Fiebig, Jens

Methane plays an important role in the Earth’s atmospheric chemistry and radiative balance being the second most important greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide. Methane is released to the atmosphere by a wide number of sources, both natural and anthropogenic, with the latter being twice as large as the former (IPCC, 2007). It has recently been established that significant amounts of geological methane, produced within the Earth’s crust, are currently released naturally into the atmosphere (Etiope, 2004). Active or recent volcanic/geothermal areas represent one of these sources of geological methane. But due to the fact that methane flux measurements are laboratory intensive, very few data have been collected until now and the contribution of this source has been generally indirectly estimated (Etiope et al., 2007). The Greek territory is geodynamically very active and has many volcanic and geothermal areas. Here we report on methane flux measurements made at two volcanic/geothermal systems along the South Aegean volcanic arc: Sousaki and Nisyros. The former is an extinct volcanic area of Plio-Pleistocene age hosting nowadays a low enthalpy geothermal field. The latter is a currently quiescent active volcanic system with strong fumarolic activity due to the presence of a high enthalpy geothermal system. Both systems have gas manifestations that emit significant amounts of hydrothermal methane and display important diffuse carbon dioxide emissions from the soils. New data on methane isotopic composition and higher hydrocarbon contents point to an abiogenic origin of the hydrothermal methane in the studied systems. Measured methane flux values range from –48 to 29,000 (38 sites) and from –20 to 1100 mg/mˆ2/d (35 sites) at Sousaki and Nisyros respectively. At Sousaki measurement sites covered almost all the degassing area and the diffuse methane output can be estimated in about 20 t/a from a surface of about 10,000 mˆ2. At Nisyros measurements covered the Stephanos and Kaminakia areas, which represent only a part of the entire degassing area. The two areas show very different methane degassing pattern with latter showing much higher flux values. Methane output can be estimated in about 0.25 t/a from an area of about 30,000 mˆ2 at Stephanos and about 1 t/a from an area of about 20,000 mˆ2 at Kaminakia. The total output from the entire geothermal system of Nisyros probably should not exceed 2 t/a.

Chemical and isotopic analyses of the main gas manifestations of the island of Pantelleria (Italy) were used to gain insight on the origin of the released methane. Results indicate that the most probable origin is through abiogenic reactions within the hydrothermal system. Methane and CO2 flux measurements from the soils were made with the accumulation chamber method in an area of about 0.015 km2 within the main fumarolic area of the island (Favara Grande). The 23 measurements range from –34 to 3550 mg m-2 d-1 for CH4 and from 0.6 to 379 g m-2 d-1 for CO2. The relationships between CH4 and CO2 fluxes and the CH4/CO2 ratios in the gases collected between 25 and 100 cm depth provide evidence for methanotrophic processes within the soils. Methane output for the surveyed area was calculated in 2.5 t a-1 and extrapolated to about 5-10 t a-1 for the entire volcanic/hydrothermal system of the island. Previous higher estimates of the CH4 output at Pantelleria (Etiope et al., 2007 - J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res., 165, 76 – 86) were based on soil CO2 output and CH4/CO2 ratios in fumarolic gases; the present work provides the first direct CH4 flux data and it suggests that methanotrophic activity in the soil could be substantial in reducing the CH4 emission to the atmosphere.