Remarkable geochemical changes and degassing at Voui crater lake,Ambae volcano,Vanuatu

Ambae (also known as Aoba), is a 38 × 16 km² lozenge-shaped island volcano with a coastal population of around 10 000. At the summit of the volcano is lake Voui — one of the largest active crater lakes worldwide, with 40 × 10⁶ m³ of acidic water perched 1400 m a.s.l. After more than 300 years of dormancy, Ambae volcano reawakened with phreatic eruptions through Voui in 1995, and culminating in a series of surtseyan eruptions in 2005, followed by a rapid and spectacular colour change of the lake from light blue to red in 2006. Integrating lake water chemistry with new measurements of SO₂ emissions from the volcano during the 2005–2006 eruptive period helps to explain the unusual and spectacular volcanic activity of Ambae — initially, a degassed magma approached the lake bed and triggered the surtseyan eruption. Depressurization of the conduit facilitated ascent of volatile-rich magma from the deeper plumbing system. The construction of a cone during eruption and the high degassing destabilised the equilibrium of lake stratification leading to a limnic event and subsequently the spectacular colour change.     

Temporal changes in the chemistry of lake water within Yugama Crater,Kusatsu-Shirane Volcano,Japan: Implications for the evolution of the magmatic hydrothermal system

The chemical composition and temperature of lake water within Yugama Crater, Kusatsu-Shirane Volcano, Japan, have fluctuated markedly over the period 1966 to 2005. From 1966 to 1981, water temperature was relatively low, and Cl⁻ and SO₄²⁻ concentrations gradually decreased. These trends are explained by the growth of a sealing zone that formed between the region of hot rock surrounding the degassing magma and cool crust saturated with groundwater. The sealing zone acted to restrict the emission of magmatic volatiles.     

Subaqueous geothermal activity revealed by lacustrine sediments of the acidic Nakadake crater lake, Aso Volcano, Japan

Lacustrine sediments were sampled from the inaccessible acidic (pH = 0.43) Nakadake crater lake of Aso Volcano, Japan by a simple method. The sediments contain an extremely high content (74 wt.%) of sulfur, which exits as elemental sulfur, gypsum and anhydrite. The abundant elemental sulfur is likely formed by the reaction of SO₂ and H₂S gases and by the SO₂ disproportionation reaction in magmatic hydrothermal system below the crater lake. Based on the sulfur content of sediments and measurements of elevation change of the crater bottom, the sulfur accumulation rate at the Nakadake crater lake was calculated as 250 tonne/day, which is comparable with the SO₂ emission rate (200–600 tonne/day) from the Nakadake crater. The sediments include a small amount (9%) of clear glass shards that are apparently not altered in spite of the high reactivity of hyperacid lake water. This finding suggests that the clear glass shards are fragments of recently emitted magmas from fumaroles on the bottom of the crater lake and the magma emissions continuously occur even in quiescent periods.     

Chemical evolution and volcanic activity of the active crater lake of Poás volcano, Costa Rica, 1993–1997

Concentrations of chloride and sulfate and pH in the hot crater lake (Laguna Caliente) at Poás volcano and in acid rain varied over the period 1993–1997. These parameters are related to changes in lake volume and temperature, and changes in summit seismicity and fumarole activity beneath the active crater. During this period, lake level increased from near zero to its highest level since 1953, lake temperature declined from a maximum value of 70°C to a minimum value of 25°C, and pH of the lake water increased from near zero to 1.8. In May 1993 when the lake was nearly dry, chloride and sulfate concentrations in the lake water reached 85,400 and 91,000 mg l⁻¹, respectively. Minimum concentrations of chloride and sulfate after the lake refilled to its maximum volume were 2630 and 4060 mg l⁻¹, respectively. Between January 1993 and May 1995, most fumarolic activity was focused through the bottom of the lake. After May 1995, fumarolic discharge through the bottom of the lake declined and reappeared outside the lake within the main crater area. The appearance of new fumaroles on the composite pyroclastic cone coincided with a dramatic decrease in type B seismicity after January 1996. Between May 1995 and December 1997, enhanced periods of type A seismicity and episodes of harmonic tremor were associated with an increase in the number of fumaroles and the intensity of degassing on the composite pyroclastic cone adjacent to the crater lake. Increases in summit seismic activity (type A, B and harmonic tremor) and in the height of eruption plumes through the lake bottom are associated with a period of enhanced volcanic activity during April–September 1994. At this time, visual observations and remote fumarole temperature measurements suggest an increase in the flux of heat and gases discharged through the bottom of the crater lake, possibly related to renewed magma ascent beneath the active crater. A similar period of enhanced seismic activity that occurred between August 1995 and January 1996, apparently caused fracturing of sealed fumarole conduits beneath the composite pyroclastic cone allowing the focus of fumarolic degassing to migrate from beneath the lake back to the 1953–1955 cone. Changes in the chemistry of summit acid rain are correlated changes in volcanic activity regardless of whether fumaroles are discharging into the lake or are discharging directly into the atmosphere.     

The eruptive rate and history of Kuju volcano in Japan during the past 15,000 years

The eruptive history of Kuju volcano on Kyushu, Japan, during the past 15,000 years has been determined by tephrochronology and ¹⁴C dating. Kuju volcano comprises isolated lava domes and cones of hornblende andesite together with aprons of pyroclastic-flow deposits on its flanks. Kuju volcano produced tephras at roughly 1000-yr intervals during the past 5000 years and 70% of the domes and cones have formed during the past 15,000 years. The youngest magmatic activity of Kuju volcano was the 1.6 km³ andesite eruption about 1600 years ago which emplaced a lava dome and block-and-ash flow. Kuju volcano shows a nearly constant long-term eruption rate (0.7–0.4 km³ for 1000 years) during the past 15,000 years. This rate is within the range of estimated average eruption rates of late Quaternary volcanoes in the Japanese Arc, but is about one order of magnitude higher than the eruption rate of Unzen volcano. Kuju volcano has been in phreatic eruption since October 1995. The late Quaternary history of Kuju indicates that it poses a significant volcanic hazard, primarily due to block-and-ash flows from collapsing lava domes.     

Refinement of the late Quaternary geologic history of Erebus volcano,Antarctica using Ar/Ar and Cl age determinations

Six new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar and three cosmogenic ³⁶Cl age determinations provide new insight into the late Quaternary eruptive history of Erebus volcano. Anorthoclase from 3 lava flows on the caldera rim have ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of 23 ± 12, 81 ± 3 and 172 ± 10 ka (all uncertainties 2σ). The ages confirm the presence of a second, younger, superimposed caldera near the southwestern margin of the summit plateau and show that eruptive activity has occurred in the summit region for 77 ± 13 ka longer than previously thought. Trachyte from “Ice Station” on the eastern flank is 159 ± 2 ka, similar in age to those at Bomb Peak and Aurora Cliffs. The widespread occurrences of trachyte on the eastern flank of Erebus suggest a major previously unrecognized episode of trachytic volcanism. The trachyte lavas are chemically and isotopically distinct from alkaline lavas erupted contemporaneously in the summit region < 5 km away.     

Measurement of O(1D) formation by ozone photolysis in the troposphere

An actinometric method to determine the rate constantk _1D of O(¹D) formation by ozone photolysis in the troposphere and at higher altitudes is presented. N₂O is used as a scavenger gas for O(¹D), and the molecular nitrogen product measured after gas chromatographic separation. First results of the method for ground level and for 26 km altitude are reported and compared with theoretical estimates ofk _1D for these levels.     

Estimating thermal inflow to El Chichón crater lake using the energy-budget,chemical and isotope balance approaches

El Chichón crater lake appeared immediately after the 1982 catastrophic eruption in a newly formed, 1-km wide, explosive crater. During the first 2 years after the eruption the lake transformed from hot and ultra-acidic caused by dissolution of magmatic gases, to a warm and less acidic lake due to a rapid “magmatic-to-hydrothermal transition” — input of hydrothermal fluids and oxidation of H₂S to sulfate. Chemical composition of the lake water and other thermal fluids discharging in the crater, stable isotope composition (δD and δ¹⁸O) of lake water, gas condensates and thermal waters collected in 1995–2006 were used for the mass-balance calculations (Cl, SO₄ and isotopic composition) of the thermal flux from the crater floor. The calculated fluxes of thermal fluid by different mass-balance approaches become of the same order of magnitude as those derived from the energy-budget model if values of 1.9 and 2 mmol/mol are taken for the catchment coefficient and the average H₂S concentration in the hydrothermal vapors, respectively. The total heat power from the crater is estimated to be between 35 and 60 MW and the CO₂ flux is not higher than 150 t/day or ~ 200 gm^− 2 day^− 1.     

Basaltic pyroclastic flows of Fuji volcano, Japan: characteristics of the deposits and their origin

Fuji volcano is the largest active volcano in Japan, and consists of Ko-Fuji and Shin-Fuji volcanoes. Although basaltic in composition, small-volume pyroclastic flows have been repeatedly generated during the Younger stage of Shin-Fuji volcano. Deposits of those pyroclastic flows have been identified along multiple drainage valleys on the western flanks between 1,300 and 2,000 m a.s.l., and have been stratigraphically divided into the Shin-Fuji Younger pyroclastic flows (SYP) 1 to 4. Downstream debris flow deposits are found which contain abundant material derived from the pyroclastic flow deposits. The new¹⁴C ages for SYP1 to SYP4 are 3.2, 3.0, 2.9, and 2.5 ka, respectively, and correspond to a period where explosive summit eruptions generated many scoria fall deposits mostly toward the east. The SYP1 to SYP4 deposits consist of two facies: the massive facies is about 2 m thick and contains basaltic bombs of less than 50 cm in size, scoria lapilli, and fresh lithic basalt fragments supported in an ash matrix; the surge facies is represented by beds 1 to 15 cm thick, consisting mainly of ash with minor amount of fine lapilli. The bombs and scoria are 15 to 30% in volume within the massive facies. The ashes within the SYP deposits consist largely of comminuted basalt lithics and crystals that are derived from the Middle-stage lava flows exposed at the western flanks. SYP1 to SYP4 were only dispersed down the western flanks. The reason for this one-sided distribution is the asymmetric topography of the edifice; the western slopes of the volcano are the steepest (over 34 degrees). Most pyroclastic materials cannot rest stably on the slopes steeper than 33 degrees. Therefore, ejecta from the explosive summit eruptions that fell on the steep slopes tumbled down the slopes and were remobilized as high-temperature granular flows. These flows consisted of large pyroclastics and moved as granular avalanches along the valley bottom. Furthermore, the avalanching flows increased in volume by abrasion from the edifice and generated abundant ashes by the collision of clasts. The large amount of the fine material was presumably available within the transport system as the basal avalanches propagated below the angle of repose. Taking the typical kinetic friction coefficient of small pyroclastic flows, such flows could descend the western flanks where scattered houses are below 1,000 m a.s.l. A similar type of pyroclastic flow could result if explosive summit eruptions occur in the future.Editorial responsibility: R Cioni     

Advantages and challenges of using soil water isotopes to assess groundwater recharge dominated by snowmelt at a field study located in Canada

Seasonal signals of stable isotopes in precipitation, combined with measurements of isotope ratios in soil water, can be used for quantitative estimation of groundwater recharge rates. This study investigates the applicability of using the piston flow principle and the peak shift displacement method to estimate actual groundwater recharge rates in a humid Nordic region located in the province of Quebec, Canada. Two different sites with and without vegetation (C1 and C2) in an unconfined aquifer were tested by measuring soil water isotope ratios (¹⁸O/¹⁶O and ²H/¹H) and volumetric pore water content. Core samples were obtained along the vadose zone down to the groundwater table at the two sites (2.45 m for Site C1 and 4.15 m for Site C2). The peak shift method to estimate groundwater recharge rates was shown to be accurate only in certain specific conditions inherent to the soil properties and the topographical situation of the investigated sites. Indeed, at Site C2, recharge from the snowmelt could not be estimated because of heterogeneity in the lower part of the vadose zone. At this same site the later recharge after the snowmelt (in the period from late spring to early autumn) could be estimated accurately because the upper part of the vadose zone was homogeneous. Furthermore, at site C1, runoff/runon phenomena hampered calculations of actual infiltration and thus produced inaccurate results for recharge. These two different site effects (heterogeneity in the first site and runoff/runon in the other site) were identified as being limiting factors in the accurate assessment of actual recharge. This study therefore recommends the use of the peak shift method for (1) humid Nordic regions, (2) homogeneous and thick vadose zones, and (3) areas with few or limited site effects (runoff/runon).     

Two stages of isotopic exchanges experienced by the Ertaibei granite pluton, northern Xinjiang, China

¹⁸O/¹⁶O and D/H of coexisting feldspar, quartz, and biotite separates of twenty samples collected from the Ertaibei granite pluton, northern Xinjiang, China are determined. It is shown that the Ertaibei pluton experienced two stages of isotopic exchanges. The second stage of¹⁸O/¹⁶O and D/H exchanges with meteoric water brought about a marked decrease in the δ¹⁸O values of feldspar and biotite from the second group of samples. The D/H of biotite exhibits a higher sensitivity to the meteoric water alteration than its¹⁸O/¹⁶O. However, the first stage of¹⁸O/¹⁶O exchange with the¹⁸O-rich aqueous fluid derived from the dehydration within the deep crust caused the Δ¹⁸O_{Quartz-Feldspar} reversal. It is inferred that the dehydration-melting may have been an important mechanism for anatexis. It is shown that the deep fluid encircled the Ertaibei pluton like an envelope which serves as an effective screen to the surface waters.     

The crater lake and hydrothermal system of Mount Pinatubo,Philippines: evolution in the decade after eruption

The June 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, Philippines breached a significant, pre-eruptive magmatic-hydrothermal system consisting of a hot (>300 °C) core at two-phase conditions and surrounding, cooler (<260 °C) liquid outflows to the N and S. The eruption created a large, closed crater that accumulated hydrothermal upwellings, near-surface aquifer and meteoric inflows. A shallow lake formed by early September 1991, and showed a long-term increase in level of ~1 m/month until an artificial drainage was created in September 2001. Comparison of the temporal trends in lake chemistry to pre- and post-eruptive springs distinguishes processes important in lake evolution. The lake was initially near-neutral pH and dominated by meteoric influx and Cl–SO₄ and Cl–HCO₃ hydrothermal waters, with peaks in SO₄ and Ca concentrations resulting from leaching of anhydrite and aerosol-laden tephra. Magmatic discharge, acidity (pH~2) and rock dissolution peaked in late 1992, during and immediately after eruption of a lava dome on the crater floor. Since cessation of dome growth, trends in lake pH (increase from 3 to 5.5), temperature (decline from 40 to 26 °C), and chemical and isotopic composition indicate that magmatic degassing and rock dissolution have declined significantly relative to the input of meteoric water and immature hydrothermal brine. Higher concentrations of Cl, Na, K, Li and B, and lower concentrations of Mg, Ca, Fe, SO₄ and F up to 1999 highlight the importance of a dilute hydrothermal contribution, as do stable-isotope and tritium compositions of the various fluids. However, samples taken since that time indicate further dilution and steeper trends of increasing pH and declining temperature. Present gas and brine compositions from crater fumaroles and hot springs indicate boiling of an immature Cl–SO₄ geothermal fluid of near-neutral pH at approximately 200 °C, rather than direct discharge from magma. It appears that remnants of the pre-eruptive hydrothermal system invaded the magma conduit shortly after the end of dome emplacement, blocking the direct degassing path. This, along with the large catchment area (~5 km²) and the high precipitation rate of the area, led to a rapid transition from a small and hot acid lake to a large lake with near-ambient temperature and pH. This behavior contrasts with that of peak-activity lakes that have more sustained volcanic gas influx (e.g., Kawah Ijen, Indonesia; Poas and Rincón de la Vieja, Costa Rica).Editorial responsibility: H. Shinohara     

A water flow model of the active crater lake at Aso volcano,Japan: fluctuations of magmatic gas and groundwater fluxes from the underlying hydrothermal system

The first crater of Nakadake, peak of Aso volcano, Japan, contains a hot water lake that shows interesting variations in water level and temperature. These variations were discovered by precise, continuous observations of the lake independent of precipitation. We developed a numerical model of a hot crater lake and compared with observational data for the period from July 2006 to January 2009. The numerical model revealed seasonal changes in mass flux (75–132 kg/s) and enthalpy (1,840–3,030 kJ/kg) for the fluid supplied to the lake. The relation between the enthalpy and mass flux indicates that the bottom input fluid is a mixture of high- and low-temperature fluids. Assuming a mixture of high-temperature steam at 800°C and liquid water at 100°C, we evaluated the liquid and steam fluxes. The liquid water flux shows a seasonal increase lagging behind the rainy season by 2 months, suggesting that the liquid water is predominantly groundwater. The fluctuation pattern in the flux of the high-temperature steam shows a relation with the amplitude of volcanic tremor, suggesting that heating of the hydrothermal system drives the tremor. Consequently, precise observations of a hot crater lake represent a potential method of monitoring volcanic hydrothermal systems in the shallow parts of the volcanoes.     

The occurrence of Mt Barca flank eruption in the evolution of the NW periphery of Etna volcano (Italy)

Geological surveys, tephrostratigraphic study, and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age determinations have allowed us to chronologically constrain the geological evolution of the lower NW flank of Etna volcano and to reconstruct the eruptive style of the Mt Barca flank eruption. This peripheral sector of the Mt Etna edifice, corresponding to the upper Simeto valley, was invaded by the Ellittico volcano lava flows between 41 and 29 ka ago when the Mt Barca eruption occurred. The vent of this flank eruption is located at about 15 km away from the summit craters, close to the town of Bronte. The Mt Barca eruption was characterized by a vigorous explosive activity that produced pyroclastic deposits dispersed eastward and minor effusive activity with the emission of a 1.1-km-long lava flow. Explosive activity was characterized by a phreatomagmatic phase followed by a magmatic one. The geological setting of this peripheral sector of the volcano favors the interaction between the rising magma and the shallow groundwater hosted in the volcanic pile resting on the impermeable sedimentary basement. This process produced phreatomagmatic activity in the first phase of the eruption, forming a pyroclastic fall deposit made of high-density, poorly vesicular scoria lapilli and lithic clasts. Conversely, during the second phase, a typical strombolian fall deposit formed. In terms of hazard assessment, the possible occurrence of this type of highly explosive flank eruption, at lower elevation in the densely inhabited areas, increases the volcanic risk in the Etnean region and widens the already known hazard scenario.     

Relationships between δ18O in summer precipitation and temperature and moisture trajectories at Muztagata, western China

Based on summer observations of stable isotope of precipitation at Muztagata, western China, during 2002-2003, this paper presents the relationship between δ ¹⁸O in precipitation and air temperature, and discusses the effect of moisture transport on δ ¹⁸O in precipitation. Results show that air temperature correlates positively with δ ¹⁸O in precipitation, and the temperature effect controls the δ ¹⁸O of precipitation in this area. The Muztagata region exhibits high δ ¹⁸O values in summer precipitation, similar to those shown at stations in adjacent regions. According to the results of our model set up to trace the moisture trajectories, the westerlies and local moisture circulation contribute to variations of oxygen isotopes in precipitation. In addition, the impacts of the moisture transport distance, the moisture transport level, and the incursion of the polar air mass also influence the variations of δ ¹⁸O in precipitation. The moisture origins and transport mechanisms also contribute to the variation of δ ¹⁸O in precipitation at Muztagata.     

Major and trace element geochemistry of neutral and acidic thermal springs at El Chichón volcano,Mexico: Implications for monitoring of the volcanic activity

Four groups of thermal springs with temperatures from 50 to 80 °C are located on the S–SW–W slopes of El Chichón volcano, a composite dome-tephra edifice, which exploded in 1982 with a 1 km wide, 160 m deep crater left. Very dynamic thermal activity inside the crater (variations in chemistry and migration of pools and fumaroles, drastic changes in the crater lake volume and chemistry) contrasts with the stable behavior of the flank hot springs during the time of observations (1974–2005). All known groups of hot springs are located on the contact of the basement and volcanic edifice, and only on the W–SW–S slopes of the volcano at almost same elevations 600–650 m asl and less than 3 km of direct distance from the crater. Three groups of near-neutral (pH ≈ 6) springs at SW–S slopes have the total thermal water outflow rate higher than 300 l/s and are similar in composition. The fourth and farthest group on the western slope discharges acidic (pH ≈ 2) saline (10 g/kg of Cl) water with a much lower outflow rate (< 10 l/s).     

Volcanic history of Mount Sidley,a major alkaline volcano in Marie Byrd Land,Antarctica

Mount Sidley is a complex, polygenetic stratovolcano composed primarily of phonolitic and trachytic lavas and subordinate pyroclastic lithologies at the southern extremity of the Executive Committee Range, a linear chain of volcanoes in central Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. Detailed field investigation coupled with 14 high precision ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age determinations reveal a 1.5 million year life span between 5.7 and 4.2 Ma in which three major phonolitic central vent edifices (Byrd, Weiss and Sidley volcanoes) and their calderas were developed (5.7–4.8 Ma). This was followed (4.6–4.5 Ma) by the eruption of trachytic magmas from multiple vent localities further south, and then by small volume benmoreite-mugearite lavas and tephras around 4.4–4.3 Ma at the southern end of Mount Sidley. The final phase of activity was the eruption of basanite cones at approximately 4.2 Ma. The southward migration of volcanic activity was accompanied by distinct changes in magma composition and is best explained by the sequential release of magmas stored within an intricate system of conduits and chambers in the crust by tectonically driven (magma assisted?) fracture propagation. The style of volcanic migration at Mount Sidley is emulated on a larger scale by other volcanoes in the Executive Committee Range, in which progressive southward displacement of volcanic activity corresponds with significant petrological variations between major centers.     

Leakage of Active Crater lake brine through the north flank at Rincón de la Vieja volcano, northwest Costa Rica, and implications for crater collapse

The Active Crater at Rincón de la Vieja volcano, Costa Rica, reaches an elevation of 1750 m and contains a warm, hyper-acidic crater lake that probably formed soon after the eruption of the Rio Blanco tephra deposit approximately 3500 years before present. The Active Crater is buttressed by volcanic ridges and older craters on all sides except the north, which dips steeply toward the Caribbean coastal plains. Acidic, above-ambient-temperature streams are found along the Active Crater's north flank at elevations between 800 and 1000 m. A geochemical survey of thermal and non-thermal waters at Rincón de la Vieja was done in 1989 to determine whether hyper-acidic fluids are leaking from the Active Crater through the north flank, affecting the composition of north-flank streams.Results of the water-chemistry survey reveal that three distinct thermal waters are found on the flanks of Rincón de la Vieja volcano: acid chloride–sulfate (ACS), acid sulfate (AS), and neutral chloride (NC) waters. The most extreme ACS water was collected from the crater lake that fills the Active Crater. Chemical analyses of the lake water reveal a hyper-acidic (pH0) chloride–sulfate brine with elevated concentrations of calcium, magnesium, aluminum, iron, manganese, copper, zinc, fluorine, and boron. The composition of the brine reflects the combined effects of magmatic degassing from a shallow magma body beneath the Active Crater, dissolution of andesitic volcanic rock, and evaporative concentration of dissolved constituents at above-ambient temperatures. Similar cation and anion enrichments are found in the above-ambient-temperature streams draining the north flank of the Active Crater. The pH of north-flank thermal waters range from 3.6 to 4.1 and chloride:sulfate ratios (1.2–1.4) that are a factor of two greater than that of the lake brine (0.60). The waters have an ACS composition that is quite different from the AS and NC thermal waters that occur along the southern flank of Rincón de la Vieja.The distribution of thermal water types at Rincón de la Vieja strongly indicates that formation of the north-flank ACS waters is not due to mixing of shallow, steam-heated AS water with deep-seated NC water. More likely, hyper-acidic brines formed in the Active Crater area are migrating through permeable zones in the volcanic strata that make up the Active Crater's north flank. Dissolution and shallow subsurface alteration of north-flank volcanoclastic material by interaction with acidic lake brine, particularly in the more permeable tephra units, could weaken the already oversteepened north flank of the Active Crater. Sector collapse of the Active Crater, with or without a volcanic eruption, represents a potential threat to human lives, property, and ecosystems at Rincón de la Vieja volcano.