Taryn Lopez

First airborne samples of a volcanic plume for δ13C of CO2 determinations

Volcanic degassing is one of the main natural sources of CO2 to the atmosphere. Carbon isotopes of volcanic gases enable the determination of CO2 sources including mantle, organic or carbonate sediments, and atmosphere. Until recently, this work required sample collection from vents followed by laboratory analyses. Isotope ratio infrared analyzers now enable rapid analyses of plume δ13C-CO2, in situ and in real time. Here we report the first analyses of δ13C-CO2 from airborne samples. These data combined with plume samples from the vent area enable extrapolation to the volcanic source δ13C. We performed our experiment at the previously unsampled and remote Kanaga Volcano in the Western Aleutians. We find a δ13C source composition of −4.4‰, suggesting that CO2 from Kanaga is primarily sourced from the upper mantle with minimal contributions from subducted components. Our method is widely applicable to volcanoes where remote location or activity level precludes sampling using traditional methods.

Synthesis: PLUTONS: Investigating the relationship between pluton growth and volcanism in the Central Andes

The Central Andes is a key global location to study the enigmatic relation between volcanism and plutonism because it has been the site of large ignimbrite-forming eruptions during the past several million years and currently hosts the world’s largest zone of silicic partial melt in the form of the Altiplano-Puna Magma (or Mush) Body (APMB) and the Southern Puna Magma Body (SPMB). In this themed issue, results from the recently completed PLUTONS project are synthesized. This project focused an interdisciplinary study on two regions of large-scale surface uplift that have been found to represent ongoing movement of magmatic fluids in the middle to upper crust. The locations are Uturuncu in Bolivia near the center of the APMB and Lazufre on the Chile-Argentina border, on the edge of the SPMB. These studies use a suite of geological, geochemical, geophysical (seismology, gravity, surface deformation, and electromagnetic methods), petrological, and geomorphological techniques with numerical modeling to infer the subsurface distribution, quantity, and movements of magmatic fluids, as well as the past history of eruptions. Both Uturuncu and Lazufre show separate geophysical anomalies in the upper, middle, and lower crust (e.g., low seismic velocity, low resistivity, etc.) indicating multiple distinct reservoirs of magma and/or hydrothermal fluids with different physical properties. The characteristics of the geophysical anomalies differ somewhat depending on the technique used—reflecting the different sensitivity of each method to subsurface melt (or fluid) of different compositions, connectivity, and volatile content and highlight the need for integrated, multidisciplinary studies. While the PLUTONS project has led to significant progress, many unresolved issues remain and new questions have been raised.

New insights into the magmatic-hydrothermal system and volatile budget of Lastarria volcano, Chile: Integrated results from the 2014 IAVCEI CCVG 12th Volcanic Gas Workshop

Recent geophysical evidence for large-scale regional crustal inflation and localized crustal magma intrusion has made Lastarria volcano (northern Chile) the target of numerous geological, geophysical, and geochemical studies. The chemical composition of volcanic gases sampled during discrete campaigns from Lastarria volcano indicated a well-developed hydrothermal system from direct fumarole samples in A.D. 2006, 2008, and 2009, and shallow magma degassing using measurements from in situ plume sampling techniques in 2012. It is unclear if the differences in measured gas compositions and resulting interpretations were due to artifacts of the different sampling methods employed, short-term excursions from baseline due to localized changes in stress, or a systematic change in Lastarria’s magmatic-hydrothermal system between 2009 and 2012. Integrated results from a two-day volcanic gas sampling and measurement campaign during the 2014 International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior (IAVCEI) Commission on the Chemistry of Volcanic Gases (CCVG) 12th Gas Workshop are used here to compare and evaluate current gas sampling and measurement techniques, refine the existing subsurface models for Lastarria volcano, and provide new constraints on its magmatic-hydrothermal system and total degassing budget. While compositional differences among sampling methods are present, distinct compositional changes are observed, which if representative of longterm trends, indicate a change in Lastarria’s overall magmatic-hydrothermal system. The composition of volcanic gases measured in 2014 contained high proportions of relatively magmaand water-soluble gases consistent with degassing of shallow magma, and in agreement with the 2012 gas composition. When compared with gas compositions measured in 2006–2009, higher relative H2O/CO2 ratios combined with lower relative CO2/St and H2O/St and stable HCl/St ratios (where St is total S [SO2 + H2S]) are observed in 2012 and 2014. These compositional changes suggest variations in the magmatichydrothermal system between 2009 and 2012, with possible scenarios to explain these trends including: (1) decompression-induced degassing due to magma ascent within the shallow crust; (2) crystallization-induced degassing of a stalled magma body; (3) depletion of the hydrothermal system GEOSPHERE GEOSPHERE; v. 14, no. 3 doi:10.1130/GES01495.1 12 figures; 6 tables; 2 supplemental files CORRESPONDENCE: tmlopez@ alaska .edu CITATION: Lopez, T., Aguilera, F., Tassi, F., de Moor, J.M., Bobrowski, N., Aiuppa, A., Tamburello, G., Rizzo, A.L., Liuzzo, M., Viveiros, F., Cardellini, C., Silva, C., Fischer, T., Jean-Baptiste, P., Kazayaha, R., Hidalgo, S., Malowany, K., Lucic, G., Bagnato, E., Bergsson, B., Reath, K., Liotta, M., Carn, S., and Chio dini, G., 2018, New insights into the magmatic-hydrothermal system and volatile budget of Lastarria volcano, Chile: Integrated results from the 2014 IAVCEI CCVG 12th Volcanic Gas Workshop: Geosphere, v. 14, no. 3, p. 983–1007, doi:10.1130/GES01495.1. Science Editor: Raymond M. Russo Guest Associate Editor: Shanaka de Silva Received 12 January 2017 Revision received 4 December 2017 Accepted 21 March 2018 Published online 7 May 2018

Aleutian Arc Fluid Geochemical Data

This report contains the chemical and isotopic data from thermal waters and gases collected from the Aleutian Arc over the past 20 years, where such data remain unpublished or only published in part.