Mercury Emissions from Soils and Fumaroles of Nea Kameni Volcanic Centre, Santorini (Greece)
Geochemical Journal, Vol. 47, pp. 437 to 450, 2013 Mercury emissions from soils and fumaroles of Nea Kameni volcanic centre, Santorini (Greece) EMANUELA BAGNATO,1* GIANCARLO TAMBURELLO,1 ALESSANDRO AIUPPA,1,2 MARIO SPROVIERI,3 GEORGE E. VOUGIOUKALAKIS4 and MICHELLE PARKS5 1DiSTeM, University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 36, Palermo, Italy 2Istituto di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Via U. La Malfa 153, Palermo, Italy 3IAMC-CNR, Via del Mare 3, Torretta Granitola, Fraz. Campobello di Mazzara (TP), Italy 4Institute for Geology and Mineral Exploration, 3rd exit Olympic village, 13677, Aharne, Athene, Greece 5Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3AN, U.K. (Received August 21, 2012; Accepted May 13, 2013) There have been limited studies to date targeting mercury emissions from volcanic fumarolic systems, and no mercury flux data exist for soil or fumarolic emissions at Santorini volcanic complex, Greece. We present results from the first geochemical survey of Hg and major volatile (CO2, H2S, H2O and H2) concentrations and fluxes in the fumarolic gases released by the volcanic/hydrothermal system of Nea Kameni islet; the active volcanic center of Santorini. These data were obtained using a portable mercury spectrometer (Lumex 915+) for gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) determina- tion, and a Multi-component Gas Analyzer System (Multi-GAS) for major volatiles. Gaseous Elemental Mercury (GEM) concentrations in the fumarole atmospheric plumes were systematically above background levels (~4 ng GEM m–3), rang- ing from ~4.5 to 121 ng GEM m–3. Variability in the measured mercury concentrations may result from changes in atmos- pheric conditions and/or unsteady gas release from the fumaroles.
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