Abstract
In Roman mythology, Vulcan, the god of fire, was said
to have made tools and weapons for the other gods in his
workshop at Olympus. Throughout history, volcanoes have
frequently been identified with Vulcan and other
mythological figures. Scientists now know that the
“smoke" from volcanoes, once attributed by poets to be
from Vulcan’s forge, is actually volcanic gas naturally
released from both active and many inactive volcanoes.
The molten rock, or magma, that lies beneath
volcanoes and fuels eruptions, contains abundant gases that
are released to the surface before, during, and after
eruptions. These gases range from relatively benign
low-temperature steam to thick hot clouds of choking
sulfurous fume jetting from the earth.
Water vapor is typically the most abundant volcanic
gas, followed by carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide. Other
volcanic gases are hydrogen sulfide, hydrochloric acid,
hydrogen, carbon monoxide, hydrofluoric acid, and other
trace gases and volatile metals. The concentrations of these
gas species can vary considerably from one volcano to the
next.
|
First posted June 11, 2014
- This report is available only on the Web
Part or all of this report is presented in Portable Document Format (PDF). For best results viewing and printing PDF documents, it is recommended that you download the documents to your computer and open them with Adobe Reader. PDF documents opened from your browser may not display or print as intended. Download the latest version of Adobe Reader, free of charge.
|