ALBERT

Beschreibung: Volcanoes represent an important natural source of several trace elements to the atmosphere. For some species (e.g., As, Cd, Pb and Se) they may be the main natural source and thereby strongly influencing geochemical cycles from the local to the global scale. Mount Etna is one of the most actively degassing volcanoes in the world, and it is considered to be, on the long-term average, the major atmospheric point source of many environmental harmful compounds. Their emission occurs either through continuous passive degassing from open-conduit activity or through sporadic paroxysmal eruptive activity, in the form of gases, aerosols or particulate. To estimate the environmental impact of magma-derived trace metals and their depositions processes, rainwater and snow samples were collected at Mount Etna area. Five bulk collectors have been deployed at various altitudes on the upper flanks around the summit craters of the volcano; samples were collected every two week for a period of one year and analyzed for the main chemical-physical parameters (electric conductivity and pH) and for major and trace elements concentrations. Chemical analysis of rainwater clearly shows that the volcanic contribution is always prevailing in the sampling site closest to the summit crater (about 1.5 km). In the distal sites (5.5-10 km from the summit) and downwind of the summit craters, the volcanic contribution is also detectable but often overwhelmed by anthropogenic or other natural (seawater spray, geogenic dust) contributions. Volcanic contribution may derive from both dry and wet deposition of gases and aerosols from the volcanic plume, but sometimes also from leaching of freshly emitted volcanic ashes. In fact, in our background site (7.5 km in the upwind direction) volcanic contribution has been detected only following an ash deposition event. About 30 samples of fresh snow were collected in the upper part of the volcano, during the winters 2006 and 2007 to estimate deposition processes at high altitude during cold periods. Some of the samples were collected immediately after a major explosive event from the summit craters to understand the interaction between snow and fresh erupted ash. Sulphur, Chlorine and Fluorine, are the major elements that prevailingly characterize the volcanic contribution in atmospheric precipitation on Mount Etna, but high concentrations of many trace elements are also detected in the studied samples. In particular, bulk deposition samples display high concentration of Al, Fe, Ti, Cu, As, Rb, Pb, Tl, Cd, Cr, U and Ag, in the site most exposed to the volcanic emissions: median concentration values are about two orders of magnitude higher than those measured in our background site. Also in the snow samples the volcanic signature is clearly detectable and decreases with distance from the summit craters. Some of the analysed elements display very high enrichment values with respect to the average crust and, in the closest site to the summit craters, also deposition values higher than those measured in polluted urban or industrial sites.

Beschreibung: Published

Beschreibung: Vienna, Austria

Beschreibung: 4.5. Degassamento naturale

Beschreibung: open

Beschreibung: Improving the constraints on the atmospheric fate and depletion rates of acidic compounds persistently emitted by non-erupting (quiescent) volcanoes is important for quantitatively predicting the environmental impact of volcanic gas plumes. Here, we present new experimental data coupled with modelling studies to investigate the chemical processing of acidic volcanogenic species during tropospheric dispersion. Diffusive tube samplers were deployed at Mount Etna, a very active open-conduit basaltic volcano in eastern Sicily, and Vulcano Island, a closed-conduit quiescent volcano in the Aeolian Islands (northern Sicily). Sulphur dioxide (SO2), hydrogen sulphide (H2S), hydrogen chloride (HCl) and hydrogen fluoride (HF) concentrations in the volcanic plumes (typically several minutes to a few hours old) were repeatedly determined at distances from the summit vents ranging from 0.1 to ~10 km, and under different environmental conditions. At both volcanoes, acidic gas concentrations were found to decrease exponentially with distance from the summit vents (e.g., SO2 decreases from ~10,000 μg/m3 at 0.1 km from Etna’s vents down to ~7 _μg/m3 at ~10km distance), reflecting the atmospheric dilution of the plume within the acid gas-free background troposphere. Conversely, SO2/HCl, SO2/HF, and SO2/H2S ratios in the plume showed no systematic changes with plume aging, and fit source compositions within analytical error. Assuming that SO2 losses by reaction are small during short-range atmospheric transport within quiescent (ash-free) volcanic plumes, our observations suggest that, for these short transport distances, atmospheric reactions for H2S and halogens are also negligible. The one-dimensional model MISTRA was used to simulate quantitatively the evolution of halogen and sulphur compounds in the plume of Mt. Etna. Model predictions support the hypothesis of minor HCl chemical processing during plume transport, at least in cloud-free conditions. Larger variations in the modelled SO2/HCl ratios were predicted under cloudy conditions, due to heterogeneous chlorine cycling in the aerosol phase. The modelled evolution of the SO2/H2S ratios is found to be substantially dependent on whether or not the interactions of H2S with halogens are included in the model. In the former case, H2S is assumed to be oxidized in the atmosphere mainly by OH, which results in minor chemical loss for H2S during plume aging and produces a fair match between modelled and measured SO2/H2S ratios. In the latter case, fast oxidation of H2S by Cl leads to H2S chemical lifetimes in the early plume of a few seconds, and thus SO2 to H2S ratios that increase sharply during plume transport. This disagreement between modelled and observed plume compositions suggests that more in-detail kinetic investigations are required for a proper evaluation of H2S chemical processing in volcanic plumes.

Beschreibung: Published

Beschreibung: 1441-1450

Beschreibung: 1.2. TTC - Sorveglianza geochimica delle aree vulcaniche attive

Beschreibung: 4.5. Degassamento naturale

Beschreibung: JCR Journal

Beschreibung: open

Beschreibung: Author Posting. © Annual Reviews, 2003. This article is posted here by permission of Annual Reviews for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Annual Review of Environment and Resources 28 (2003): 521-558, doi:10.1146/annurev.energy.28.011503.163443.

Beschreibung: Agriculture and industrial development have led to inadvertent changes in the natural carbon cycle. As a consequence, concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases have increased in the atmosphere and may lead to changes in climate. The current challenge facing society is to develop options for future management of the carbon cycle. A variety of approaches has been suggested: direct reduction of emissions, deliberate manipulation of the natural carbon cycle to enhance sequestration, and capture and isolation of carbon from fossil fuel use. Policy development to date has laid out some of the general principles to which carbon management should adhere. These are summarized as: how much carbon is stored, by what means, and for how long. To successfully manage carbon for climate purposes requires increased understanding of carbon cycle dynamics and improvement in the scientific capabilities available for measurement as well as for policy needs. The specific needs for scientific information to underpin carbon cycle management decisions are not yet broadly known. A stronger dialogue between decision makers and scientists must be developed to foster improved application of scientific knowledge to decisions. This review focuses on the current knowledge of the carbon cycle, carbon measurement capabilities (with an emphasis on the continental scale) and the relevance of carbon cycle science to carbon sequestration goals.

Beschreibung: The National Center for Atmospheric Research is supported by the National Science Foundation.

Beschreibung: Author Posting. © Annual Reviews, 2006. This article is posted here by permission of Annual Reviews for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics 38 (2006): 395-425, doi:10.1146/annurev.fluid.38.050304.092129.

Beschreibung: Over the past four decades, the combination of in situ and remote sensing observations has demonstrated that long nonlinear internal solitary-like waves are ubiquitous features of coastal oceans. The following provides an overview of the properties of steady internal solitary waves and the transient processes of wave generation and evolution, primarily from the point of view of weakly nonlinear theory, of which the Korteweg-de Vries equation is the most frequently used example. However, the oceanographically important processes of wave instability and breaking, generally inaccessible with these models, are also discussed. Furthermore, observations often show strongly nonlinear waves whose properties can only be explained with fully nonlinear models.

Beschreibung: KRH acknowledges support from NSF and ONR and an Independent Study Award from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. WKM acknowledges support from NSF and ONR, which has made his work in this area possible, in close collaboration with former graduate students at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and MIT.