Stable isotopes of carbon and oxygen in volcanic gases are key tracers of volatile transfer between Earth’s interior and atmosphere. Although important, these data are available for few volcanoes because they have traditionally been difficult to obtain and are usually measured on gas samples collected from fumaroles. We present new field measurements of bulk plume composition and stable isotopes (δ13CCO2and δ18OH2O+CO2) carried out at three northern Chilean volcanoes using MultiGAS and isotope ratio infrared spectroscopy. Carbon and oxygen in magmatic gas plumes of Lastarria and Isluga volcanoes have δ13C in CO2of +0.76‰ to +0.77‰ (VPDB), similar to slab carbonate; and δ18O in the H2O + CO2system ranging from +12.2‰ to +20.7‰ (VSMOW), suggesting significant contributions from altered slab pore water and carbonate. The hydrothermal plume at Tacora has lower δ13CCO2of −3.2‰ and δ18OH2O+CO2of +7.0‰, reflecting various scrubbing, kinetic fractionation, and contamination processes. We show the isotopic characterization of volcanic gases in the field to be a practical complement to traditional sampling methods, with the potential to remove sampling bias that is a risk when only a few samples from accessible fumaroles are used to characterize a given volcano’s volatile output. Our results indicate that there is a previously unrecognized, relatively heavy isotopic signature to bulk volcanic gas plumes in the Central Andes, which can be attributed to a strong influence from components of the subducting slab, but may also reflect some local crustal contamination. The techniques we describe open new avenues for quantifying the roles that subduction zones and arc volcanoes play in the global carbon cycle.

Schipper, C., Moussallam, Y., Curtis, A., Peters, N., Barnie, T., Bani, P., et al. (2017). Isotopically (δ13C and δ18O) heavy volcanic plumes from Central Andean volcanoes: a field study. BULLETIN OF VOLCANOLOGY, 79(8) [10.1007/s00445-017-1146-4].

Isotopically (δ13C and δ18O) heavy volcanic plumes from Central Andean volcanoes: a field study

Aiuppa, Alessandro;
2017-01-01

Abstract

Stable isotopes of carbon and oxygen in volcanic gases are key tracers of volatile transfer between Earth’s interior and atmosphere. Although important, these data are available for few volcanoes because they have traditionally been difficult to obtain and are usually measured on gas samples collected from fumaroles. We present new field measurements of bulk plume composition and stable isotopes (δ13CCO2and δ18OH2O+CO2) carried out at three northern Chilean volcanoes using MultiGAS and isotope ratio infrared spectroscopy. Carbon and oxygen in magmatic gas plumes of Lastarria and Isluga volcanoes have δ13C in CO2of +0.76‰ to +0.77‰ (VPDB), similar to slab carbonate; and δ18O in the H2O + CO2system ranging from +12.2‰ to +20.7‰ (VSMOW), suggesting significant contributions from altered slab pore water and carbonate. The hydrothermal plume at Tacora has lower δ13CCO2of −3.2‰ and δ18OH2O+CO2of +7.0‰, reflecting various scrubbing, kinetic fractionation, and contamination processes. We show the isotopic characterization of volcanic gases in the field to be a practical complement to traditional sampling methods, with the potential to remove sampling bias that is a risk when only a few samples from accessible fumaroles are used to characterize a given volcano’s volatile output. Our results indicate that there is a previously unrecognized, relatively heavy isotopic signature to bulk volcanic gas plumes in the Central Andes, which can be attributed to a strong influence from components of the subducting slab, but may also reflect some local crustal contamination. The techniques we describe open new avenues for quantifying the roles that subduction zones and arc volcanoes play in the global carbon cycle.
2017
Schipper, C., Moussallam, Y., Curtis, A., Peters, N., Barnie, T., Bani, P., et al. (2017). Isotopically (δ13C and δ18O) heavy volcanic plumes from Central Andean volcanoes: a field study. BULLETIN OF VOLCANOLOGY, 79(8) [10.1007/s00445-017-1146-4].
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
Schipperetal.2017.pdf

Solo gestori archvio

Dimensione 3.23 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
3.23 MB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri   Richiedi una copia

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10447/251157
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 9
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 7
social impact