Badalamenti, B.

The northwestern flank of the Colli Albani, a Quaternary volcanic complex near Rome, is characterised by high CO2 values and Rn activities in the groundwater and by the presence of zones with strong emission of gas from the soil. The most significant of these zones is Cava dei Selci where many houses are located very near to the gas emission site. The emitted gas consists mainly of CO2 (up to 98 vol) with an appreciable content of H2S (0.8). The He and C isotopic composition indicates, as for all fluids associated with the Quaternary Roman and Tuscany volcanic provinces, the presence of an upper mantle component contaminated by crustal fluids associated with subducted sediments and carbonates. An advective CO2 flux of 37 tons/day has been estimated from the gas bubbles rising to the surface in a small drainage ditch and through a stagnant water pool, present in the rainy season in a topographically low central part of the area. A CO2 soil flux survey with an accumulation chamber, carried out in February-March 2000 over a 12 000 m2 surface with 242 measurement points, gave a total (mostly conductive) flux of 61 tons/day. CO2 soil flux values vary by four orders of magnitude over a 160-m distance and by one order of magnitude over several metres. A fixed network of 114 points over 6350 m2 has been installed in order to investigate temporal flux variations. Six surveys carried out from May 2000 to June 2001 have shown large variations of the total CO2 soil flux (8/25 tons/day). The strong emission of CO2 and H2S, which are gases denser than air, produces dangerous accumulations in low areas which have caused a series of lethal accidents to animals and one to a man. The gas hazard near the houses has been assessed by continuously monitoring the CO2 and H2S concentration in the air at 75 cm from the ground by means of two automatic stations. Certain environmental parameters (wind direction and speed; atm P, T, humidity and rainfall) were also continuously recorded. At both stations, H2S and CO2 exceeded by several times the recommended concentration thresholds. The highest CO2 and H2S values were recorded always with wind speeds less than 1.5 m/s, mostly in the night hours. Our results indicate that there is a severe gas hazard for people living near the gas emission site of Cava dei Selci, and appropriate precautionary and prevention measures have been recommended both to residents and local authorities.

Continuous monitoring of soil CO2 dynamic concentration (which is proportional to the CO2 flux through the soil) was carried out at a peripheral site of Mt. Etna during the period November 1997 - September 2000 using an automated station. The acquired data were compared with SO2 flux from the summit craters measured two to three times a week during the same period. The high frequency of data acquisition with both methods allowed us to analyze in detail the time variations of both parameters. Anomalous high values of soil CO2 dynamic concentration always preceded periods of increased flux of plume SO2, and these in turn were followed by periods of summit eruptions. The variations were modeled in terms of gas efflux increase due to magma ascent to shallow depth and its consequent depressurization and degassing. This model is supported by data from other geophysical and volcanological parameters. The rates of increase both of soil CO2 dynamic concentration and of plume SO2 flux are interpreted to be positively correlated both to the velocity of magma ascent within the volcano and to lava effusion rate once magma is erupted at the surface. Low rates of the increase were recorded before the nine-month-long 1999 subterminal eruption. Higher rates of increase were observed before the violent summit eruption of September-November 1999, and the highest rates were observed during shorter and very frequent spike-like anomalies that preceded the sequence of short-lived but very violent summit eruptions that started in late January 2000 and continued until late June of the same year. Furthermore, the time interval between the peaks of CO2 and SO2 in a single sequence of gas anomalies is likely to be controlled by magma ascent velocity.