Louis S. Walter

Global tracking of the SO2 clouds from the June, 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruptions

The explosive June 1991 eruptions of Mount Pinatubo produced the largest sulfur dioxide cloud detected by the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) during its 13 years of operation: approximately 20 million tons of SO2, predominantly from the cataclysmic June 15th eruption. The SO2 cloud observed by the TOMS encircled the Earth in about 22 days (∼21 m/s); however, during the first three days the leading edge of the SO2 cloud moved with a speed that averaged ∼35 m/s. Compared to the 1982 El Chichon eruptions, Pinatubo outgassed nearly three times the amount of SO2 during its explosive phases. The main cloud straddled the equator within the first two weeks of eruption, whereas the El Chichon cloud remained primarily in the northern hemisphere. Our measurements indicate that Mount Pinatubo has produced a much larger and perhaps longer-lasting SO2 cloud; thus, climatic responses to the Pinatubo eruption may exceed those of El Chichon.

Volcanic sulfur dioxide measurements from the total ozone mapping spectrometer instruments

The total ozone mapping spectrometer (TOMS), first flown on the Nimbus 7 satellite, has delivered an unanticipated set of unique information about volcanic plumes because of its contiguous spatial mapping and use of UV wavelengths. The accuracies of TOMS sulfur dioxide retrievals, volcanic plume masses, and eruption totals under low-latitude conditions are evaluated using radiative transfer simulations and error analysis. The retrieval algorithm is a simultaneous solution of the absorption optical depth equations including ozone and sulfur dioxide at the four shortest TOMS wavelengths and an empirical correction based on background condition residuals. The retrieval algorithm reproduces model stratospheric sulfur dioxide plume amounts within ±10% over most central scan angles and moderate solar zenith angles if no aerosols or ash are present. The errors grow to 30% under large solar zenith angle conditions. Volcanic ash and sulfate aerosols in the plume in moderate optical depths (0.3) produce an overestimation of the sulfur dioxide by 15–25% depending on particle size and composition. Retrievals of tropospheric volcanic plumes are affected by the reflectivity of the underlying surface or clouds. The precision of individual TOMS SO2 soundings is limited by data quantization to ±6 Dobson units. The accuracy is independent of most instrument calibration errors but depends linearly on relative SO2 absorption cross-section errors at the TOMS wavelengths. Volcanic plume mass estimates are dependent on correction of background offsets integrated over the plume area. The errors vary with plume mass and area, thus are highly individual. In general, they are least for moderate size, compact plumes. Estimates of the total mass of explosively erupted sulfur dioxide depend on extrapolation of a series of daily plume masses backward to the time of the eruption. Errors of 15–30% are not unusual. Effusive eruption total mass estimates are more uncertain due to difficulties in separating new from old sulfur dioxide in daily observations.

Tektite compositional trends and experimental vapor fractionation of silicates.

Abstract Recent observations indicate that Muong Nongtype tektites, which are highly structured, contain coesite and have a high silica content, may be primary tektite material. High-temperature experiments at atmospheric pressure show that, starting with material of this composition, vapor fractionation results in a residuum which follows the compositional trends of tektites in general. There is a significant difference between the tektite trends and those produced in experiments under reducing conditions.

TOMS measurement of the sulfur dioxide emitted during the 1985 Nevado del Ruiz eruptions

Abstract The eruptions of Nevado del Ruiz in 1985 were unusually rich in sulfur dioxide. These eruptions were observed with the Nimbus 7 Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) which can quantitatively map volcanic sulfur dioxide plumes on a global scale. A small eruption, originally believed to be of phreatic origin, took place on September 11, 1985. However, substantial amounts of sulfur dioxide from this eruption were detected with TOMS on the following day. The total mass of SO 2 , approximately 9 ± 3 × 10 4 metric tons, was deposited in two clouds, one in the upper troposphere, the other possibly at 15 km near the stratosphere. The devastating November 13 eruptions were first observed with TOMS at 1150 EST on November 14. Large amounts of sulfur dioxide were found in an arc extending 1100 km from south of Ruiz northeastward to the Gulf of Venezuela and as an isolated cloud centered at 7°N on the Colombia-Venezuela border. On November 15 the plume extended over 2700 km from the Pacific Ocean off the Colombia coast to Barbados, while the isolated mass was located over the Brazil-Guyana border, approximately 1600 km due east of the volcano. Based on wind data from Panama, most of the sulfur dioxide was located at 10–16 km in the troposphere and a small amount was quite likely deposited in the stratosphere at an altitude above 24 km. The total mass of sulfur dioxide in the eruption clouds was approximately 6.6 ± 1.9 × 10 5 metric tons on November 14. When combined with quiescent sulfur dioxide emissions during this period, the ratio of sulfur dioxide to erupted magma from Ruiz was an order of magnitude greater than in the 1982 eruption of El Chichon or the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.

Coesite Discovered in Tektites

Coesite has been identified by x-ray diffraction and electron microprobe chemical analysis as a constituent of inclusions in Muong Nong type tektites from Phaeng Dang, Thailand. The fine coesite grains are mixed with coarse quartz in the core of the inclusions, and the core is surrounded by frothy lechatelierite. The mixture of SiO2 phases indicates that these tektites have been quenched from high temperatures and that modifications in texture and chemical composition from the original parent material have been minimal.

Transport of Cerro Hudson SO2 clouds

The Cerro Hudson volcano in southern Chile (45.92°S, 73.0°W) emitted large ash and sulfur dioxide clouds on August 12–15, following several days of minor activity [Global Volcanism Network Bulletin, 1991]. The SO2 clouds were observed using (preliminary) near real-time data from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) as they encircled the south polar region. The injection of SO2 into the stratosphere has essentially created a gigantic chemical tracer that could provide new insights into the wind patterns and seasonal circulation around the Antarctic region. around the Antarctic region. The TOMS instrument, on board the National Aeronautic and Space Administrations Nimbus 7 satellite, measures the ratio of backscattered Earth radiance to incoming solar irradiance in the ultraviolet spectrum. Although originally designed to measure ozone, it was later discovered that the TOMS instrument could also detect and quantify SO2 [Krueger, 1985]. After this discovery, measurements from TOMS were examined for SO2 emissions for all recorded volcanic eruptions since Nimbus-7 was launched in October 1978, and current data are analyzed as new eruptions occur. The satellite is in a polar, Sun-synchronous orbit so that it crosses the equator at local noon and observes the whole sunlit Earth in approximately 14 orbits each day. Total column amounts of SO2 are determined that represent the amount of gas affecting the reflection of ultraviolet light through a column of the atmosphere from the satellite to the reflecting surface, Earth, given in terms of milli atmospheres centimeter (1000 milli atm cm = a gas layer 1-cm thick at STP). The mass of SO2 is calculated by integrating over the cloud area to obtain a volume, then converting to tons.

Vapor pressure and vapor fractionation of silicate melts of tektite composition

Abstract The total vapor pressure of Philippine tektite melts of approximately 70 per cent silica has been determined at temperatures ranging from 1500 to 2100°C. This pressure is 190 ± 40 mm Hg at 1500°C, 450 ± 50 mm at 1800°C and 850 ± 70 mm at 2100° C. Determinations were made by visually observing the temperature at which bubbles began to form at a constant low ambient pressure. By varying the ambient pressure, a boiling point curve was constructed. This curve differs from the equilibrium vapor pressure curve due to surface tension effects. This difference was evaluated by determining the equilibrium bubble size in the melt and calculating the pressure due to surface tension, assuming the latter to be 380 dyn/cm. The relative volatility from tektite melts of the oxides of Na, K, Fe, Al and Si has been determined as a function of temperature, total pressure arid roughly, of oxygen fugacity. The volatility of SiO2 is decreased and that of Na2O and K2O is increased in an oxygen-poor environment. Preliminary results indicate that volatilization at 2100°C under atmospheric pressure caused little or no change in the percentage Na2O and K2O. The ratio Fe 3 Fe 2 of the tektite is increased in ambient air at a pressure of 9 × 10−4 mm Hg (= 106.5 atm O2, partial pressure) at 2000°C. This suggests that tektites were formed either at lower oxygen pressures or that they are a product of incomplete oxidation of parent material with a still lower ferricferrous ratio.

Evaluation of sulfur dioxide emissions from explosive volcanism: the 1982-1983 eruptions of Galunggung, Java, Indonesia

Abstract Galunggung volcano, Java, awoke from a 63-year quiescence in April 1982, and erupted sporadically through January 1983. During its most violent period from April to October, the Cikasasah Volcano Observatory reported 32 large and 56 moderate to small eruptions. From April 5 through September 19 the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS), carried on NASAs Nimbus-7 satellite, detected and measured 24 different sulfur dioxide clouds; an estimated 1730 kilotons (kt) of SO2 were outgassed by these explosive eruptions. The trajectories, and rapid dispersion rates, of the SO2 clouds were consistent with injection altitudes below the tropopause. An additional 300 kt of SO2 were estimated to have come from 64 smaller explosive eruptions, based on the detection limit of the TOMS instrument. For the first time, an extended period of volcanic activity was monitored by remote sensing techniques which enabled observations of both the entire SO2 clouds produced by large explosive eruptions (using TOMS), and the relatively lower levels of SO2 emissions during non-explosive outgassing (using the Correlation Spectrometer, or COSPEC). Based on COSPEC measurements from August 1982 to January 1983, and on the relationship between explosive and non-explosive degassing, approximately 400 kt of SO2 were emitted during non-explosive activity. The total sulfur dioxide outgassed from Galunggung volcano from April 1982 to January 1983 is calculated to be 2500 kt (± 30%) from both explosive and non-explosive activity. While Galunggung added large quantities of sulfur dioxide to the atmosphere, its sporadic emissions occurred in relatively small events distributed over several months, and reached relatively low altitudes, and are unlikely to have significantly affected aerosol loading of the stratosphere in 1982 by volcanic activity.

A proposed volcanic sulfur dioxide index (VSI)

This paper proposes a volcanic SO2 index (VSI), on the basis of a 15-year satellite sampling of volcanic eruptions. This index is scaled to be compatible with the commonly cited volcanic explosivity index (VEI) used to compare explosive volcanic eruptions. A range of SO2 for each VEI level is proposed so that estimates of SO2 emission can be made from the historic VEI database. Volcanic SO2 from large eruptions can be routinely measured by satellite instruments, and for the smaller eruptions, where the sensitivity of satellite remote sensing is not sufficient, ground-based measurements are becoming more available. At the present time we do not think SO2 can be used to define an accurate climate-perturbation index, as we have both insufficient data on volcanic SO2 and understanding of the volcano-climate relationship.

Vapor fractionation of silicate melts at high temperatures and atmospheric pressures.

The relative volatility of the seven major oxides, SiO2, Al2O3, FeO, CaO, MgO, K2O and Na2O in a melt with an initial content of 82 percent SiO2 was studied. The melt was heated by a solar furnace in air ambient to temperatures of 2600 deg to 2800 deg C (+) for from 5 to 45 minutes. Results show that, under these conditions, potassium is slightly more volatile than silicon; that sodium is less volatile. Aluminum is found to be the least volatile component. Heating at 2800 deg for 45 minutes resulted in a decrease of the silica content of the melt to 45 percent. The general order of volatility of the components of the melt is: K2O > SiO2 > Na2O > FeO > MgO ≧ Al2O3 ≧ CaO.