Total CO2 output from Vulcano Island (Aeolian Islands, Italy)

Abstract

Total CO2 output from fumaroles, soil gas, bubbling gas discharges and water dissolved gases discharged from the island, was estimated for Vulcano island, Italy. The CO2 emission from fumaroles from the La Fossa summit crater was estimated from the SO2 crater output, while CO2 discharged through diffuse soil emission was quantified on the basis of 730 measurements of CO2 fluxes from the soil of the island, performed by using the accumulation chamber method. The results indicate an overall output of ≅500 t/day of CO2 from the island. The main contribution to the total CO2 output comes from the summit area of the La Fossa cone (453 t/day), with 362 t/day from crater fumaroles and 91 t/day from crater soil degassing. The release of CO2 from peripheral areas is ≅20 t/day by soil degassing (Palizzi and Istmo areas mainly), an amount comparable to both the contribution of water dissolved CO2 (6 t/day), as well as to seawater bubbling CO2 (4 t/day measured in the Istmo area). Presented data (September 2007) refer to a period of moderate solphataric activity, when the fumaroles temperature were 450°C and gas/water molar ratio of fumaroles was up to 0.16. The calculated total CO2 emission allows the estimation of the mass release and related thermal energy from the volcanic-hydrothermal system.