Volatile metal emissions from volcanic degassing and lava–seawater interactions at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai’i

Communications Earth and Environment
By: , and 

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Abstract

Volcanoes represent one of the largest natural sources of metals to the Earth’s surface. Emissions of these metals can have important impacts on the biosphere as pollutants or nutrients. Here we use ground- and drone-based direct measurements to compare the gas and particulate chemistry of the magmatic and lava–seawater interaction (laze) plumes from the 2018 eruption of Kīlauea, Hawai’i. We find that the magmatic plume contains abundant volatile metals and metalloids whereas the laze plume is further enriched in copper and seawater components, like chlorine, with volatile metals also elevated above seawater concentrations. Speciation modelling of magmatic gas mixtures highlights the importance of the S2− ligand in highly volatile metal/metalloid degassing at the magmatic vent. In contrast, volatile metal enrichments in the laze plume can be explained by affinity for chloride complexation during late-stage degassing of distal lavas, which is potentially facilitated by the HCl gas formed as seawater boils.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Volatile metal emissions from volcanic degassing and lava–seawater interactions at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai’i
Series title Communications Earth and Environment
DOI 10.1038/s43247-021-00145-3
Volume 2
Publication Date May 04, 2021
Year Published 2021
Language English
Publisher Nature
Contributing office(s) Volcano Science Center
Description 79, 16 p.
Country United States
State Hawaii
Other Geospatial Kīlauea Volcano
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