EGU22-10266, updated on 10 Jan 2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-10266
EGU General Assembly 2022
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Insights into magma degassing processes during the 2021 Cumbre Vieja eruption, La Palma, from open-path FTIR spectroscopy

Ana Pardo Cofrades1, Mike Burton1, María Asensio-Ramos2, José Barrancos2,3, Alessandro La Spina4, Patrick Allard5, Catherine Hayer1, Benjamin Esse1, Pedro A. Hernández2,3, Eleazar Padrón2,3, Gladys V. Melian2,3, and Nemesio M. Peréz2,3
Ana Pardo Cofrades et al.
  • 1University of Manchester, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, Manchester, United Kingdom
  • 2Instituto Volcanológico de Canarias (INVOLCAN), 38320 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands
  • 3Instituto Tecnológico y de Energías Renovables (ITER), 38600 Granadilla de Abona, Tenerife, Canary Islands
  • 4Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di Catania, Italy
  • 5Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Paris, France

On September 19th 2021 a fissure eruption started on the Cumbre Vieja rift on La Palma, Canary Islands. The fissure eruption rapidly evolved into a cone-forming eruption, with several summit vents producing explosive activity and lava jetting, while lava spattering and effusive activity occurred at/from lower flank vents.

We used open-path Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (OP-FTIR) to measure the chemical composition of degassing associated with both explosive and effusive activities, using absorption spectra of the radiation emitted by molten lava and incandescent ash. Measurements were performed daily since October 2nd until the end of the eruption (mid-December), from different sites and at distance range of 0.6 to 5 km from the vents. They allowed us to retrieve the molar proportions of H2O, CO2, SO2, HCl and CO in gas emissions from the different vents and different activities.

In this work, we report the main results obtained for the gas compositions, their spatial and temporal evolution during the eruption, the influence of fragmentation (ash) on the degassing of HCl, and the gas-magma redox state during the La Palma 2021 eruption.

How to cite: Pardo Cofrades, A., Burton, M., Asensio-Ramos, M., Barrancos, J., La Spina, A., Allard, P., Hayer, C., Esse, B., Hernández, P. A., Padrón, E., Melian, G. V., and Peréz, N. M.: Insights into magma degassing processes during the 2021 Cumbre Vieja eruption, La Palma, from open-path FTIR spectroscopy, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-10266, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-10266, 2022.