Salt-bearing fumarole deposits in the summit crater of Oldoinyo Lengai, Northern Tanzania: interactions between natrocarbonatite lava and meteoric water

Oldoinyo Lengai in the Northern Tanzania rift is the only active nephelinite–carbonatite stratovolcano. We report the discovery of thermonatrite, aphthitalite, halite and sylvite fumarole deposits on recent natrocarbonatite lava flows erupted in the summit crater during the wet season. These salt deposits occur as delicate, concave fringes or tubes that line the cooling cracks in the lava flows and consist of intergrowths of euhedral crystals. The presence of a dark altered zone, depleted in halides and alkalies, adjacent to cooling cracks and observations of steam fumaroles emanating from the fractures suggest that the salts are formed by sublimation from saturated vapours generated by the extrusion of lavas over meteoric water. The crystallisation sequence recorded in the salts suggests that mixing between meteoric steam and magmatic CO₂ and H₂S occurs at high temperatures resulting in the sublimation of carbonates and sulphates. At lower temperatures the vapours are dominated by meteoric steam and sublimate halides. The high solubility of the fumarole salts within meteoric water and their formation only during the wet season implies that these are ephemeral deposits that are unlikely to be preserved in the geological record.     

Volatile emissions and gas geochemistry of Hot Spring Basin,Yellowstone National Park,USA

We characterize and quantify volatile emissions at Hot Spring Basin (HSB), a large acid-sulfate region that lies just outside the northeastern edge of the 640 ka Yellowstone Caldera. Relative to other thermal areas in Yellowstone, HSB gases are rich in He and H₂, and mildly enriched in CH₄ and H₂S. Gas compositions are consistent with boiling directly off a deep geothermal liquid at depth as it migrates toward the surface. This fluid, and the gases evolved from it, carries geochemical signatures of magmatic volatiles and water–rock reactions with multiple crustal sources, including limestones or quartz-rich sediments with low K/U (or ^40?Ar/^4?He). Variations in gas chemistry across the region reflect reservoir heterogeneity and variable degrees of boiling. Gas-geothermometer temperatures approach 300 °C and suggest that the reservoir feeding HSB is one of the hottest at Yellowstone. Diffuse CO₂ flux in the western basin of HSB, as measured by accumulation-chamber methods, is similar in magnitude to other acid-sulfate areas of Yellowstone and is well correlated to shallow soil temperatures. The extrapolation of diffuse CO₂ fluxes across all the thermal/altered area suggests that 410 ± 140 t d^− 1 CO₂ are emitted at HSB (vent emissions not included). Diffuse fluxes of H₂S were measured in Yellowstone for the first time and likely exceed 2.4 t d^− 1 at HSB. Comparing estimates of the total estimated diffuse H₂S emission to the amount of sulfur as SO₄²⁻ in streams indicates ~ 50% of the original H₂S in the gas emission is lost into shallow groundwater, precipitated as native sulfur, or vented through fumaroles. We estimate the heat output of HSB as ~ 140–370 MW using CO₂ as a tracer for steam condensate, but not including the contribution from fumaroles and hydrothermal vents. Overall, the diffuse heat and volatile fluxes of HSB are as great as some active volcanoes, but they are a small fraction (1–3% for CO₂, 2–8% for heat) of that estimated for the entire Yellowstone system.     

五大连池世界地质公园中“火山弹”与“喷气锥”景点定名商榷

位于中国东北黑龙江省的五大连池世界地质公园是世界上著名的自然景点,其引人之处就是新生代玄武岩火山地貌。然而,景点中有些火山构造的命名却存在着明显的错误,如：熔岩丘和增生熔岩球分别被错误地命名为“喷气锥”和“火山弹”。笔者根据著名专业网站（如：美国地质调查局网站）和经典教材中的相应定义讨论了这些火山构造。通过分析这些构造的形态、大小和成因,笔者将它们分别重新命名为熔岩丘和增生熔岩球。笔者建议：地质公园中所有景点的定名都应该经专家核实和评价,从而给出科学的、符合地质实际的名称。     

辽东早元古宙铅锌成矿带中硅质岩地质-地球化学特征

辽东早元古宙铅锌成矿带西起营口,经青城子东至宽甸,呈倒“S”型展布。含矿岩系为一套复杂的条带状硅质碳酸盐岩系,产于早元古宙坳拉槽内优、冒地槽过渡带的深大断裂带附近的活动环境,硅质岩是其重要的组成单元。硅质岩呈层状、条带状在碳酸盐岩中稳定分布,与层状硫化物具有同生特征。硅质岩和层状铅锌矿化的组合特征、稀土元素组成特征、同位素特征的研究表明,硅质岩和层状铅锌矿化具有相以的物质来源和形成机制。硅质岩是深部热液在海底喷出并于次级盆地中沉淀的产物,是一种火山-沉积型硅质岩。     

Fumarole monitoring with a handheld infrared camera: Volcán de Colima,Mexico, 2006–2007

This paper describes a methodology for the monitoring of fumarole temperatures at medium ranges (~ 6 km) using a handheld infrared camera (wavelength range: 8–13.5 µm). As a relationship between fumarole temperatures, gas flux and volcanic activity has been demonstrated by a number of studies, fumarole temperature data has a potential use as a monitoring tool. Volcán de Colima is an andesitic stratovolcano with a 300 m diameter summit crater formed by the destruction of the 2004 lava dome by a series of explosions in 2005. Between January 2006 and August 2007, sequences of thermal images were recorded from a viewpoint 6 km to the north during regular 24–48 hour monitoring excursions. The temperatures of fumaroles on the crater rim and the ground surface on the volcano's flanks were measured. A methodology was developed to remove data affected by clouds or volcanic water vapour based on rates of temperature change and scatter within the data. For the remaining data, it is demonstrated mathematically that at this range, typical variations in atmospheric transmissivity will affect the apparent temperatures by +/− 2 °C, while a 25% change in fumarole heat flux would change it by 5–10 °C. The mean night-time apparent temperature of the fumaroles was calculated for each excursion and showed an irregular decline over the 19 month period. Subtracting the radiant heat flux of flank rocks from those of the fumaroles removes seasonal variations and gives the clearest view of trends in the fumarole heat flux. A sharp drop in fumarole temperature during February 2007 coincided with the emergence of a lava dome in the crater. The declining fumarole temperature is interpreted to reflect decreasing gas flux from the crater in line with a change in eruptive regime from frequent, small, ash-rich explosions to slow effusion of lava.