decompressive degassing of an ascending magma and mixing between magmatic fluids exsolved at various levels along the ascent path can explain the long-time geochemical changes. Our work highlights that, in caldera systems where the presence of hydrothermal aquifers commonly masks the magmatic signature of reactive volatiles, inert gases are the preferred species to achieve information on the dynamics and structure of the magma plumbing systems.

A Volcanic Environment for Bedrock Diagenesis at Meridiani Planum, Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hynek, B. M.; McCollom, T. M.

2005-12-01

Exposed bedrocks at Meridiani Planum on Mars display chemical and mineralogical evidence suggesting interaction with liquid water. Based on the observed bedding morphology, crystal vugs, varying Br:Cl ratios, as well as high abundances of hematite and sulfate minerals, the rocks have been interpreted by the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) team as sedimentary/evaporite deposits. However, the composition of the Meridiani bedrocks indicates that the formation model advocated by the MER team is not plausible. If the sulfates were attributable to precipitation of salts from an evaporating brine the rocks would be enriched in a balancing cation (e.g., Ca, Mg, or Fe) but this is not observed. Ratios of cations including Fe, Mg, Ca, and Na to (Si + Al) in the rocks are nearly identical to the basaltic martian meteorite Shergotty, and also very similar to unweathered basaltic rocks at Meridiani and Gusev Crater. The compositional data strongly suggest that the Meridiani rocks represent typical martian basalt with a sulfur component added. Here, we propose an alternative model for diagenesis of Meridiani bedrock that involves deposition of volcanic ash followed by reaction with condensed SO2- and H2O-bearing vapors in a solfatara-like setting. We suggest that volcanic deposition may account for the textures observed in Meridiani rocks since morphologic bedding features including sorted grains, planar bedding, low-angle cross-stratification, festoon bedding, and ripple lamination are common in base surge deposits of ash on Earth. The lath-shaped vugs may be the remains of ferrous sulfates (or mixed Fe-Mg-Ca sulfates) formed in the early stages of alteration that became unstable during oxidation. Widely varying Br:Cl ratios are also common in solfatara environments on Earth. In this scenario, most of the alteration of the rocks likely occurred at high temperatures (~100° C or higher), possibly soon after the volcaniclastic deposits were emplaced and still retained their original heat. Extended periods of time, a standing body of water, and clement conditions would not have been required for completion of the hypothesized diagenetic sequence.

Mineralogical and sulfur isotopic characterization of the sulfur-bearing mineralization from the active degassing area of Campi Flegrei caldera (southern Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mormone, Angela; Piochi, Monica; Balassone, Giuseppina; Strauss, Harald; Troise, Claudia; De Natale, Giuseppe

2015-04-01

The Campi Flegrei caldera is a site of persistent hydrothermal circulation and gaseous emissions inside the Pozzuoli town and nearby the city of Napoli (Italy). The solfataric phenomena are associated with episodes of low-magnitude seismicity and vertical ground displacement since Roman times, evolving to the Monte Nuovo eruption in the 1538 AD. Pronounced geochemical anomalies, uplift rates up to 1 m/y and up to ten thousands microearthquakes per year also characterized the four most recent decades of unrest. The degassing phenomena are concentrated within the Solfatara crater, although, since 2006, the hydrothermal activity strongly increased in the Pisciarelli district, i.e. on the north-east slope of the tuff. We investigated sulfur-bearing mineral precipitates sampled from the active fumaroles both within the Solfatara and along the Pisciarelli slope. Mineral assemblage, texture and chemistry were determined for the efflorescence precipitated nearby the fumaroles and along the mud pool by x-ray diffraction, back-scattered electron microscope and electron diffuse microanalysis. δ34S compositions were also determined on separated sulfur-minerals. The new data have been compared with scattered literature data, including few existing for the previous '70 and '80 unrest episodes. Native sulfur and alunite are the main mineral phases that associate with alunogene, and, locally, pickeringite and potassium alum. Sporadically mereiterite, amarillite, and pyrite have been found as neogenesis mineralization along the outcropping rocks. The mud pool is rich in gypsum, potassium alum and pyrite. δ34S values range from -5.48 to 0.0‰, being slightly lower than previous data. The obtained results suggest that the Pisciarelli area is characterized by magmatic-hydrothermal, magmatic-steam and steam-heated environments, developed on a argillitic hydrothermal facies that thickens in correspondence of the degassing area. These environments develop and continuously evolve in relation to fracturing conditions that determine the ability of i) gases to rise from deeper levels and ii) meteoric water to filter from the surface to depth.

Application of photogrammetry to the study of volcano-glacier interactions on Mount Wrangell, Alaska

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Benson, C. S.; Follett, A. B.

1986-01-01

Most Alaskan volcanoes are glacier covered and provide excellent opportunities to study interactions between glaciers and volcanoes. The present paper is concerned with such a study, taking into account the Mt. Wrangell (4317 m) which is the northernmost active volcano (solfatara activity) on the Pacific Rim (62 deg N; 144 deg W). While the first photographs on the summit of Mt. Wrangell were published more than 75 years ago, research there began in 1953 and 1954. Satellite images reveal activity at the summit of Mt. Wrangell. However, the resolution is not sufficient for conducting important measurements regarding ice volume losses. For this reason, vertical aerial photographs of the summit were obtained, and a field trip to the summit was conducted. Aspects of photogrammetry are discussed, taking into account questions of ground control, aerial photography, topographic mapping, digital cross sections, and orthophotos.

Thermal areas on Kilauea and Mauna Loa Volcanoes, Hawaii

USGS Publications Warehouse

Casadevall, Thomas J.; Hazlett, Richard W.

1983-01-01

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.

CO2 fluxes from diffuse degassing in Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cardellini, C.; Chiodini, G.; Frondini, F.; Caliro, S.

2016-12-01

Central and southern Italy are affected by an intense process of CO2 Earth degassing from both active volcanoes, and tectonically active areas. Regional scale studies, based on C mass balance of groundwater of regional aquifers in not volcanically active areas, highlighted the presence of two large CO2 degassing structures that, for magnitude and the geochemical-isotopic features, were related to a regional process of mantle degassing. Quantitative estimates provided a CO2 flux of 9 Mt/y for the region (62000 km2). Besides the magnitude of the process, a strong link between the deep CO2 degassing and the seismicity of the region and a strict correlation between migration of deep CO2-rich fluids and the heat flux have been highlighted. In addition, the region is also characterised by the presence of many cold gas emissions where deeply derived CO2 is released by vents and soil diffuse degassing areas. Both direct CO2 expulsion at the surface and C-rich groundwater are different manifestations of the same process, in fact, the deeply produced gas can be dissolved by groundwater or emitted directly to the atmosphere depending on the gas flux rate, and the geological-structural and hydrogeological settings. Quantitative estimations of the CO2 fluxes are available only for a limited number ( 30) of the about 270 catalogued gas manifestations allowing an estimations of a CO2 flux of 1.4 Mt/y. Summing the two estimates the non-volcanic CO2 flux from the region results globally relevant, being from 2 to 10% of the estimated present-day global CO2 discharge from subaerial volcanoes. Large amounts of CO2 is also discharged by soil diffuse degassing in volcanic-hydrothermal systems. Specific surveys at Solfatara of Pozzuoli (Campi Flegrei Caldera) pointed out the relevance of this process. CO2 diffuse degassing at Solfatara, measured since 1998 shows a persistent CO2 flux of 1300 t/d (± 390 t/d), a flux comparable to an erupting volcano. The quantification of diffuse CO2 degassing in Italy points out the relevance of non-volcanic CO2 degassing and of soil degassing from volcanoes, suggesting that the actual underestimation of the global CO2 degassing, may arise also from the lack of specific and systematic studies of the numerous "degassing areas" of the world, that would contribute to better constrain the global CO2 budget.

Innovative Methodologies for thermal Energy Release Measurement: case of La Solfatara volcano (Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marfe`, Barbara; Avino, Rosario; Belviso, Pasquale; Caliro, Stefano; Carandente, Antonio; Marotta, Enrica; Peluso, Rosario

2015-04-01

This work is devoted to improve the knowledge on the parameters that control the heat flux anomalies associated with the diffuse degassing processes of volcanic and hydrothermal areas. The methodologies currently used to measure heat flux (i.e. CO2 flux or temperature gradient) are either poorly efficient or effective, and are unable to detect short to medium time (days to months) variation trends in the heat flux. A new method, based on the use of thermal imaging cameras, has been applied to estimate the heat flux and its time variations. This approach will allow faster heat flux measurement than already accredited methods, improving in this way the definition of the activity state of a volcano and allowing a better assessment of the related hazard and risk mitigation. The idea is to extrapolate the heat flux from the ground surface temperature that, in a purely conductive regime, is directly correlated to the shallow temperature gradient. We use thermal imaging cameras, at short distances (meters to hundreds of meters), to quickly obtain a mapping of areas with thermal anomalies and a measure of their temperature. Preliminary studies have been carried out throughout the whole of the La Solfatara crater in order to investigate a possible correlation between the surface temperature and the shallow thermal gradient. We have used a FLIR SC640 thermal camera and K type thermocouples to assess the two measurements at the same time. Results suggest a good correlation between the shallow temperature gradient ΔTs and the surface temperature Ts depurated from background, and despite the campaigns took place during a period of time of a few years, this correlation seems to be stable over the time. This is an extremely motivating result for a further development of a measurement method based only on the use of small range thermal imaging camera. Surveys with thermal cameras may be manually done using a tripod to take thermal images of small contiguous areas and then joining them together in a bigger map of the whole area. However this kind of scanning does not fully solve the low speed problem of traditional techniques: a future development of this technique will be the use of drone-born IR cameras.

Surface temperature monitoring by integrating satellite data and ground thermal camera network on Solfatara Crater in Campi Flegrei volcanic area (Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buongiorno, M. F.; Musacchio, M.; Silvestri, M.; Vilardo, G.; Sansivero, F.; caPUTO, T.; bellucci Sessa, E.; Pieri, D. C.

2017-12-01

Current satellite missions providing imagery in the TIR region at high spatial resolution offer the possibility to estimate the surface temperature in volcanic area contributing in understanding the ongoing phenomena to mitigate the volcanic risk when population are exposed. The Campi Flegrei volcanic area (Italy) is part of the Napolitan volcanic district and its monitored by INGV ground networks including thermal cameras. TIRS on LANDSAT and ASTER on NASA-TERRA provide thermal IR channels to monitor the evolution of the surface temperatures on Campi Flegrei area. The spatial resolution of the TIR data is 100 m for LANDSAT8 and 90 m for ASTER, temporal resolution is 16 days for both satellites. TIRNet network has been developed by INGV for long-term volcanic surveillance of the Flegrei Fields through the acquisition of thermal infrared images. The system is currently comprised of 5 permanent stations equipped with FLIR A645SC thermo cameras with a 640x480 resolution IR sensor. To improve the systematic use of satellite data in the monitor procedures of Volcanic Observatories a suitable integration and validation strategy is needed, also considering that current satellite missions do not provide TIR data with optimal characteristics to observe small thermal anomalies that may indicate changes in the volcanic activity. The presented procedure has been applied to the analysis of Solfatara Crater and is based on 2 different steps: 1) parallel processing chains to produce ground temperature data both from satellite and ground cameras; 2) data integration and comparison. The ground cameras images generally correspond to views of portion of the crater slopes characterized by significant thermal anomalies due to fumarole fields. In order to compare the satellite and ground cameras it has been necessary to take into account the observation geometries. All thermal images of the TIRNet have been georeferenced to the UTM WGS84 system, a regular grid of 30x30 meters has been created to select polygonal areas corresponding only to the cells containing the georeferenced TIR images acquired by different TIRnet stations. Preliminary results of this integration approach has been analyzed in order to produce systematic reports to the Italian Civil Protection for the Napolitan Volcanoes.

Results of the first order leveling surveys in the Mexicali Valley and at the Cerro Prieto field

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

de la Pena L, A.

1981-01-01

The results obtained from the third leveling survey carried out by the Direccion General de Geografia del Territorio Nacional (previously DETENAL) during November and December 1979 are presented. Calculations of the changes in field elevation and plots showing comparisons of the 1977, 1978, and 1979 surveys are also presented. Results from a second order leveling survey performed to ascertain the extent of ground motion resulting from the 8 June 1980 earthquake are presented. This magnitude ML = 6.7 earthquake with epicenter located 15 km southeast of the Guadalupe Victoria village, caused fissures on the surface, the formation of small sandmore » volcanos, and the ejection of ground water in the vicinity of the Cerro Prieto field. This leveling survey was carried out between benchmark BN-10067 at the intersection of the Solfatara canal and the Sonora-Baja California railroad, and benchmark BN-10055 located at the Delta station.« less

Automatic reconstruction of surge deposit thicknesses. Applications to some Italian volcanoes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Armienti, P.; Pareschi, M. T.

1987-04-01

The energy cone concept has been adopted to describe some kinds of surge deposits. The energy cone parameters (height and slope) are evaluated through a regression technique which utilizes deposit thicknesses and the correspondent quotes and heights of the energy cone. The regression also allows to evaluate a coefficient of proportionality linking the deposit thickness to the distance between topographic surface and energy line for a given eruption. Moreover, if an accurate topography is available (in this case a reconstruction of a digitalized topography of the Phlegrean Fields and of the Vesuvius), the energy cone parameters, obtained by the backfitted technique, can be used to evaluate the order of magnitude of the deposit volumes. The hazard map for a surge localized at the Solfatara (Phlegraean Fields, Naples) has been computed. The values of the energy cone parameters and the volume have been assumed to be equal to those estimated with the regression technique applied to a past surge eruption in the same area.

Interferometric imaging of the 2011-2013 Campi Flegrei unrest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Siena, Luca; Nakahara, Hisashi; Zaccarelli, Lucia; Sammarco, Carmelo; La Rocca, Mario; Bianco, Francesca

2017-04-01

After its 1983-84 seismic and deformation crisis, seismologists have recorded very low and clustered seismicity at Campi Flegrei caldera (Italy). Hence, noise interferometry imaging has become the only option to image the present volcano logical state of the volcano. Three-component noise data recorded before, during, and after Campi Flegrei last deformation and geochemical unrest (2011-2013) have thus been processed with up-to-date interferometric imaging workflow based on MSNoise. Noise anisotropy, which strongly affects measurements throughout the caldera at all frequencies, has been accounted for by self-correlation measurements and smoothed by phase weighted stacking and phase-match filtering. The final group-velocity maps show strong low-velocity anomalies at the location of the last Campi Flegrei eruption (1538 A.D.). The main low-velocity anomalies contour Solfatara volcano and follow geomorphological cross-faulting. The comparison with geophysical imaging results obtained during the last seismic unrest at the caldera suggest strong changes in the physical properties of the volcano, particularly in the area of major hydrogeological hazard.

Multidisciplinary study (CO2 flux, ERT, self-potential, permeability and structural surveys) in Fondi di Baia, Astroni and Agnano volcanoes: insights for the structural architecture of the Campi Flegrei caldera (southern Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Isaia, Roberto; Carapezza, Maria Luisa; Conti, Eric; Giulia Di Giuseppe, Maria; Lucchetti, Carlo; Prinzi, Ernesto; Ranaldi, Massimo; Tarchini, Luca; Tramparulo, Francesco; Troiano, Antonio; Vitale, Stefano; Cascella, Enrico; Castello, Nicola; Cicatiello, Alessandro; Maiolino, Marco; Puzio, Domenico; Tazza, Lucia; Villani, Roberto

2017-04-01

Recent volcanism at Campi Flegrei caldera produced more than 70 eruptions in the last 15 ka formed different volcanic edifices. The vent distribution was related to the main volcano-tectonic structure active in the caldera along which also concentrated part of the present hydrothermal and fumarolic activity, such as in the Solfatara area. In order to define the role of major faults in the Campi Flegrei Caldera, we analyzed some volcanic craters (Fondi di Baia and Astroni) and the Agnano caldera, by means of different geochemical and geophysical technics including CO2 flux, electrical resistivity (ERT), self-potential and permeability surveys. We provided some ERT profiles and different maps of geochemical and geophysical features. Major fault planes were identified comparing ERT imaging with alignments of anomalies in maps. The results can improve the knowledge on the present state of these volcanoes actually not fully monitored though included in the area with high probability of future vent opening within the Campi Flegrei caldera.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Anderson, Iain; Rodriquez, Jason; Susanti, Dwi

We report the complete genome of Thermofilum pendens, a deep-branching member of class Thermoproteales of Crenarchaeota. T. pendens is a sulfur-dependent, anaerobic heterotroph isolated from a solfatara in Iceland. It was known to utilize peptides as an energy source, but the genome reveals substantial ability to grow on carbohydrates. T. pendens is the first Crenarchaeote and only the second archaeon found to have transporters of the phosphotransferase system. T. pendens is known to require an extract of Thermoproteus tenax for growth, and the genome sequence reveals that biosynthetic pathways for purines, most amino acids, and most cofactors are absent. T.more » pendens has fewer biosynthetic enzymes than any other free-living organism. In addition to heterotrophy, T. pendens may gain energy from sulfur reduction with hydrogen and formate as electron donors. It may also be capable of sulfur-independent growth on formate with formate hydrogenlyase. Additional novel features are the presence of a monomethylamine:corrinoid methyltransferase, the first time this enzyme has been found outside of Methanosarcinales, and a presenilin-related protein from a new subfamily. Predicted highly expressed proteins include ABC transporters for carbohydrates and peptides, and CRISPR-associated proteins, suggesting that defense against viruses is a high priority.« less

Changes in CO2 diffuse degassing induced by the passing of seismic waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gresse, M.; Vandemeulebrouck, J.; Byrdina, S.; Chiodini, G.; Bruno, P. P.

2016-06-01

Solfatara crater, located in the Campi Flegrei caldera, is a volcano with one of the highest degassing rates on Earth, more than 1500 t of CO2 released by diffusion or through vents. Here, we investigated how this gas release can be disrupted by the passage of seismic waves. We performed continuous soil CO2 flux measurements during the propagation of seismic vibrations in the range of 5 Hz to 200 Hz induced by a vibroseis truck. The CO2 flux was continuously recorded using the accumulation chamber method. The data show a temporary and drastic (up to two-fold) increase in CO2 flux exclusively during the vibrations, before returning to the initial flux values. These transient variations are interpreted as fluidization of the surficial granular layer that releases the stored gas. Similar degassing processes might occur at a larger scale during earthquakes, to cause temporary increases in the total gas outflow in volcanic or tectonic areas. Our findings are useful to better assess and monitor the potential hazard from sudden CO2 flux release during earthquakes as several cases of intoxication or death have already been related to volcanic degassing.

Dynamic model of intrusion of magma and/or magmatic fluids in the large-scale deformation source of the Campi Flegrei caldera (Italy).

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crescentini, Luca; Amoruso, Antonella; Luongo, Annamaria

2015-04-01

The Campi Flegrei (CF) caldera is located in a densely populated area close to Naples (Southern Italy). It is renowned as a site of continual slow vertical movements. After the last eruption in 1538, the caldera generally subsided until 1969 when minor uplift occurred. In the early 1970s this uplift became significant (~1.5 m max). A further large uplift episode occurred from 1982 to 1984 (~1.8 m max), and subsequently smaller uplift episodes have occurred since then. Amoruso et al. (2014a,b) have recently shown that the CF surface deformation field from 1980 to 2013 can be decomposed into two stationary parts. Large-scale deformation can be explained by a quasi-horizontal source, oriented NW to SE and mathematically represented by a pressurized finite triaxial ellipsoid (PTE) ~4 km deep, possibly related to the injection of magma and/or magmatic fluids from a deeper magma chamber into a sill, or pressurization of interconnected (micro)cavities. Residual deformation not accounted for by PTE is confined to the Solfatara fumarolic area and can be mathematically explained by a small (point) pressurized oblate spheroid (PS) ~2 km below the Solfatara fumarolic field, that has been equated with a poroelastic response of the substratum to pore pressure increases near the injection point of hot magmatic fluids into the hydrothermal system. A satisfying feature of this double source model is that the geometric source parameters of each are constant over the period 1980-2013 with the exception of volume changes (potencies). Several papers have ascribed CF deformation to the injection of magmatic fluids at the base of the hydrothermal system. All models predict complex spatial and temporal evolution of the deformation pattern and consequently contrast with the observed deformation pattern stationarity. Also recently proposed dynamic models of sill intrusion in a shallow volcanic environment do not satisfy the observed CF deformation pattern stationarity. We have developed an analytical dynamic model of intrusion of magma or injection of supercritical fluids in the PTE. Propagation is governed by a Navier-Stokes equation for magma intrusion and modelled as creeping flow in porous media (Darcy's law) for supercritical fluids injection. In both cases the ground deformation pattern is constant over time. Using Finite Element Modeling, we also show that the presence of a viscoelastic shell surrounding the PTE amplifies ground deformation, with no appreciable effect on the ground deformation pattern. Thus, our model satisfies the observed CF deformation pattern stationarity both using a purely elastic medium or allowing for stress relaxation close to the PTE, caused by the rock temperature. Amoruso et al. (2014a), J. Geophys. Res., 119 (2), 858-879 Amoruso et al. (2014b), Geophys. Res. Lett., 41 (9), 3081-3088

Electromagnetic outline of the Solfatara-Pisciarelli hydrothermal system, Campi Flegrei (Southern Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Troiano, A.; Di Giuseppe, M. G.; Patella, D.; Troise, C.; De Natale, G.

2014-05-01

We describe the results from a combined controlled source audio magnetotelluric (CSAMT) and natural source magnetotelluric (MT) survey carried out in the Solfatara-Pisciarelli (S-P) area, located in the central part of the Campi Flegrei (CF) composite caldera, west of Naples, Southern Italy. The S-P area represents the most active zone within the CF caldera, in terms of hydrothermal manifestations and local seismicity. Since 1969, the CF caldera is experiencing ground deformation, seismicity and geochemical fluid changes, which are particularly evident in the S-P area. A 1 km long, nearly W-E directed CSAMT-MT profile crossing the fumarole field was carried out in the S-P area with the aim of deducting a resistivity model of the structural setting of the hydrothermal system in the first 3 km depth. An interpretation of the modelled section across the profile is given in this paper, taking advantage from already existing seismic, gravity and geochemical data in the same area. Three well distinct zones have been outlined. The first zone is a very shallow, electrically conductive body localized beneath the westernmost segment of the profile, which, within a short distance of about 100 m, dips westwards from near surface down to some hundred metres in depth. Mostly accounting for the very low resistivity (1-10 Ω m) and the exceedingly high values of vP/vS (> 4), this shallow zone has been ascribed to a water-saturated, high-pressurized geothermal reservoir. The second zone, which has been localized below the west-central portion of the CSAMT-MT transect, appears as a composite body made up of a nearly vertical plumelike structure that escapes at about 2.25 km depth from the top edge of the east side of a presumably horizontal platelike body. The plumelike structure rises up to the free surface in correspondence of the fumarole field, whereas the platelike structure deepens at least down to the 3 km of maximum exploration depth. The combined interpretation of resistivity (50-100 Ω m), body wave velocity ratio (vP/vS < 2.0), mass density contrast (Δσ < 0 g/cm3), and geochemical data indicates that the plumelike portion can likely be associated with a steam/gas-saturated column and the platelike portion with a high temperature (> 300 °C), over-pressurized, gas-saturated reservoir. Finally, the third zone, which has been localized beneath the eastern half of the transect, from about 1.2 km down to about 3 km of depth, is also characterized by very low resistivity values (1-10 Ω m). Jointly interpreted with seismic (vP/vS < 1.73) and gravity (⨂⌠ > 0 g/cm3) data, this last electrically conductive structure appears to be associated with a hydrothermally mineralized, clay-rich body.

Respiration of arsenate and selenate by hyperthermophilic archaea.

PubMed

Huber, R; Sacher, M; Vollmann, A; Huber, H; Rose, D

2000-10-01

A novel, strictly anaerobic, hyperthermophilic, facultative organotrophic archaeon was isolated from a hot spring at Pisciarelli Solfatara, Naples, Italy. The rod-shaped cells grew chemolithoautotrophically with carbon dioxide as carbon source, hydrogen as electron donor and arsenate, thiosulfate or elemental sulfur as electron acceptor. H2S was formed from sulfur or thiosulfate, arsenite from arsenate. Organotrophically, the new isolate grew optimally in the presence of an inorganic electron acceptor like sulfur, selenate or arsenate. Cultures, grown on arsenate and thiosulfate or arsenate and L-cysteine, precipitated realgar (As2S2). During growth on selenate, elemental selenium was produced. The G+C content of the DNA was 58.3 mol%. Due to 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis combined with physiological and morphological criteria, the new isolate belongs to the Thermoproteales order. It represents a new species within the genus Pyrobaculum, the type species of which we name Pyrobaculum arsenaticum (type strain PZ6*, DSM 13514, ATCC 700994). Comparative studies with different Pyrobaculum-species showed, that Pyrobaculum aerophilum was also able to grow organotrophically under anaerobic culture conditions in the presence of arsenate, selenate and selenite. During growth on selenite, elemental selenium was formed as final product. In contrast to P. arsenaticum, P. aerophilum could use selenate or arsenate for lithoautotrophic growth with carbon dioxide and hydrogen.

Lunar and Planetary Science XXXV: Astrobiology: Analogs and Applications to the Search for Life

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

The session "Astrobiology: Analogs and Applications to the Search for Life" included the folowing reports:The Search for Life on Mars Using Macroscopically Visible Microbial Mats (Stromatolites) in 3.5/3.3 Ga Cherts from the Pilbara in Australia and Barberton in South Africa as Analogues; Life in a Mars Analog: Microbial Activity Associated with Carbonate Cemented Lava Breccias from NW Spitsbergen; Groundwater-fed Iron-rich Microbial Mats in a Freshwater Creek: Growth Cycles and Fossilization Potential of Microbial Features; Episodic Fossilization of Microorganisms on an Annual Timescale in an Anthropogenically Modified Natural Environment: Geochemical Controls and Implications for Astrobiology; Proterozoic Microfossils and Their Implications for Recognizing Life on Mars; Microbial Alteration of Volcanic Glass in Modern and Ancient Oceanic Crust as a Proxy for Studies of Extraterrestrial Material ; Olivine Alteration on Earth and Mars; Searching for an Acidic Aquifer in the R!o Tinto Basin. First Geobiology Results of MARTE Project; In-Field Testing of Life Detection Instruments and Protocols in a Mars Analogue Arctic Environment; Habitability of the Shallow Subsurface on Mars: Clues from the Meteorites; Mars Analog Rio Tinto Experiment (MARTE): 2003 Drilling Campaign to Search for a Subsurface Biosphere at Rio Tinto Spain; Characterization of the Organic Matter in an Archean Chert (Warrawoona, Australia); and The Solfatara Crater, Italy: Characterization of Hydrothermal Deposits, Biosignatures and Their Astrobiological Implication.

Complete genome sequence of the thermophilic, hydrogen-oxidizing Bacillus tusciae type strain (T2T) and reclassification in the new genus, Kyrpidia gen. nov. as Kyrpidia tusciae comb. nov. and emendation of the family Alicyclobacillaceae da Costa and Rainey, 2010

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Klenk, Hans-Peter; Lapidus, Alla L.; Chertkov, Olga

Bacillus tusciae Bonjour & Aragno 1994 is a hydrogen-oxidizing, thermoacidophilic spore former that lives as a facultative chemolithoautotroph in solfataras. Although 16S rRNA gene sequencing was well established at the time of the initial description of the organism, 16S se- quence data were not available and the strain was placed into the genus Bacillus based on limited chemotaxonomic information. Despite the now obvious misplacement of strain T2T as a member of the genus Bacillus in 16S rRNA-based phylogenetic trees, the misclassification remained uncorrected for many years, which was likely due to the extremely difficult, analy- sis-hampering cultivation conditions and poormore » growth rate of the strain. Here we provide a taxonomic re-evaluation of strain T2T (= DSM 2912 = NBRC 15312) and propose its reclassi- fication as the type strain of a new species, Kyrpidia tusciae, and the type species of the new genus Kyrpidia, which is a sister-group of Alicyclobacillus. The family Alicyclobacillaceae da Costa and Rainey, 2010 is emended. The 3,384,766 bp genome with its 3,323 protein-coding and 78 RNA genes is part of the Genomic Encyclopedia of Bacteria and Archaea project.« less

Complete genome sequence of the thermophilic, hydrogen-oxidizing Bacillus tusciae type strain (T2) and reclassification in the new genus, Kyrpidia gen. nov. as Kyrpidia tusciae comb. nov. and emendation of the family Alicyclobacillaceae da Costa and Rainey, 2010.

PubMed

Klenk, Hans-Peter; Lapidus, Alla; Chertkov, Olga; Copeland, Alex; Del Rio, Tijana Glavina; Nolan, Matt; Lucas, Susan; Chen, Feng; Tice, Hope; Cheng, Jan-Fang; Han, Cliff; Bruce, David; Goodwin, Lynne; Pitluck, Sam; Pati, Amrita; Ivanova, Natalia; Mavromatis, Konstantinos; Daum, Chris; Chen, Amy; Palaniappan, Krishna; Chang, Yun-Juan; Land, Miriam; Hauser, Loren; Jeffries, Cynthia D; Detter, John C; Rohde, Manfred; Abt, Birte; Pukall, Rüdiger; Göker, Markus; Bristow, James; Markowitz, Victor; Hugenholtz, Philip; Eisen, Jonathan A

2011-10-15

Bacillus tusciae Bonjour & Aragno 1994 is a hydrogen-oxidizing, thermoacidophilic spore former that lives as a facultative chemolithoautotroph in solfataras. Although 16S rRNA gene sequencing was well established at the time of the initial description of the organism, 16S sequence data were not available and the strain was placed into the genus Bacillus based on limited chemotaxonomic information. Despite the now obvious misplacement of strain T2 as a member of the genus Bacillus in 16S rRNA-based phylogenetic trees, the misclassification remained uncorrected for many years, which was likely due to the extremely difficult, analysis-hampering cultivation conditions and poor growth rate of the strain. Here we provide a taxonomic re-evaluation of strain T2T (= DSM 2912 = NBRC 15312) and propose its reclassification as the type strain of a new species, Kyrpidia tusciae, and the type species of the new genus Kyrpidia, which is a sister-group of Alicyclobacillus. The family Alicyclobacillaceae da Costa and Rainey, 2010 is emended. The 3,384,766 bp genome with its 3,323 protein-coding and 78 RNA genes is part of the Genomic Encyclopedia of Bacteria and Archaea project.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kyrpides, Nikos; Anderson, Iain; Rodriguez, Jason

We report the complete genome of Thermofilum pendens, a deep-branching, hyperthermophilic member of the order Thermoproteales within the archaeal kingdom Crenarchaeota. T. pendens is a sulfur-dependent, anaerobic heterotroph isolated from a solfatara in Iceland. It is an extracellular commensal, requiring an extract of Thermoproteus tenax for growth, and the genome sequence reveals that biosynthetic pathways for purines, most amino acids, and most cofactors are absent. In fact T. pendens has fewer biosynthetic enzymes than obligate intracellular parasites, although it does not display other features common among obligate parasites and thus does not appear to be in the process of becomingmore » a parasite. It appears that T. pendens has adapted to life in an environment rich in nutrients. T. pendens was known to utilize peptides as an energy source, but the genome reveals substantial ability to grow on carbohydrates. T. pendens is the first crenarchaeote and only the second archaeon found to have a transporter of the phosphotransferase system. In addition to fermentation, T. pendens may gain energy from sulfur reduction with hydrogen and formate as electron donors. It may also be capable of sulfur-independent growth on formate with formate hydrogenlyase. Additional novel features are the presence of a monomethylamine:corrinoid methyltransferase, the first time this enzyme has been found outside of Methanosarcinales, and a presenilin-related protein. Predicted highly expressed proteins do not include housekeeping genes, and instead include ABC transporters for carbohydrates and peptides, and CRISPR-associated proteins.« less

Towards the ecology of hyperthermophiles: biotopes, new isolation strategies and novel metabolic properties.

PubMed

Huber, R; Huber, H; Stetter, K O

2000-12-01

Ecological studies have shown that water-containing terrestrial, subterranean and submarine high-temperature environments harbor a great diversity of hyperthermophilic prokaryotes, growing fastest at temperatures of 80 degrees C or above. The investigations included cultivation, isolation and detailed analysis of these hyperthermophiles as well as in situ 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and in situ hybridization studies. For a safe and fast isolation of novel hyperthermophiles from mixed cultures, a new, plating-independent isolation technique was developed, based on the use of a laser microscope ('optical tweezers'). This method, combined with 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and whole-cell hybridization using fluorescently labelled oligonucleotide probes, even allows the recovery of pure cultures of phylogenetically predicted organisms harboring novel 16S rRNA gene sequences. In their natural habitats, hyperthermophiles form complex food webs, consisting of primary producers and consumers of organic material. Their metabolic potential includes various types of aerobic and anaerobic respiration and different modes of fermentation. In hydrothermal and geothermal environments, hyperthermophiles have important ecological functions in biogeochemical processes. Members of the Sulfolobales are able to mobilize heavy metals from sulfidic ores like pyrite or chalcopyrite. Biomineralization processes of hyperthermophiles include the formation of magnetite from iron or the precipitation of arsenate as realgar, a reaction performed by a novel hyperthermophile that was isolated from Pisciarelli Solfatara, Naples, Italy.

Historical unrest at large calderas of the world

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Newhall, C.A.; Dzurisin, D.

1989-09-01

This is a remarkable reference for researchers interested in volcanic hazards and silicic volcanism. Because of long repose and often obscure shapes and large size calderas are a volcanic type less obvious and less well studied. Because they represent potentially highly dangerous and highly explosive volcanos which could have large-scale and even global impact when they erupt, it is very important to understand their behavior. This new volume represents an extensive effort at compiling real observations at earth's calderas. The authors manage to incorporate a very impressive list of original references that go far beyond standard volcanological literature and alsomore » often extend back many centuries to include the perspective of longer historic time at some calderas. If volcanologists are serious about eruption forecasting, they must be willing to dig out and absorb the lessons of historic observations as well as design instruments and make good measurements. There is an initial introductory chapter of 27 pages which attempts to lead the way to interpretation of various patterns of caldera unrest, based on synthesis of the various individual cases. The meat of the volumes is in sections on the individual calderas, enriched with many maps and figures documenting the caldera unrest. A valuable asset of the compilation is its broad scope, which incorporates the activity of related or possibly related cones, domes, solfataras, etc., with the parent ( ) caldera.« less

Comparison of the microbial communities of hot springs waters and the microbial biofilms in the acidic geothermal area of Copahue (Neuquén, Argentina).

PubMed

Urbieta, María Sofía; González-Toril, Elena; Bazán, Ángeles Aguilera; Giaveno, María Alejandra; Donati, Edgardo

2015-03-01

Copahue is a natural geothermal field (Neuquén province, Argentina) dominated by the Copahue volcano. As a consequence of the sustained volcanic activity, Copahue presents many acidic pools, hot springs and solfataras with different temperature and pH conditions that influence their microbial diversity. The occurrence of microbial biofilms was observed on the surrounding rocks and the borders of the ponds, where water movements and thermal activity are less intense. Microbial biofilms are particular ecological niches within geothermal environments; they present different geochemical conditions from that found in the water of the ponds and hot springs which is reflected in different microbial community structure. The aim of this study is to compare microbial community diversity in the water of ponds and hot springs and in microbial biofilms in the Copahue geothermal field, with particular emphasis on Cyanobacteria and other photosynthetic species that have not been detected before in Copahue. In this study, we report the presence of Cyanobacteria, Chloroflexi and chloroplasts of eukaryotes in the microbial biofilms not detected in the water of the ponds. On the other hand, acidophilic bacteria, the predominant species in the water of moderate temperature ponds, are almost absent in the microbial biofilms in spite of having in some cases similar temperature conditions. Species affiliated with Sulfolobales in the Archaea domain are the predominant microorganism in high temperature ponds and were also detected in the microbial biofilms.

The use of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems for the Innovative Methodologies in thermal Energy Release monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marotta, Enrica; Avino, Rosario; Avvisati, Gala; Belviso, Pasquale; Caliro, Stefano; Caputo, Teresa; Carandente, Antonio; Peluso, Rosario; Sangianantoni, Agata; Sansivero, Fabio; Vilardo, Giuseppe

2017-04-01

Last years have been characterized by a fast development of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems which are becoming cheaper, lighter and more powerful. The concurrent development of high resolution, lightweight and energy saving sensors sometimes specifically designed for air-borne applications are together rapidly changing the way in which it is possible to perform monitoring and surveys in hazardous environments such as volcanoes. An example of this convergence is the new methodology we are currently developing at the INGV-Osservatorio Vesuviano for the estimation of the thermal energy release of volcanic diffuse degassing areas using the ground temperatures from thermal infrared images. Preliminary experiments, carried out during many-years campaigns performed inside at La Solfatara crater by using thermal infrared images and K type thermocouples inserted into the ground at various depths, found a correlation between surface temperature and shallow gradient. Due to the large extent of areas affected by thermal anomalies, an effective and expedite tool to acquire the IR images is a RPAS equipped with high-resolution thermal and visible cameras. These acquisitions allow to quickly acquire the data to produce a heat release map. This map is then orthorectified and geocoded in order to be superimposed on digital terrain models or on the orthophotogrammetric mosaic obtained after processing photos acquired by RPAS. Such expedite maps of heat flux, taking in account accurate filtering of atmospheric influence, represents a useful tool for volcanic surveillance monitoring purposes. In order to start all the activities of these drones we had to acquire all necessary permissions required by the complex Italian normative.

Uranium extremophily is an adaptive, rather than intrinsic, feature for extremely thermoacidophilic Metallosphaera species

PubMed Central

Mukherjee, Arpan; Wheaton, Garrett H.; Blum, Paul H.; Kelly, Robert M.

2012-01-01

Thermoacidophilic archaea are found in heavy metal-rich environments, and, in some cases, these microorganisms are causative agents of metal mobilization through cellular processes related to their bioenergetics. Given the nature of their habitats, these microorganisms must deal with the potentially toxic effect of heavy metals. Here, we show that two thermoacidophilic Metallosphaera species with nearly identical (99.99%) genomes differed significantly in their sensitivity and reactivity to uranium (U). Metallosphaera prunae, isolated from a smoldering heap on a uranium mine in Thüringen, Germany, could be viewed as a “spontaneous mutant” of Metallosphaera sedula, an isolate from Pisciarelli Solfatara near Naples. Metallosphaera prunae tolerated triuranium octaoxide (U3O8) and soluble uranium [U(VI)] to a much greater extent than M. sedula. Within 15 min following exposure to “U(VI) shock,” M. sedula, and not M. prunae, exhibited transcriptomic features associated with severe stress response. Furthermore, within 15 min post-U(VI) shock, M. prunae, and not M. sedula, showed evidence of substantial degradation of cellular RNA, suggesting that transcriptional and translational processes were aborted as a dynamic mechanism for resisting U toxicity; by 60 min post-U(VI) shock, RNA integrity in M. prunae recovered, and known modes for heavy metal resistance were activated. In addition, M. sedula rapidly oxidized solid U3O8 to soluble U(VI) for bioenergetic purposes, a chemolithoautotrophic feature not previously reported. M. prunae, however, did not solubilize solid U3O8 to any significant extent, thereby not exacerbating U(VI) toxicity. These results point to uranium extremophily as an adaptive, rather than intrinsic, feature for Metallosphaera species, driven by environmental factors. PMID:23010932

Comparison of ASTER Global Emissivity Database (ASTER-GED) With In-Situ Measurement In Italian Vulcanic Areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silvestri, M.; Musacchio, M.; Buongiorno, M. F.; Amici, S.; Piscini, A.

2015-12-01

LP DAAC released the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Global Emissivity Database (GED) datasets on April 2, 2014. The database was developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology. The database includes land surface emissivities derived from ASTER data acquired over the contiguous United States, Africa, Arabian Peninsula, Australia, Europe, and China. In this work we compare ground measurements of emissivity acquired by means of Micro-FTIR (Fourier Thermal Infrared spectrometer) instrument with the ASTER emissivity map extract from ASTER-GED and the emissivity obtained by using single ASTER data. Through this analysis we want to investigate differences existing between the ASTER-GED dataset (average from 2000 to 2008 seasoning independent) and fall in-situ emissivity measurement. Moreover the role of different spatial resolution characterizing ASTER and MODIS, 90mt and 1km respectively, by comparing them with in situ measurements. Possible differences can be due also to the different algorithms used for the emissivity estimation, Temperature and Emissivity Separation algorithm for ASTER TIR band( Gillespie et al, 1998) and the classification-based emissivity method (Snyder and al, 1998) for MODIS. In-situ emissivity measurements have been collected during dedicated fields campaign on Mt. Etna vulcano and Solfatara of Pozzuoli. Gillespie, A. R., Matsunaga, T., Rokugawa, S., & Hook, S. J. (1998). Temperature and emissivity separation from Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) images. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 36, 1113-1125. Snyder, W.C., Wan, Z., Zhang, Y., & Feng, Y.-Z. (1998). Classification-based emissivity for land surface temperature measurement from space. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 19, 2753-2574.

Pyrite–sulfosalt reactions and semimetal fractionation in the Chinkuashih, Taiwan, copper–gold deposit: a 1 Ma paleo-fumarole

USGS Publications Warehouse

Henley, R.W.; Berger, Byron R.

2012-01-01

The mineralized fracture system that underlay paleo-fumarole field at Chinkuashih, Taiwan has been exposed by copper–gold mining to depths of about 550 m below the paleo-surface. Its mineralogy and systematic variations in metal and semimetal (Fe, Cu, As, Sb, Bi, Hg, Cd, Sn, Zn, Pb, Se, Te, Au, Ag) concentrations provide insights into the chemical responses of a magmatic-vapor phase as it expands through fracture arrays to the surface and discharges as fumaroles associated with more extensive solfatara. At Chinkuashih, following initial sealing of the fractures by silica-alunite alteration, brittle failure reestablished discharge from an underlying reservoir of magmatic vapor. Crystalline pyrite was deposited first in the fractures and was succeeded and replaced by ‘enargite’ (Cu3(As,Sb)S4) as sulfosalt encrustations (‘sublimate’) on fracture surfaces and in extensional cracks. Subsequent recrystallization resulted in complex exsolution intergrowths with antimony fractionation to the evolving crystal–vapor interface. Heavy metal fractionation between sulfosalt and vapor enriched the vapor phase in heavy metals that subsequently precipitated as complex Bi–Hg–Sn sulfosalts in discrete areas (paleo-fumaroles) close to the paleo-surface in a manner analogous to modern-day fumaroles on active volcanoes such as Vulcano, Italy. As in similar paleo-fumaroles (e.g., El Indio, Chile and Lepanto, Philippines), the most characteristic reaction sequence is the partial replacement of the early pyrite by enargite and Fe-tennantite. It is proposed that this reaction tracks the decrease in the pressure of the underlying magmatic-vapor reservoir because of the sustained discharge of vapor to the surface.

Heat flow in vapor dominated areas of the Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field: implications for the thermal budget of the Yellowstone Caldera

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hurwitz, Shaul; Harris, Robert; Werner, Cynthia Anne; Murphy, Fred

2012-01-01

Characterizing the vigor of magmatic activity in Yellowstone requires knowledge of the mechanisms and rates of heat transport between magma and the ground surface. We present results from a heat flow study in two vapor dominated, acid-sulfate thermal areas in the Yellowstone Caldera, the 0.11 km2 Obsidian Pool Thermal Area (OPTA) and the 0.25 km2 Solfatara Plateau Thermal Area (SPTA). Conductive heat flux through a low permeability layer capping large vapor reservoirs is calculated from soil temperature measurements at >600 locations and from laboratory measurements of soil properties. The conductive heat output is 3.6 ± 0.4 MW and 7.5 ± 0.4 MW from the OPTA and the SPTA, respectively. The advective heat output from soils is 1.3 ± 0.3 MW and 1.2 ± 0.3 MW from the OPTA and the SPTA, respectively and the heat output from thermal pools in the OPTA is 6.8 ± 1.4 MW. These estimates result in a total heat output of 11.8 ± 1.4 MW and 8.8 ± 0.4 MW from OPTA and SPTA, respectively. Focused zones of high heat flux in both thermal areas are roughly aligned with regional faults suggesting that faults in both areas serve as conduits for the rising acid vapor. Extrapolation of the average heat flux from the OPTA (103 ± 2 W·m−2) and SPTA (35 ± 3 W·m−2) to the ~35 km2 of vapor dominated areas in Yellowstone yields 3.6 and 1.2 GW, respectively, which is less than the total heat output transported by steam from the Yellowstone Caldera as estimated by the chloride inventory method (4.0 to 8.0 GW).

A geochemical study of Nea-Kameni hyalodacites (Santorini Volcano, Aegean island arc). Inferences concerning the origin and effects of solfataras and magmatic evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Briqueu, Louis; Lancelot, Joël R.

1984-03-01

Since the Santorini Volcano (Aegean arc, eastern Mediterranean Sea) collapsed, volcanic activity has been located at the center of the flooded caldera. Over the past 800 years, five lava flows have formed one of the central islets (Nea-Kameni). Since 1951, when the last eruption occurred, a permanent fumarolic activity has remained. We present chemical analyses (major elements, trace-elements and Sr isotopic ratios) of ten samples from the five hyalodacitic lava flows, showing different stages of alteration, from a completely fresh lava up to one bearing native sulfur and other sublimates. Only the macroscopic aspect of these hyalodacites is affected by fumarolic activity. The elements that are mobile as a result of hydrothermal processes, such as the alkaline (K, Rb) or the chalcophile elements (Zn, Pb), show great homogeneity; the same can be said for the Sr isotopic compositions which range from 0.7046 to 0.7049. None of the analyzed samples has an Sr isotopic composition as high as those reported by Puchelt and Hoefs (1971) for rock samples collected in the same lava flows. If we take into account the marine surroundings of Nea-Kameni islet, these observations put severe restraints on the different hypotheses regarding the origin of the halogens (seawater or meteoric water). The contamination processes of these dacitic lavas are clearly less important than assumed by other authors according to previous Sr isotopic data. Finally, the homogeneity of the elements with low partition coefficients is sufficient to show that the magma has not undergone any perceptible evolution during the last 300 years.

Methane production and consumption in an active volcanic environment of Southern Italy.

PubMed

Castaldi, Simona; Tedesco, Dario

2005-01-01

Methane fluxes were measured, using closed chambers, in the Crater of Solfatara volcano, Campi Flegrei (Southern Italy), along eight transects covering areas of the crater presenting different landscape physiognomies. These included open bare areas, presenting high geothermal fluxes, and areas covered by vegetation, which developed along a gradient from the central open area outwards, in the form of maquis, grassland and woodland. Methane fluxes decreased logarithmically (from 150 to -4.5 mg CH4 m(-2)day(-1)) going from the central part of the crater (fangaia) to the forested edges, similarly to the CO2 fluxes (from 1500 g CO2 m(-2)day(-1) in the centre of the crater to almost zero flux in the woodlands). In areas characterized by high emissions, soil presented elevated temperature (up to 70 degrees C at 0-10 cm depth) and extremely low pH (down to 1.8). Conversely, in woodland areas pH was higher (between 3.7 and 5.1) and soil temperature close to air values. Soil (0-10 cm) was sampled, in two different occasions, along the eight transects, and was tested for methane oxidation capacity in laboratory. Areas covered by vegetation mostly consumed CH4 in the following order woodland>macchia>grassland. Methanotrophic activity was also measured in soil from the open bare area. Oxidation rates were comparable to those measured in the plant covered areas and were significantly correlated with field CH4 emissions. The biological mechanism of uptake was demonstrated by the absence of activity in autoclaved replicates. Thus results suggest the existence of a population of micro-organisms adapted to this extreme environment, which are able to oxidize CH4 and whose activity could be stimulated and supported by elevated concentrations of CH4.

Lidar detection of carbon dioxide in volcanic plumes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fiorani, Luca; Santoro, Simone; Parracino, Stefano; Maio, Giovanni; Del Franco, Mario; Aiuppa, Alessandro

2015-06-01

Volcanic gases give information on magmatic processes. In particular, anomalous releases of carbon dioxide precede volcanic eruptions. Up to now, this gas has been measured in volcanic plumes with conventional measurements that imply the severe risks of local sampling and can last many hours. For these reasons and for the great advantages of laser sensing, the thorough development of volcanic lidar has been undertaken at the Diagnostics and Metrology Laboratory (UTAPRAD-DIM) of the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA). In fact, lidar profiling allows one to scan remotely volcanic plumes in a fast and continuous way, and with high spatial and temporal resolution. Two differential absorption lidar instruments will be presented in this paper: BILLI (BrIdge voLcanic LIdar), based on injection seeded Nd:YAG laser, double grating dye laser, difference frequency mixing (DFM) and optical parametric amplifier (OPA), and VULLI (VULcamed Lidar), based on injection seeded Nd:YAG laser and optical parametric oscillator (OPO). The first one is funded by the ERC (European Research Council) project BRIDGE and the second one by the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) project VULCAMED. While VULLI has not yet been tested in a volcanic site, BILLI scanned the gas emitted by Pozzuoli Solfatara (Campi Flegrei volcanic area, Naples, Italy) during a field campaign carried out from 13 to 17 October 2014. Carbon dioxide concentration maps were retrieved remotely in few minutes in the crater area. Lidar measurements were in good agreement with well-established techniques, based on different operating principles. To our knowledge, it is the first time that carbon dioxide in a volcanic plume is retrieved by lidar, representing the first direct measurement of this kind ever performed on an active volcano and showing the high potential of laser remote sensing in geophysical research.

4D imaging of the source of ground deformation at Campi Flegrei caldera (Italy) during recent unrest episodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

D'Auria, L.; Giudicepietro, F.; Martini, M.; Lanari, R.

2011-12-01

Campi Flegrei caldera, has been affected in recent decades by three episodes of significant ground uplift. After the last crisis (1982-84), which was accompanied by strong seismicity, the ground has shown a general descending trend, occasionally interrupted by minor uplift episodes, together with low-magnitude volcano-tectonic and long-period seismicity. We assume that the source of minor ground deformations consists in a diffuse volumetric source, related to both thermoelastic and poroelastic strain. This is a reasonable assumption considering that Campi Flegrei are known to host a geothermal reservoir. We have inverted a DInSAR dataset spanning the interval 1995-2008. Results show that the geometry of the source is much more complex than previously recognized and, most important, it shows significant temporal variations, within few months. The deformation source, of the analyzed uplift episodes, starts with a volumetric expansion centered at a depth of about 5 km. The position of this volume is close to the caldera rims. Later the expansion migrates upward, reaching the surface along preferred paths, leading to the Solfatara area, located almost at the center of the caldera. This area is well known for its powerful geothermal emissions. During the upward migration, seismic long-period sources are activated. Their location is consistent with the path identified by the inversion of the DInSAR dataset. We infer, that this dynamics is linked to the injection of hot fluid batches, along the caldera rims and their upward migration, following preferential high permeability paths. Furthermore we have identified an injection episode which has not been previously recognized. The deformation source remains at depth slowly waning in few years. We show how this conceptual framework fits well with the observed geodetic, seismic and geochemical data.

Comparison of in-situ measurements and satellite-derived surface emissivity over Italian volcanic areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silvestri, Malvina; Musacchio, Massimo; Cammarano, Diego; Fabrizia Buongiorno, Maria; Amici, Stefania; Piscini, Alessandro

2016-04-01

In this work we compare ground measurements of emissivity collected during dedicated fields campaign on Mt. Etna and Solfatara of Pozzuoli volcanoes and acquired by means of Micro-FTIR (Fourier Thermal Infrared spectrometer) instrument with the emissivity obtained by using single ASTER data (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer, ASTER 05) and the ASTER emissivity map extract from ASTER Global Emissivity Database (GED), released by LP DAAC on April 2, 2014. The database was developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology. The database includes land surface emissivity derived from ASTER data acquired over the contiguous United States, Africa, Arabian Peninsula, Australia, Europe, and China. Through this analysis we want to investigate the differences existing between the ASTER-GED dataset (average from 2000 to 2008 seasoning independent) and fall in-situ emissivity measurement. Moreover the role of different spatial resolution characterizing ASTER and MODIS, 90mt and 1km respectively, by comparing them with in situ measurements, is analyzed. Possible differences can be due also to the different algorithms used for the emissivity estimation, Temperature and Emissivity Separation algorithm for ASTER TIR band( Gillespie et al, 1998) and the classification-based emissivity method (Snyder and al, 1998) for MODIS. Finally land surface temperature products generated using ASTER-GED and ASTER 05 emissivity are also analyzed. Gillespie, A. R., Matsunaga, T., Rokugawa, S., & Hook, S. J. (1998). Temperature and emissivity separation from Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) images. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 36, 1113-1125. Snyder, W.C., Wan, Z., Zhang, Y., & Feng, Y.-Z. (1998). Classification-based emissivity for land surface temperature measurement from space. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 19, 2753-2574.

Volcanoes as emission sources of atmospheric mercury in the Mediterranean basin

PubMed

Ferrara; Mazzolai; Lanzillotta; Nucaro; Pirrone

2000-10-02

Emissions from volcanoes, fumaroles and solfataras as well as contributions from widespread geological anomalies could represent an important source of mercury released to the atmosphere in the Mediterranean basin. Volcanoes located in this area (Etna, Stromboli and Vulcano) are the most active in Europe; therefore, it is extremely important to know their mercury contributions to the regional atmospheric budget. Two main methods are used for the evaluation of volcanic mercury flux: a direct determination of the flux (by measuring in the plume) and an indirect one derived from the determination of the Hg/SO2 (or Hg/S) ratio value, as SO2 emissions are constantly monitored by volcanologists. An attempt to estimate mercury flux from the Vulcano volcano and to establish the Hg/S ratio value has been made along three field campaigns carried out in October 1998, in February and May 1999 sampling several fumaroles. Traditional sampling methods were used to collect both total Hg and S. The average Hg/S ratio value resulted to be 1.2 x 10(-7). From the Hg/S value we derived the Hg/SO2 value, and by assuming that all the volcanoes located in this area have the same Hg/SO2 ratio, mercury emissions from Vulcano and Stromboli were estimated to be in the range 1.3-5.5 kg/year and 7.3-76.6 kg/year respectively, while for Etna mercury flux ranged from 61.8 to 536.5 kg/year. Data reported in literature appear to be overestimated (Fitzgerald WF. Mercury emission from volcanos. In: 4th International conference on mercury as a global pollutant, August 4-8 1996, Hamburg, Germany), volcanic mercury emission does not constitute the main natural source of the metal.

Unmanned Aerial Technologies for Observations at Active Volcanoes: Advances and Prospects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pieri, D. C.; Diaz, J. A.; Bland, G.; Fladeland, M.; Makel, D.; Schwandner, F. M.; Buongiorno, M. F.; Elston, J. S.

2017-12-01

Modern application of unmanned aerial systems' (UASs) technology allow us to conduct in situ measurements in volcanic plumes and drifting volcanic clouds that were impossible to make in the past. Thus, we are now able to explore proximal airspace near and within eruption columns and or other active vents, at very high and at very low altitudes—risk to human investigators is vastly reduced (although not eliminated). We are now on the cusp of being able to make in situ measurements and conduct sampling at altitudes of 5000-6000 meters relatively routinely. We also are developing heat tolerant electronics and sensors that will deployed on, around, and over active lava lakes and lava flows at terrestrial volcanoes, but with a view toward developing planetary applications, for instance on the surface of Venus. We report on our 2012-present systematic UAS-based observations of light gases (e.g., SO2 CO2, H2S) at Turrialba Volcano in Costa Rica, at Italian volcanic sites (e.g., Isole Vulcano; La Solfatara), and most recently at Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii in collaboration with USGS and NPS colleagues. Other deployments for Fall 2017 and Winter 2018 are in planning stages for the Salton Sea Basin and Costa Rica, which will include an airborne miniature mass spectrometer onboard several different types of UAVs. In addition, under development is the first purpose-built-for-volcanology small unmanned aircraft. We discuss strategies for acquiring airborne data from proximal ash/gas plumes during restless periods and during eruptions, from distal drifting ash/gas clouds from eruptions, and from diffuse emissions (e.g., CO2) at very low altitudes, utilizing UASs (e.g., fixed wing, multi-rotor, aerostat), especially regarding inputs for source flux reverse models. This work was carried out, in part, at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology under contract to NASA.

Evaluation of techniques for sampling volatile arsenic on volcanoes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arndt, Julia; Ilgen, Gunter; Planer-Friedrich, Britta

2017-02-01

Volatile arsenic (As) species, like arsine, mono-, di-, and trimethylarsine (AsH3, MeAsH2, Me2AsH, Me3As) are reported to be released from volcanoes but their determination is difficult because of low concentrations, low boiling points, and high reactivity, especially in the presence of volcanic gases like H2S and SO2. We tested needle trap devices (NTDs), cryotrapping, and Tedlar® bags for quantitative and species-preserving sampling. NTDs did not trap AsH3, MeAsH2, Me2AsH, did not release sorbed Me3As quantitatively, and lead to artifact formation of dimethylchloroarsine, which also questions the reliability of previous reports from solid phase micro extraction fibers using the same sorption materials. Cryotrapping in dry ice was insufficient to trap AsH3 and MeAsH2; Me2AsH and Me3As were only partially retained. Sampling in Tedlar® bags remained the best alternative. Stability of all four arsines was confirmed for dark storage at 5 °C for 19 days in a matrix of dry N2, 11 days in 20% O2, and 19 days in 3800 ppmv CO2 (> 80% recovery for all species), while in the presence of H2S, Me3As recovery was only 67% and in the presence of SO2, Me2AsH and Me3As recovery was 40 and 11%, respectively. Removing interfering reactive gases by a NaOH trap, we sampled natural volcanic emissions at fumaroles of Vulcano and Solfatara (Italy). Detected total arsine concentrations of 0.5-77 ng·m- 3 were 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than the calculated background. Inorganic arsine was the dominant species suggesting that secondary microbially catalyzed methylation is a process of minor importance in the fumarolic gases.

Volcanic CO2 mapping and flux measurements at Campi Flegrei by Tunable Diode Laser absorption Spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pedone, Maria; Aiuppa, Alessandro; Giudice, Gaetano; Grassa, Fausto; Chiodini, Giovanni; Valenza, Mariano

2014-05-01

Near-infrared room-temperature Tunable Diode Lasers (TDL) have recently found increased usage in atmospheric chemistry and air monitoring research, but applications in Volcanology are still limited to a few examples. Here, we explored the potentiality of a commercial infrared laser unit (GasFinder 2.0 from Boreal Laser Ltd) to measurement of volcanic CO2 flux emissions. Our field tests were conducted at Campi Flegrei (near Pozzuoli, Southern Italy), where the GasFinder was used (during three campaigns in October 2012, January 2013 and May 2013) to repeatedly measure the path-integrated concentrations of CO2 along cross-sections of the atmospheric plumes of the two main fumarolic fields in the area (Solfatara and Pisciarelli). By using ad-hoc designed field-set-up and a tomographic post-processing routine, we resolved, for each of the 2 manifestations, the contour maps of CO2 concentrations in their atmospheric plumes, from the integration of which (and after multiplication by the plumes' transport speeds) the CO2 fluxes were finally obtained [1]. The so-calculated fluxes average of 490 tons/day, which agrees well with independent evaluations of Aiuppa et al. (2013) [2] (460 tons/day on average), and support a significant contribution of fumaroles to the total CO2 budget. The cumulative (fumarole [this study] +soil [2]) CO2 output from Campi Flegrei is finally evaluated at 1600 tons/day. The application of lasers to volcanic gas studies is still an emerging (though intriguing) research field, and requires more testing and validation experiments. We conclude that TDL technique may valuably assist CO2 flux quantification at a number of volcanic targets worldwide. [1] Pedone M. et al. (2013) Gold2013:abs:5563, Goldschmidt Conference, session 11a. [2] Aiuppa A. et al. (2013) Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems. doi: 10.1002/ggge.20261. [3] Chiodini G. et al. (2010) Journal of Geophysical Research, Volume 115, B03205. doi:10.1029/2008JB006258.

Resistivity structure and geochemistry of the Jigokudani Valley hydrothermal system, Mt. Tateyama, Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seki, Kaori; Kanda, Wataru; Tanbo, Toshiya; Ohba, Takeshi; Ogawa, Yasuo; Takakura, Shinichi; Nogami, Kenji; Ushioda, Masashi; Suzuki, Atsushi; Saito, Zenshiro; Matsunaga, Yasuo

2016-10-01

This study clarifies the hydrothermal system of Jigokudani Valley near Mt. Tateyama volcano in Japan by using a combination of audio-frequency magnetotelluric (AMT) survey and hot-spring water analysis in order to assess the potential of future phreatic eruptions in the area. Repeated phreatic eruptions in the area about 40,000 years ago produced the current valley morphology, which is now an active solfatara field dotted with hot springs and fumaroles indicative of a well-developed hydrothermal system. The three-dimensional (3D) resistivity structure of the hydrothermal system was modeled by using the results of an AMT survey conducted at 25 locations across the valley in 2013-2014. The model suggests the presence of a near-surface highly conductive layer of < 50 m in thickness across the entire valley, which is interpreted as a cap rock layer. Immediately below the cap rock is a relatively resistive body interpreted as a gas reservoir. Field measurements of temperature, pH, and electrical conductivity (EC) were taken at various hot springs across the valley, and 12 samples of hot-spring waters were analyzed for major ion chemistry and H2O isotopic ratios. All hot-spring waters had low pH and could be categorized into three types on the basis of the Cl-/SO 42 - concentration ratio, with all falling largely on a mixing line between magmatic fluids and local meteoric water (LMW). The geochemical analysis suggests that the hydrothermal system includes a two-phase zone of vapor-liquid. A comparison of the resistivity structure and the geochemically inferred structure suggests that a hydrothermal reservoir is present at a depth of approximately 500 m, from which hot-spring water differentiates into the three observed types. The two-phase zone appears to be located immediately beneath the cap rock structure. These findings suggest that the hydrothermal system of Jigokudani Valley exhibits a number of factors that could trigger a future phreatic eruption.

A new data logger for integrated geophysical monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orazi, Massimo; Peluso, Rosario; Caputo, Antonio; Giudicepietro, Flora; Martini, Marcello

2015-04-01

GILDA digital recorder is a data logger developed at Osservatorio Vesuviano (INGV). It provides excellent data quality with low power consumption and low production cost. It is widely used in the multi-parametric monitoring networks of Neapolitan volcanoes and Stromboli volcano. We have improved the characteristics of GILDA recorder to realize a robust user-oriented acquisition system for integrated geophysical monitoring. We have designed and implemented new capabilities concerning the use of the low rate channels to get data of environmental parameters of the station. We also improved the stand-alone version of the data logger. This version can be particularly useful for scientific experiments and to rapidly upgrade permanent monitoring networks. Furthermore, the local storage can be used as back-up for the monitoring systems in continuous transmission, in case of failure of the transmission system. Some firmware changes have been made in order to improve the performance of the instrument. In particular, the low rate acquisition channels were conditioned to acquire internal parameters of the recorder such as the temperature and voltage. A prototype of the new version of the logger is currently installed at Campi Flegrei for a experimental application. Our experiment is aimed at testing the new version of GILDA data logger in multi-board configuration for multiparametric acquisitions. A second objective of the experiment is the comparison of the recorded data with geochemical data acquired by a multiparametric geochemical station to investigate possible correlations between seismic and geochemical parameters. The target site of the experiment is "Bocca Grande" fumarole in Solfatara volcano. By exploiting the modularity of GILDA, for the experiment has been realized an acquisition system based on three dataloggers for a total of 12 available channels. One of GILDA recorders is the Master and the other two are Slaves. The Master is responsible for the initial configuration of the GPS receiver for timing data. The two data loggers configured in slave mode await the end of the initial configuration and then receive the GPS timing data and PPS from the Master. This allows you to use one GPS receiver and optimize power consumption. The whole system is configured to continuously transmit data via WiFi and to locally store data.

Detailed investigation of Long-Period activity at Campi Flegrei by Convolutive Independent Component Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Capuano, P.; De Lauro, E.; De Martino, S.; Falanga, M.

2016-04-01

This work is devoted to the analysis of seismic signals continuously recorded at Campi Flegrei Caldera (Italy) during the entire year 2006. The radiation pattern associated with the Long-Period energy release is investigated. We adopt an innovative Independent Component Analysis algorithm for convolutive seismic series adapted and improved to give automatic procedures for detecting seismic events often buried in the high-level ambient noise. The extracted waveforms characterized by an improved signal-to-noise ratio allows the recognition of Long-Period precursors, evidencing that the seismic activity accompanying the mini-uplift crisis (in 2006), which climaxed in the three days from 26-28 October, had already started at the beginning of the month of October and lasted until mid of November. Hence, a more complete seismic catalog is then provided which can be used to properly quantify the seismic energy release. To better ground our results, we first check the robustness of the method by comparing it with other blind source separation methods based on higher order statistics; secondly, we reconstruct the radiation patterns of the extracted Long-Period events in order to link the individuated signals directly to the sources. We take advantage from Convolutive Independent Component Analysis that provides basic signals along the three directions of motion so that a direct polarization analysis can be performed with no other filtering procedures. We show that the extracted signals are mainly composed of P waves with radial polarization pointing to the seismic source of the main LP swarm, i.e. a small area in the Solfatara, also in the case of the small-events, that both precede and follow the main activity. From a dynamical point of view, they can be described by two degrees of freedom, indicating a low-level of complexity associated with the vibrations from a superficial hydrothermal system. Our results allow us to move towards a full description of the complexity of the source, which can be used, by means of the small-intensity precursors, for hazard-model development and forecast-model testing, showing an illustrative example of the applicability of the CICA method to regions with low seismicity in high ambient noise.

Geochemical evidences of magma dynamics at Campi Flegrei (Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caliro, S.; Chiodini, G.; Paonita, A.

2014-05-01

Campi Flegrei caldera, within the Neapolitan area of Italy, is potentially one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world, and during the last decade it has shown clear signs of reactivation, marked by the onset of uplift and changes in the geochemistry of gas emissions. We describe a 30-year-long data set of the CO2-He-Ar-N2 compositions of fumarolic emissions from La Solfatara crater, which is located in the center of the caldera. The data display continuous decreases in both the N2/He and N2/CO2 ratios since 1985, paralleled by an increase in He/CO2. These variations cannot be explained by either processes of boiling/condensation in the local hydrothermal system or with changes in the mixing proportions between a magmatic vapor and hydrothermal fluids. We applied the magma degassing model of Nuccio and Paonita (2001, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 193, 467-481) using the most recent inert-gas solubilities in order to interpret these peculiar features in accordance with petrologic constraints derived from the ranges of the melt compositions and reservoir pressures at Campi Flegrei. The model simulations for mafic melts (trachybasalt and shoshonite) show a remarkably good agreement with the measured data. Both decompressive degassing of an ascending magma and mixing between magmatic fluids exsolved at various levels along the ascent path can explain the long-term geochemical changes. Recalling that (i) a sill-like reservoir of gases at a depth of 3-4 km seems to be the main source of ground inflation and (ii) there is petrologic and geophysical evidence for a reservoir of magma at about 8 km below Campi Flegrei, we suggest that the most-intense episodes of inflation occur when the gas supply to the sill-like reservoir comes from the 8 km-deep magma, although fluids exsolved by magma bodies at shallower depths also contribute to the gas budget. Our work highlights that, in caldera systems where the presence of hydrothermal aquifers commonly masks the magmatic signature of reactive volatiles, inert gases are the preferred species to use when seeking information on the melt composition, dynamics, and structure of the plumbing systems.

RIS4E at Kilauea's December 1974 (D1974) Flow: Establishing the D1974 Flow as an Ideal Mars Analog

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Young, K. E.; Bleacher, J. E.; Rogers, D.; McAdam, A.; Garry, W. B.; Scheidt, S. P.; Carter, L. M.; Glotch, T. D.

2015-12-01

The Kīlauea December 1974 (D1974) flow was emplaced from a series of en echelon fissures southwest of Kīlauea Caldera. In 6.5 hours the D1974 flow was emplaced over the Keanakāko`i ash member as a rapidly emplaced sheet flow. This flow has previously been used as a location for radar roughness studies due to the exposure of abrupt changes in surface texture ranging between smooth pāhoehoe, rubbly and slabby lavas and ´áā lava. When viewed in visible remote sensing images, this flow field displays dark and light toned areas that reveal sinuous patterns, streamlined islands, and rafted lava slabs and plates. The flow is an ideal location to study lava textures, textural relationships and the formation of non-traditional channels and associated features as analogs to characterizing the formation of channel networks on the flanks of martian volcanoes or rilles in the lunar mare. The D1974 flow is also positioned downwind from Kīlauea Caldera along the volcano's SW rift zone. D1974 lavas flowed across older, active fumaroles and have since been exposed to acid fog, rain, and other plume related processes. In 2008 the Kīlauea Caldera experienced an explosive event along the wall of Halemáumáu and has since displayed an active lava lake, thereby elevating the flow's exposure to processes related to volcanic gasses. Alteration products have therefore formed both in and around the older fumaroles (at the solfatara site) as well as being deposited as thin coatings over the entire length of the flow. These products are reminiscent of sulfate-rich materials that have been identified on Mars by several groups. Though these martian deposits have been identified and analyzed, their formation mechanism remains somewhat ambiguous. The D1974 flow represents an ideal analog with which to test various formation scenarios using a variety of field portable technologies, designed to analyze the alteration products in situ (thereby preserving their initial structures and textures).

Geo Techno Park potential at Arjuno-Welirang Volcano hosted geothermal area, Batu, East Java, Indonesia (Multi geophysical approach)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maryanto, Sukir

2017-11-01

Arjuno Welirang Volcano Geothermal (AWVG) is located around Arjuno-Welirang Volcano in Malang, East Java, about 100 km southwest of Surabaya, the capital city of East Java province, and is still an undeveloped area of the geothermal field. The occurrence of solfatara and fumaroles with magmatic gasses indicated the existence of a volcanic geothermal system in the subsurface. A few hot springs are found in the Arjuno-Welirang volcanic complex, such as Padusan hot spring, Songgoriti hot spring, Kasinan hot spring, and Cangar hot spring. Multi geophysical observations in AWVG complex was carried out in order to explore the subsurface structure in supporting the plan of Geo Techno Park at the location. Gravity, Magnetic, Microearthquake, and Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) methods were used to investigate the major and minor active faulting zones whether hot springs circulation occurs in these zones. The gravity methods allowed us to locate the subsurface structure and to evaluate their geometrical relationship base on density anomaly. Magnetic methods allow us to discriminate conductive areas which could correspond to an increase in thermal fluid circulation in the investigated sites. Micro-earthquakes using particle motion analysis to locate the focal depth related with hydrothermal activity and electrical resistivity tomography survey offers methods to locate more detail subsurface structure and geothermal fluids near the surface by identifying areas affected by the geothermal fluid. The magnetic and gravity anomaly indicates the subsurface structure of AWVG is composed of basalt rock, sulfide minerals, sandstone, and volcanic rock with high minor active fault structure as a medium for fluid circulation. While using micro-earthquake data in AWVG shown shallow focal depth range approximate 60 meters which indicates shallow hydrothermal circulation in AWVG. The geothermal fluid circulation zones along the fault structure resulted in some hot springs in a central and north-western part of AWVG detected by the Electrical Resistivity Tomography, appear to be well correlated with corresponding features derived from the gravity, magnetic, and micro-earthquake survey. We just ongoing process to develop Arjuno Welirang Volcano & Geothermal Research Center (AWVGRC) located at Universitas Brawijaya Agro Techno Park, Cangar in the flank of Arjuno Welirang volcano complex. Due to our initial observations, AWVG has a great potential for a pilot project of an educational geo technopark development area.

Applying Unmanned Airborne Sampling Technology to Active Volcanoes: Successes, Challenges, and Plans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pieri, D. C.; Diaz, J. A.; Buongiorno, M. F.

2016-12-01

Over the last three years, we have conducted in situ sampling of airborne volcanic emissions for the calibration and validation of remote sensing data and derivative ash and gas transport models, as well as for proximal and distal hazard evaluations. We are collaboratively operating currently in three main locales: (a) Costa Rica: Turrialba Volcano; (b) Italy: Vulcano Island and La Sofatara Crater; and (c) the United States: Kilauea Volcano and the Salton Sea Geothermal Zone. During 2014-2016 we systematically deployed fixed wing UAVs and aerostats into the phreato-magmatic plume at Turrialba Volcano in Costa Rica, for time-series 3D SO2 profiles during overpasses of the ASTER radiometer onboard the NASA Terra platform. To date we have completed more than 50 aerostat and/or unmanned fixed and/or rotary wing sampling missions. Preliminary science results have been published by Pieri and Diaz (2015; DyDESS), Diaz et al. (2015; JASMS), and Xi et al. (2016, JVGR). We conducted field measurements of H2S, CO2, and SO2 and other species with INGV quad-copters to lift a UCR Multi-gas sensor into the phreatic gas jet at La Sofatara Crater, Pozzuoli, Italy in October 2014 and at Isole Vulcano in August 2015. At La Solfatara, our results documented 8000ppmv (max) up to 200 ft above the vent, and at Vulcano we noted CO2 concentrations approximately 2x ambient up to 100ft above the main crater. Deployment of the ARC SIERRA-B UAV and Dragon Eye mini-UAVs is now planned for the Salton Sea Geothermal Field in October 2016. We have integrated the UCR 20kg mass-spectrometer into SIERRA-B for flight certification in August 2016. We will also conduct near simultaneous airborne sensor-web observations with Dragon Eye UAVs using targeted electrochemical sensors, including sensors for SO2, H2S, CO2, and NH3, along with simultaneous aerostat (tethered balloon/kite-borne) observations using electrochemical sensors, focused on gas emissions from sub-aerial mud volcano fields. Finally, we will deploy Dragon Eye over Kilauea Volcano in January-February 2017 to measure volcanogenic SO2 emissions, the rate of SO2 to H2SO4 hydrolysis, and the emission of CO2This work was carried out in part at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of CA Institute of Technology, under contract to the Earth Surface & Interior Focus Area within the NASA Science Mission Directorate.

Decadal-scale variability of diffuse CO2 emissions and seismicity revealed from long-term monitoring (1995–2013) at Mammoth Mountain, California, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Werner, Cynthia A.; Bergfeld, Deborah; Farrar, Chris; Doukas, Michael P.; Kelly, Peter; Kern, Christoph

2014-01-01

Mammoth Mountain, California, is a dacitic volcano that has experienced several periods of unrest since 1989. The onset of diffuse soil CO2 emissions at numerous locations on the flanks of the volcano began in 1989–1990 following an 11-month period of heightened seismicity. CO2 emission rates were measured yearly from 1995 to 2013 at Horseshoe Lake (HSL), the largest tree kill area on Mammoth Mountain, and measured intermittently at four smaller degassing areas around Mammoth from 2006 to 2013. The long-term record at HSL shows decadal-scale variations in CO2 emissions with two peaks in 2000–2001 and 2011–2012, both of which follow peaks in seismicity by 2–3 years. Between 2000 and 2004 emissions gradually declined during a seismically quiet period, and from 2004 to 2009 were steady at ~ 100 metric tonnes per day (t d− 1). CO2emissions at the four smaller tree-kill areas also increased by factors of 2–3 between 2006 and 2011–2012, demonstrating a mountain-wide increase in degassing. Delays between the peaks in seismicity and degassing have been observed at other volcanic and hydrothermal areas worldwide, and are thought to result from an injection of deep CO2-rich fluid into shallow subsurface reservoirs causing a pressurization event with a delayed transport to the surface. Such processes are consistent with previous studies at Mammoth, and here we highlight (1) the mountain-wide response, (2) the characteristic delay of 2–3 years, and (3) the roughly decadal reoccurrence interval for such behavior. Our best estimate of total CO2 degassing from Mammoth Mountain was 416 t d− 1 in 2011 during the peak of emissions, over half of which was emitted from HSL. The cumulative release of CO2 between 1995 and 2013 from diffuse emissions is estimated to be ~ 2–3 Mt, and extrapolation back to 1989 gives ~ 4.8 Mt. This amount of CO2 release is similar to that produced by the mid-sized (VEI 3) 2009 eruption of Redoubt Volcano in Alaska (~ 2.3 Mt over 11 months), and significantly lower than long-term emissions from hydrothermal areas such as Solfatara in Campi Flegrei, Italy (16 Mt over 28 years).

VS of the uppermost crust structure of the Campi Flegrei caldera (southern Italy) from ambient noise Rayleigh wave analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Costanzo, M. R.; Nunziata, C.; Strollo, R.

2017-11-01

Shear wave velocities (VS) are defined in the uppermost 1-2 km of the Campi Flegrei caldera through the non-linear inversion of the group velocity dispersion curves of fundamental-mode Rayleigh waves extracted from ambient noise cross-correlations between two receivers. Noise recordings, three months long, at 12 seismic stations are cross-correlated between all couples of stations. The experiment provided successful results along 54 paths (inter-stations distance), of which 27 sampled a depth > 1 km. VS contour lines are drawn from 0.06 km b.s.l. to 1 km depth b.s.l. and show difference between the offshore (gulf of Pozzuoli and coastline) and the onshore areas. At 0.06 km b.s.l., the gulf of Pozzuoli and the coastline are characterized by VS of 0.3-0.5 km/s and of 0.5-0.7 km/s, respectively. Such velocities are typical of Neapolitan pyroclastic soils and fractured or altered tuffs. The inland shows VS in the range 0.7-0.9 km/s, typical of Neapolitan compact tuffs. Velocities increase with depth and, at 1 km depth b.s.l., velocities lower than 1.5 km/s are still present in the gulf and along the coastline while velocities higher than 1.9 km/s characterize the eastern sector (grossly coincident with the Neapolitan Yellow Tuff caldera rim), the S. Vito plain and the area between Solfatara and SW of Astroni. Such features are much more evident along two cross-sections drawn in the offshore and onshore sectors by integrating our VS models with literature data. Our models join previous noise cross-correlation studies at greater scale at depths of 0.7-0.8 km, hence the picture of the Campi Flegrei caldera is shown up to a depth of 15 km. VS of about 1.7 km/s, corresponding to compression velocities (VP) of about 3 km/s (computed by using the VP/VS ratio resulted in the inversion), are found at depths of 1.1 km, in the centre of the gulf of Pozzuoli, and at a depth of about 0.7 km b.s.l. onshore. An increment of VS velocity ( 1.9-2.0 km/s) is locally observed onshore which might be attributed to a layer of tuffs and tuffites interbedded with thin lava beds, according to the correlation of VS with stratigraphies in the deep drillings of S. Vito.

The Lepanto Cu–Au deposit, Philippines: A fossil hyperacidic volcanic lake complex

USGS Publications Warehouse

Berger, Byron R.; Henley, Richard W.; Lowers, Heather; Pribil, Michael

2014-01-01

Hyperacidic lakes and associated solfatara in active volcanoes are the expression of magmatic gas expansion from source to surface. Here we show for the first time, that the vein system that comprises the ~ 2 Ma high-sulfidation, Lepanto copper–gold deposit in the Mankayan district (Philippines) was associated with a contemporary hyperacidic volcanic lake complex—possibly the first such lake recognized in the geological record. A 15–20‰ difference in sulfur isotopic composition between barite and sulfides and sulfosalts in the vent fumarole encrustations supports the interpretation that SO2-rich volcanic gas vented into the base of the lake and marginal to it and ties the mineralization directly to magmatic gas expansion, fracture propagation, and mineralization that occurred through a series of decompression steps within the feeder fracture network. These data confirm that crater lake environments such as Kawah Ijen (Java, Indonesia) provide modern day analogs of the Lepanto and other high sulfidation Cu–Au depositing environments.We also provide extensive analysis of sulfosalt–sulfide reactions during vein formation within the hyperacidic lake complex. Pyrite ±  silica deposited first at high temperature followed by enargite that preserves the vapor–solid diffusion of, for example, antimony, tin, and tellurium into the vapor from the crystallizing solid. Subsolidus, intra-crystalline diffusion continued as temperature declined. Pyrite and enargite are replaced by Fe-tennantite in the lodes which initially has low Sb/(Sb + As) atomic ratios around 13.5% close to the ideal tennantite formula, but evolves to higher ratios as crystallization proceeds. Fumarole encrustation clasts and sulfosalts in the lake sediment are more highly evolved with a larger range of trace element substitutions, including antimony. Substitution of especially Zn, Te, Ag, and Sn into tennantite records metal and semi-metal fractionation between the expanding magmatic gas and deposited sulfide sublimates provides a rare insight into the fate of metals and semi-metals in the shallower parts of fracture arrays that feed modern hyperacidic lakes.These data support a growing understanding of the formation of high-sulfidation gold deposits as the consequence of single-phase expansion of gas from magmatic-gas reservoirs beneath the surface of active volcanoes without the intervention of a later aqueous fluid including groundwater. Aggressive sulfide–sulfosalt reactions, including pitting and the almost complete dissolution of earlier minerals, are persistent characteristics of the vein assemblages and precious metals typically occur late in pits or along brittle fractures. These characteristics support a hypothesis of mineral deposition at temperatures of the order of 600 °C in contrast to available fluid inclusion data from enargite that record temperatures following phase transitions in the sulfosalt during the retrograde devolution of the deposit in the presence of groundwater.

Diffuse CO_{2} degassing monitoring of the oceanic active volcanic island of El Hierro, Canary Islands, Spain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hernández, Pedro A.; Norrie, Janice; Withoos, Yannick; García-Merino, Marta; Melián, Gladys; Padrón, Eleazar; Barrancos, José; Padilla, Germán; Rodríguez, Fátima; Pérez, Nemesio M.

2017-04-01

Even during repose periods, volcanoes release large amounts of gases from both visible (fumaroles, solfataras, plumes) and non-visible emanations (diffuse degassing). In the last 20 years, there has been considerable interest in the study of diffuse degassing as a powerful tool in volcano monitoring programs, particularly in those volcanic areas where there are no visible volcanic-hydrothermal gas emissions. Historically, soil gas and diffuse degassing surveys in volcanic environments have focused mainly on CO2 because it is, after water vapor, the most abundant gas dissolved in magma. As CO2 travels upward by advective-diffusive transport mechanisms and manifests itself at the surface, changes in its flux pattern over time provide important information for monitoring volcanic and seismic activity. Since 1998, diffuse CO2 emission has been monitored at El Hierro Island, the smallest and south westernmost island of the Canarian archipelago with an area of 278 km2. As no visible emanations occur at the surface environment of El Hierro, diffuse degassing studies have become the most useful geochemical tool to monitor the volcanic activity in this volcanic island. The island experienced a volcano-seismic unrest that began in July 2011, characterized by the location of a large number of relatively small earthquakes (M<2.5) beneath El Hierro at depths between 8 and 15 km. On October 12, 2011, a submarine eruption was confirmed during the afternoon of October 12, 2011 by visual observations off the coast of El Hierro, about 2 km south of the small village of La Restinga in the southernmost part of the island. During the pre-eruptive and eruptive periods, the time series of the diffuse CO2 emission released by the whole island experienced two significant increases. The first started almost 2 weeks before the onset of the submarine eruption, reflecting a clear geochemical anomaly in CO2 emission, most likely due to increasing release of deep seated magmatic gases to the surface. The second one, between October 24 and November 27, 2011, before the most energetic seismic events of the volcanic-seismic unrest (Melián et al., 2014. J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth, 119, 6976-6991). The highest CO2 degassing rate measured in the last three years (1684 t/d) was observed during a seismo-volcanic unrest. This value decreased until close to background value (˜422 t/d, Melián et al., 2014) contemporaneously with the decline of the seismic activity during the first half of 2013. The last diffuse CO2 degassing survey was carried out in the summer of 2016, showing a emission rate of 854 t/d. Discrete surveys of diffuse CO2 emission have provided important information to optimize the early warning system in the volcano monitoring programs of El Hierro and to monitor the evolution of an ongoing volcanic eruption, even though is a submarine eruption.

Water-Chemistry Data for Selected Springs, Geysers, and Streams in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 2003-2005

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ball, James W.; McCleskey, R. Blaine; Nordstrom, D. Kirk; Holloway, JoAnn M.

2008-01-01

Water analyses are reported for 157 samples collected from numerous hot springs, their overflow drainages, and Lemonade Creek in Yellowstone National Park (YNP) during 2003-2005. Water samples were collected and analyzed for major and trace constituents from ten areas of YNP including Terrace and Beryl Springs in the Gibbon Canyon area, Norris Geyser Basin, the West Nymph Creek thermal area, the area near Nymph Lake, Hazle Lake, and Frying Pan Spring, Lower Geyser Basin, Washburn Hot Springs, Mammoth Hot Springs, Potts Hot Spring Basin, the Sulphur Caldron area, and Lemonade Creek near the Solfatara Trail. These water samples were collected and analyzed as part of research investigations in YNP on arsenic, antimony, and sulfur redox distribution in hot springs and overflow drainages, and the occurrence and distribution of dissolved mercury. Most samples were analyzed for major cations and anions, trace metals, redox species of antimony, arsenic, iron, nitrogen, and sulfur, and isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen. Analyses were performed at the sampling site, in an on-site mobile laboratory vehicle, or later in a U.S. Geological Survey laboratory, depending on stability of the constituent and whether it could be preserved effectively. Water samples were filtered and preserved onsite. Water temperature, specific conductance, pH, Eh (redox potential relative to the Standard Hydrogen Electrode), and dissolved hydrogen sulfide were measured onsite at the time of sampling. Acidity was determined by titration, usually within a few days of sample collection. Alkalinity was determined by titration within 1 to 2 weeks of sample collection. Concentrations of thiosulfate and polythionate were determined as soon as possible (generally minutes to hours after sample collection) by ion chromatography in an on-site mobile laboratory vehicle. Total dissolved-iron and ferrous-iron concentrations often were measured onsite in the mobile laboratory vehicle. Concentrations of dissolved aluminum, arsenic, boron, barium, beryllium, calcium, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, potassium, lithium, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, sodium, nickel, lead, selenium, silica, strontium, vanadium, and zinc were determined by inductively-coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry. Trace concentrations of dissolved antimony, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, lead, and selenium were determined by Zeeman-corrected graphite-furnace atomic-absorption spectrometry. Dissolved concentrations of total arsenic, arsenite, total antimony, and antimonite were determined by hydride-generation atomic-absorption spectrometry using a flow-injection analysis system. Dissolved concentrations of total mercury and methyl mercury were determined by cold-vapor atomic-fluorescence spectrometry. Concentrations of dissolved chloride, fluoride, nitrate, bromide, and sulfate were determined by ion chromatography. Concentrations of dissolved ferrous and total iron were determined by the FerroZine colorimetric method. Concentrations of dissolved nitrite were determined by colorimetry or chemiluminescence. Concentrations of dissolved ammonium were determined by ion chromatography, with reanalysis by colorimetry when separation of sodium and ammonia peaks was poor. Dissolved organic carbon concentrations were determined by the wet persulfate oxidation method. Hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios were determined using the hydrogen and CO2 equilibration techniques, respectively.

Development of a Mass Spectrometer-based Instrument for Volcanic Gas Monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McMurtry, G. M.; Hilton, D. R.; Fischer, T.; Sutton, A. J.; Elias, T.

2007-05-01

We have developed and field tested an instrument that is capable of acquiring multiple-species gas chemistry data at active volcanoes and hydrothermal systems. The current prototype consists of a quadrupole mass spectrometer, a series of pumps, valves and control/data logging electronics housed in a corrosion-resistant container. We tested the instrument at the summit of Kilauea volcano in March, 2006, collecting time-series data from a 96°C fumarole (Sulphur Banks) at 15 minute intervals for nearly 3 days. Two temperature probes were utilized, a thermocouple placed in the gas stream and a thermistor which recorded ambient air temperatures inside the instrument housing. Of these, the thermistor produced the more reliable trace, as the thermocouple pegged near 45°C shortly after reaching the fumarole gas composition. This composition was indicated by sharp drops in the instrument response for N2, O2, Ar, and water vapor, and increases in CO2 and SO2 at about 6.5 hours elapsed time. The two most obvious gas/temperature trends in this brief time-series are: (1) sharp discontinuities caused by two of the standard "Giggenbach" bottle sampling interludes (despite some care given not to vent the gas line to atmosphere); and (2) two distinct types of thermal events. The two sampling interruptions caused decreases in temperature, and caused the responses of CO2, N2, O2, Ar and water vapor and the ratio of CO2/He to rise sharply. This appears consistent with contamination by cooler ambient air enriched in CO2 relative to normal air (solfatara air). The two types of thermal events are similar in that both generally show enrichments of SO2 and He, and decreases in CO2/He, whereas the last, much hotter event displays increases in CO2, N2, O2, Ar, and water vapor, in contrast to decreases in these gases during the two former events. The last thermal event correlates with a brief dry period on 17 March, after a previous week of almost continuous rainfall. An interesting increase in the HD/H2 ratio suggests either HD-enriched H2 gas or water vapor was introduced during the last thermal event, which is consistent with a fumarole influenced by evaporated, boiling water and atmospheric gases at depth. During our tests we have discovered several problematic issues that need to be overcome if the instrument is to be deployed for extended periods of time (months to years) in harsh and remote locations of active volcanoes. One of the main obstacles is the large amount of water vapor in fumaroles and the need for keeping that water out of the mass spectrometer. We have successfully achieved this using a series of traps and a condenser that still allow the other species to enter the instrument. Related problems are loss of some of the reactive gases within the instrument and/or traps and the precipitation of elemental sulfur in the pre-mass spec inlet system. Another issue that we are currently addressing is the relatively high power consumption of the instrument and condenser.

Seismic body wave separation in volcano-tectonic activity inferred by the Convolutive Independent Component Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Capuano, Paolo; De Lauro, Enza; De Martino, Salvatore; Falanga, Mariarosaria; Petrosino, Simona

2015-04-01

One of the main challenge in volcano-seismological literature is to locate and characterize the source of volcano/tectonic seismic activity. This passes through the identification at least of the onset of the main phases, i.e. the body waves. Many efforts have been made to solve the problem of a clear separation of P and S phases both from a theoretical point of view and developing numerical algorithms suitable for specific cases (see, e.g., Küperkoch et al., 2012). Recently, a robust automatic procedure has been implemented for extracting the prominent seismic waveforms from continuously recorded signals and thus allowing for picking the main phases. The intuitive notion of maximum non-gaussianity is achieved adopting techniques which involve higher-order statistics in frequency domain., i.e, the Convolutive Independent Component Analysis (CICA). This technique is successful in the case of the blind source separation of convolutive mixtures. In seismological framework, indeed, seismic signals are thought as the convolution of a source function with path, site and the instrument response. In addition, time-delayed versions of the same source exist, due to multipath propagation typically caused by reverberations from some obstacle. In this work, we focus on the Volcano Tectonic (VT) activity at Campi Flegrei Caldera (Italy) during the 2006 ground uplift (Ciaramella et al., 2011). The activity was characterized approximately by 300 low-magnitude VT earthquakes (Md < 2; for the definition of duration magnitude, see Petrosino et al. 2008). Most of them were concentrated in distinct seismic sequences with hypocenters mainly clustered beneath the Solfatara-Accademia area, at depths ranging between 1 and 4 km b.s.l.. The obtained results show the clear separation of P and S phases: the technique not only allows the identification of the S-P time delay giving the timing of both phases but also provides the independent waveforms of the P and S phases. This is an enormous advantage for all the problems related to the source inversion and location In addition, the VT seismicity was accompanied by hundreds of LP events (characterized by spectral peaks in the 0.5-2-Hz frequency band) that were concentrated in a 7-day interval. The main interest is to establish whether the occurrence of LPs is only limited to the swarm that reached a climax on days 26-28 October as indicated by Saccorotti et al. (2007), or a longer period is experienced. The automatically extracted waveforms with improved signal-to-noise ratio via CICA coupled with automatic phase picking allowed to compile a more complete seismic catalog and to better quantify the seismic energy release including the presence of LP events from the beginning of October until mid of November. Finally, a further check of the volcanic nature of extracted signals is achieved by looking at the seismological properties and the content of entropy held in the traces (Falanga and Petrosino 2012; De Lauro et al., 2012). Our results allow us to move towards a full description of the complexity of the source, which can be used for hazard-model development and forecast-model testing, showing an illustrative example of the applicability of the CICA method to regions with low seismicity in high ambient noise

Ions, vapors and/or nanoparticles penetrating volcanic edifices?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Obenholzner, Johannes; Edwards, Marc; Parks, J. L.; Fulingati, Paolo

2010-05-01

A top-sealed plastic tube with a diameter of ca. 15 cm had been buried ca. 70 cm deep vertically at the base of La Fossa volcano, Vulcano island, Italy, next to the front of the obsidian flow. The tube had been filled with layered rock and quartz wool to condense vapors emanating from the soil. At ca. 75 cm below the surface the sample had been exposed to vapors from Sept. 2005 to April 2006. The leached sample had not been in touch with the ground. 2 other glass wool cushions (ca. 10 cm thick, uncompacted) had been underneath to minimize capillary effects. A rock wool layer not touching ground revealed nucleated sylvite (KCl ~10 µm in size) and barite (BaSO4 ~5-10 µm in size) crystals by SEM/EDS in its basal portion. Other very small (< 2 µm) particles were observed on the rock wool fibers but we could not identify them because they were suddenly volatilized by the electron beam during the analysis. The bright appearance of these particles in backscattered images suggests that these particles may be metal compounds. The nucleation of sylvite and barite documents the presence of ions. Leaching of the quartz wool at room temperature with deionized H2O and ICP-MS analysis documented positive values for: Mg, Al, Si, P, K, Ca, Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Sn, Pb and partially W. Leaching with nitric acid documented also V and Fe. Acid leaching produced higher values for all elements, except K and Sn. Negative values had been obtained for As, Se, Mo. Influence from soil breathing can be excluded as the active fumaroles contain As and Se. This experiment documents for the first time an unknown element transport by vapors/gases through a volcanic edifice interacting with hydrothermal and magmatic gases. In comparison with blank data, 4 groups of elements can be distinguished: . positive signal: Mg, K, Ca, Cr, Mn, Ni, (Ba); low to moderate volatility at magmatic conditions. 2. unclear signal: Al, Si, P, Fe; low volatility at magmatic conditions. 3. no signal: V, As, Se, Mo, Co. As, Se, Mo, V are considered to be highly volatile, Co got a low volatiliy. 4. positive signal: Cu, Zn, Cd, Sn, Pb, W; high volatility at magmatic conditions. Charging, and to a lesser degree ions, in volcanic environments had been documented after fracture-charging in eruptive plumes and in phreatomagmatic and steam plumes (James et al., 2000). The sampling site is not within well defined CO2 anomalies around La Fossa v.. The heating events 2005/2006 (Granieri et al., 2006) might have shifted anomalous CO2 degassing in the vicinity. Ba ions exist at very low pH values (0-1). No acidic alteration at the site is detectable at macro-scale. The bottom of the site had been dry even after heavy rainfalls (Sept. 2006). Bottom temperatures at Sept. 2005, April 06 and Sept. 2006 had been 19-21°C (3 measurements). Are ions documented as nucleated particles penetrating the volcanic edifice or are other sources of these ions possible? However, all ions, vapors or nanoparticles have to go through porous systems to nucleate or getting deposited at the experimental site. Why are they not nucleating somewhere at depth? Sea water encountering hot lava is known to produce charged particles. Is seawater reaching magma storage at depth of the edifice? Sylvite and K data of leaching seem to be in correspondence. The leaching technique would not permit dissolution of barite. P data might indicate condensed products of PH3. PH3 had been already detected by Obenholzner et al. (2006). All other elements detected by ICP-MS could be related to sulfates, sulfides and halogenides or to unspecified nanoparticles. Halocarbons and chlorinated benzenes are reported from the base of La Fossa v. (Schwandner et al., 2004). A GeoRef search (geogas) documents element and nanoparticles transport by an even non-volcanic geogas. The origin of ions, the question if ions or nanoparticles are responsible for ICP-MS detected elements, are crucial if there will be future approaches to develop a new generation of chemical or physical sensors to monitor active volcanoes. At the moment glass wool-filled tubes are installed at Vesuvius, Solfatara, La Fossa v. and Vulcanello. A blank experiment is installed at Monte Lattari, Sorrento Peninsula, Italy. However, the geogas makes it difficult to locate a blank volcano or any kind of a blank site on Earth. It remains unknown if elements detected are entering the atmosphere or are getting adsorbed onto the volcanic ash/soil particles derived from reworked surge beds and alteration at La Fossa v.. Theoretical and empirical studies exist if particles from the lithosphere can reach the ionosphere and cause disturbances (Liperovsky et al., 2005; Dautermann et al. 2007). Refined experiments at the base of several volcanoes at different stages of activity are needed. Better EM studies of exposed glass wool are necessary. Geochemical data on recent Vulcano rock coatings suggest that metals and trace elements are at least partially fixed on the surface of the ground (Fulignati et al., 2002). It remains unknown if old, buried rock coatings exist at depth. Soil air sampling through filter-bubbler equipment and subsequent ICP-MS analyses of liquids at the experimental site at the base of La Fossa v. and on Stromboli revealed various trace elements in bubbler liquids. Ref: Dautermann et al., 2007. J. Geophys. Res., Vol. 112, B02106, doi: 10.1029/2006JB004447. Fulignati et al., 2002. JVGR, 115, 397-410. James et al., 2000. J. Geophys. Res., 105, B7, 16641-16649. Granieri et al.,2006. GRL, 33, L13316, doi:10.1029/2006GL026460. Liperovsky et al., 2005. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 5, 783-789. Obenholzner J.H. et al. (2006). Geophysical Research Abstract, vol. 8, 05721. Schwandner et al., 2004. J. Geophys. Res., 109, D04301, doi:10.1029/2003JD003890.