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Chemical Composition of Volcanic Gases

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Monitoring and Mitigation of Volcano Hazards

Abstract

The composition of gases released from volcanoes is a function of deep processes, such as vapor-melt separation during the generation and rise of the magmas, and shallow processes, active within the volcanic structures themselves. Of the three major types of volcanic systems, those associated with andesitic magmatism are the most suitable to the application of geochemical surveillance and monitoring techniques. Volatile contents of andesitic magmas, largely representing fluids released from the subducted slab, are likely to be high enough to allow a separate, volatile-rich phase to be present during all stages of magma generation and migration. In spite of highly variable solubilities in magmatic melts, the proportions of volatiles present in the vapors discharged from volcanic fumaroles resemble closely those acquired at depth suggesting that the vapor-melt systems have attained steady-state and that the overall process active during the rise of the volatiles is effectively nonfractionating.

The variability in the composition of volcanic gases accessible to sampling, therefore, is largely due to shallow processes, such as reequilibration in response to cooling and dilution by meteoric water, and interaction with fluids of associated hydrothermal systems. The most important buffer of the redox state of volcanic gases is that involving H2S and SO2 of the vapor phase. The concentrations of rapidly responding species, such as H2 and CO, reflect redox control by this “gas buffer”. Species with slower kinetic responses, such as CH4, are largely generated within the slow-moving hydrothermal systems associated with most active volcanic structures. At shallow levels, the contents of H2S and SO2 are affected by the deposition and reevaporation of elemental S and disproportionation of SO2 to H2S and sulfate in a hydrothermal environment. Relative amounts of the highly soluble species HCl and HF are also affected by interaction with hydro-thermal solutions. The compositions of the inert species, such as CO2, N2 and the noble gases provide information on the origins of the vapors, from the mantle, the subducted slab, or groundwater.

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  1. Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences, P O Box 31, 312, Lower Hutt, New Zealand

    W. F. Giggenbach

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© 1996 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Giggenbach, W.F. (1996). Chemical Composition of Volcanic Gases. In: Monitoring and Mitigation of Volcano Hazards. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-80087-0_7

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