Volcanohydrothermalsystemssummary

JohanC.Varekamp,
Earth&EnvironmentalSciences
WesleyanUniversity
MiddletownCTUSA
Volcanohydrothermalsystemsoccurattheinterfaceofthemagmaticandmeteoric
domains,usuallycontainasubstantialproportionofmagmaticvolatiles,andaremost
likelyanimportantenvironmentfororedeposition.MagmaticgasesthatincludeSO2,
H2O,HClandHFarecapturedinashallowreservoir(13kmdepthbelowvolcano
summit)attemperaturesofupto350oC.TheSO2tendstodisproportionateintosulfate
andH2Sorliquidsulfur,leadingtoisotopicallyheavysulfurinthesulfate(+10to+15
permille)andverylowpHvalues(01).Acidchloridesulfatehotspringsandcrater
lakesarethoughttobealiquotsofsuchdeepfluids,withvariabledegreesofdilutionwith
meteoricwaters.
Thedegassingofmagmasatdepthprovidesthewaterrichvolatilephaseasweencounter
infumarolicemissionsfromhighvolcanicdomesandascapturedinthesehydrothermal
systems,butanNaClrichbrinephasemayformatdepth,whichmaybe>50%NaCl.
Thesebrinesarerarelyencounteredinthefield,butfluidinclusionstudiesofporphyry
copperdepositssuggeststhatthesefluidsareamediumfororetransportathigh
temperatureaswell.Examplesfromthefieldthatcarryafractionofsuchasuperbrine
arefoundatSirungvolcano(Pantar,Indonesia),Whiteisland,NewZealandandhot
springsatPeteroavolcanoinChile.
Mostvolcanoeshavealsoassociatedgeothermalsystems,whicharereservoirsofheated
meteoricwaterswithonlyasmallornegligiblecomponentofmagmaticgases.Theheat
ofthesesystemsislargelyobtainedthroughconductionfromthehotsurroundingsand
thechemicalcompositionisareflectionofwaterrockinteractionatelevatedtemperature.
Sothereleaseofvolcanicvolatilescanbesummarizedasfollows:
1. DeepbrinesrichinNaClthatbecauseoftheirhighdensityrarelymakeittothe
surface.Theadsorbed(orleachable)volatilefractiononvolcanicashesmaycarry
acomponentofthisbrine.
2. Magmaticvolatilesthatareeitherventedtotheatmospherethroughfumaroles
andduringeruptions,orarescrubbed/capturedinshallow,hotvolcano
hydrothermalsystems.Craterlakesandacidchloridesulfatespringsarethe
surfaceexpressionsofthesesystems.Thecompositionofthesefluidsrepresents
theoriginalvolcanicinput(highS,Cl,F,B,As,Li,metals)androckforming
elementsthatareaddedtothefluidsthroughcongruentrockdissolutionatlowpH
andhightemperature.
3. Diffusemagmaticgasinputsintolargemeteoricgeothermalsystems,leadingto
largelymeteoricsignaturesandmediumtolowtemperaturewaterrock
interaction,
Ihaveaddedtwopptpresentations,somepdfandsomereferencesthatdiscussand
summarizetheseissues.Thefirstpptpresentationprovidesdatafromavolcano

hydrothermalsystemintheAndes(Copahue,Argentina)andthesecondppthasan
accountontheuseofisotopictracersinvolcanohydrothermalsystemsfortheoriginof
thevolatilesaccountoftheglobalClcycle,focusedonthevolcaniccomponent.
ReadingReferences
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