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.