Geologic Publications for Mount Rainier

Scrubbing masks magmatic degassing during repose at Cascade-Range and Aleutian-Arc volcanoes

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Author(s): Robert B. Symonds, Cathy J. Janik, William C. Evans, Beatrice E. Ritchie, Dale Counce, Robert J. Poreda, Mark Iven

Category: PUBLICATION
Document Type: Open-File Report 03-435
Publisher: United States Geological Survey
Published Year: 2003
Volume:
Number:
Pages: 22
DOI Identifier:
ISBN Identifier:
Keywords:

Abstract:
Between 1992 and 1998, we sampled gas discharges from ≤173°C fumaroles and springs at 12 quiescent but potentially restless volcanoes in the Cascade Range and Aleutian Arc (CRAA) including Mount Shasta, Mount Hood, Mount St. Helens, Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Augustine Volcano, Mount Griggs, Trident, Mount Mageik, Aniakchak Crater, Akutan, and Makushin. For each site, we collected and analyzed samples to characterize the chemical (H₂O, CO₂, H₂S, N₂, CH₄, H₂, HCl, HF, NH₃, Ar, O₂, He) and isotopic (δ¹³C of CO2, ³He/⁴He, ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar, δ³⁴S, δ¹³C of CH₄, δ¹⁵N, and δD and δ¹⁸O of water) compositions of the gas discharges, and to create baseline data for comparison during future unrest. The chemical and isotopic data show that these gases contain a magmatic component that is heavily modified from scrubbing by deep hydrothermal (150° - 350°C) water (primary scrubbing) and shallow meteoric water (secondary scrubbing). The impact of scrubbing is most pronounced in gas discharges from bubbling springs; gases from boiling-point fumaroles and superheated vents show progressively less impact from scrubbing. The most effective strategies for detecting gas precursors to future CRAA eruptions are to measure periodically the emission rates of CO₂ and SO₂, which have low and high respective solubilities in water, and to monitor continuously CO₂ concentrations in soils around volcanic vents. Timely resampling of fumaroles can augment the geochemical surveillance program by watching for chemical changes associated with drying of fumarolic pathways (all CRAA sites), increases in gas geothermometry temperatures (Mount Mageik, Trident, Mount Baker, Mount Shasta), changes in δ¹³C of CO₂ affiliated with magma movement (all CRAA site), and increases in ³He/⁴He coupled with intrusion of new magma (Mount Rainier, Augustine Volcano, Makushin, Mount Shasta). Repose magmatic degassing may discharge substantial amounts of S and Cl into the edifices of Mount Baker and several other CRAA volcanoes that is trapped by primary and secondary scrubbing. The consequent acidic fluids produce ongoing alteration in the 0.2- to 3-km-deep hydrothermal systems and in fields of boiling-point fumaroles near the surface. Such alteration may influence edifice stability and contribute to the formation of more-hazardous cohesive debris flows. In particular, we recommend further investigation of the volume, extent, and hazards of hydrothermal alteration at Mount Baker. Other potential hazards associated with the CRAA volcano hydrothermal systems include hydrothermal eruptions and, for deeper systems intruded by magma, deep-seated edifice collapse.

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In Text Citation:
Symonds and others (2003) or (Symonds et al., 2003)

References Citation:
Symonds, R.B., C.J. Janik, W.C. Evans, B.E. Ritchie, D. Counce, R.J. Poreda, and M. Iven, 2003, Scrubbing masks magmatic degassing during repose at Cascade-Range and Aleutian-Arc volcanoes: Open-File Report 03-435, United States Geological Survey, 22 p..