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Geological Society, London, Special Publications; 2003; v. 213; p. 231-246;
DOI: 10.1144/GSL.SP.2003.213.01.14
© 2003 Geological Society of London

Part III Field Investigations of Degassing Volcanoes

Carbon dioxide emissions from fumarolic ice towers, Mount Erebus volcano, Antarctica

L. J. Wardell, P. R. Kyle & A. R. Campbell

Department of Earth and Environmental Science, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM 87801, USA

wardell{at}nmt.edu

Degassing at Mount Erebus occurs as a plume from a persistent convecting anorthoclase phonolite lava lake, and by flank degassing through warm ground and fumarolic ice towers within the summit caldera. The fumarolic ice towers offer a unique and simple approach to quantifying the flank CO2 emissions. Carbon dioxide effluxes were determined at openings in the ice towers by measuring the CO2 concentration, air-flow velocity, and size of the exit orifice. Fluxes ranged from <0.0001 to 0.034 kg s–1 at 43 actively degassing ice towers. Small patches of steaming warm ground contributed 0.010 kg s–1. The {delta}13C isotopic compositions of the CO2 samples ranged from –2.1 to –4.7{per thousand}, suggesting a magmatic origin for the CO2. Fumarolic ice towers allow diffuse degassing to be visually identified, providing a strong advantage in determining the total flux rate of these passive emissions. The estimated output of flank CO2 degassing is 0.46 kg s–1 (40 Mg d–1). Compared with direct airborne measurements of the volcanic plume, passive flank emissions constitute less than 2% of the total volcanic CO2 budget emitted from Mount Erebus.