The Solfatara Magmatic Hydrothermal System

This book includes innovative gas-geothermometers and geobarometers, which are urgently needed to estimate the increasingly higher temperatures and pressures present at depth below the Solfatara volcano, owing to its on-going unrest. Therefore, in this book, new gas geoindicators, applicable up to ca. 1000°C and 3 kbar, have been implemented and applied to Solfatara fluids. The innovations of this book include: methane, having a sluggish behavior, was treated separately from fast-reacting carbon monoxide; deviations from the ideal gas behavior were considered; the effects of reaction kinetics were taken into account. This was possible because a dataset including many geochemical parameters and extending from 1983 to 2020 with a good sampling frequency is available for Solfatara, making it a case history probably unique worldwide. Nevertheless, the gas geoindicators described in this book can be applied to other similar systems. Thus, this book is of interest to many scientists studying gas geochemistry, geothermometry, and geobarometry for volcanic surveillance and the mitigation of the volcanic risk.

Volume 73 of Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry represents a compilation of the material presented by the invited speakers at a short course on August 21-23, 2011 called Sulfur in Magmas and Melts and its Importance for Natural and Technical Processes held at the Hotel der Achtermann, in Goslar, Germany following the 2011 Goldschmidt Conference in Prague, Czech Republic. It covers Studies of sulfur in melts - motivations and overview, Analytical methods for sulfur determination in glasses, rocks, minerals and fluid inclusions, Spectroscopic studies on sulfur speciation in synthetic and natural glasses, Diffusion and redox reactions of sulfur in silicate melts, The role of sulfur compounds in coloring and melting kinetics of industrial glass, Experimental studies on sulfur solubility in silicate melts at near-atmospheric pressure and Modeling the solubility of sulfur in magmas: a 50-year old geochemical challenge.

Vesuvius, Campi Flegrei, and Campanian Volcanism communicates the state-of-the-art scientific knowledge on past and active volcanism in an area characterized by elevated risk due to high-density population. Eruptions, lahars and poisonous gas clouds have killed many thousands of people over recorded history, but volcanoes have given people some of the most fertile soil known in agriculture. The research presented in this book is useful for policymakers and researchers from these and other countries who are looking for risk assessment and volcanic evolution models they can apply to similar situations around the world. Naples and its surrounding area, in particular, the area situated between Vesuvius and the Campi Flegrei volcanic area has a population in excess of 4 million people. The volcanic areas that have similarly large populations in proximity to dormant, but hazardous volcanoes, i.e., Indonesia and Central America can also benefit from this work. Covers the fundamental science of volcanoes, including new developments in the last decade relating to the use of crystals and melt inclusions to model the nature and evolution of volatiles Includes the latest research on volcanism in Southern Italy that is presented as a case study for active and inactive volcanoes across the globe Presents research that is applicable around the world, for people, scientists and policymakers living on, or near, active volcanoes

This book presents the first compilation of scientific research on the island of Nisyros, involving various geoscientific disciplines. Presenting a wealth of illustrations and maps, including a geological map of the volcano, it also provides valuable insights into the geothermal potential of Greece. The island of Nisyros is a Quaternary volcano located at the easternmost end of the South Aegean Volcanic Arc. The island is nearly circular, with an average diameter of 8 km, and covers an area of approximately 42 km2. It lies above a base of Mesozoic limestone and a thin crust, with the mantle-crust transition located at a depth of approximately 27 km. The volcanic edifice of Nisyros comprises a succession of calc-alkaline lavas and pyroclastic rocks, as well as a summit caldera with an average diameter of 4 km. Nisyros marks the most recent volcano in the large prehistoric volcanic field between Kos-Yali-Strongyli-Pyrgousa-Pachia-Nisyros, where the largest eruption (“Kos Plateau Tuff”) in the history of the eastern Mediterranean devastated the Dodecanese islands 161,000 years ago. Although the last volcanic activity on Nisyros dates back at least 20,000 to 25,000 years, it encompasses an active hydrothermal system underneath the volcano with temperatures of roughly 100°C at the Lakki plain, the present-day caldera floor and 350°C at a depth of 1,550 m. A high level of seismic unrest, thermal waters and fumarolic gases bear testament to its continuous activity, which is due to a large volume of hot rocks and magma batches at greater depths, between 3,000 and 8,000 m. Violent hydrothermal eruptions accompanied by major earthquakes occurred in 1873 and 1888 and left behind large, “world-wide unique” explosion craters in the old caldera. Through diffuse soil degassing, the discharge of all hydrothermal craters in the Lakki plain releases 68 tons of hydrothermal-volcanic derived CO2 and 42 MW of thermal energy per day. This unique volcanic and hydrothermal environment is visited daily by hundreds of tourists.

This thoroughly revised and expanded new edition incorporates the most recent research findings on the subject, such as the discovery of dramatic undersea hydrothermal vents. It describes the key process in the generation of ore deposits and emphasizes solid theoretical understanding.