The Extraordinary Sulfur Volcanism of Poás from 1828 to 2018

Amador, Raúl Alberto Mora; Rouwet, Dmitri; Vargas, Priscilla; Oppenheimer, Clive

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-02156-0_3

Cited by 11 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…Liquid sulphur flows indicate vent clearing events following heating above the melting point of sulphur (119°C), causing sudden depressurization and hence potentially triggering phreatic eruptions (Rouwet et al 2017;Mora-Amador et al 2019). In fact, a second phreatic eruption on 12 January 2012 occurred at this exact site.…”

Section: Irazúmentioning

confidence: 91%

Response of a Hydrothermal System to Escalating Phreatic Unrest the Case of Turrialba and Irazú in Costa Rica (2007-2012)

Rouwet¹,

Mora‐Amador

Ramı́rez³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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This study presents the first hydrogeochemical model of the hydrothermal systems of Turrialba and Irazú volcanoes in central Costa Rica, manifested as thermal springs, summit crater lakes, and fumarolic degassing at both volcanoes. Our period of observations (2007-2012) coincides with the pre- and early syn-phreatic eruption stages of Turrialba volcano that resumed volcanic unrest since 2004, after almost 140 years of quiescence. Peculiarly, the generally stable Irazú crater lake dropped its level during this reawakening of Turrialba. The isotopic composition of discharged fluids reveals the Caribbean meteoric origin; a contribution of “andesitic water” for Turrialba fumaroles up to ~50% is suggested. Four groups of thermal springs drain the northern flanks of Turrialba and Irazú volcanoes into two main rivers. Río Sucio (i.e. “dirty river”) is a major rock remover on the North flank of Irazú, mainly fed by the San Cayetano spring group. Instead, one group of thermal springs discharges towards the south of Irazú. All thermal spring waters are of SO4-type (i.e. steam heated waters), although none of the springs has a common hydrothermal end-member. A water mass budget for thermal springs results in an estimated total output flux of 187 ± 37 L/s, with 100 ± 20 L/s accounted for by the San Cayetano springs. Thermal energy release is estimated at 110 ± 22 MW (83.9 ± 16.8 MW by San Cayetano), whereas the total rock mass removal rate by chemical leaching is ~3,000 m3/y (~2,400 m3/y by San Cayetano-Río Sucio). Despite Irazú being the currently less active volcano, it is a highly efficient rock remover, which, on the long term can have effects on the stability of the volcanic edifice with potentially hazardous consequences (e.g. flank collapse, phreatic eruptions). Moreover, the vapor output flux from the Turrialba fumaroles after the onset of phreatic eruptions on 5 January 2010 showed an increase of at least ~260 L/s above pre-eruptive background fumarolic vapor fluxes. This extra vapor loss implies that the drying of the summit hydrothermal system of Turrialba could tap deeper than previously thought, and could explain the coincidental disappearance of Irazú’s crater lake in April 2010.

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Section: Irazúmentioning

confidence: 91%

Response of a Hydrothermal System to Escalating Phreatic Unrest the Case of Turrialba and Irazú in Costa Rica (2007-2012)

Rouwet¹,

Mora‐Amador

Ramı́rez³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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“…Liquid sulfur poured out from the Arbol Quemado fracture on 11-12 January 2012 (González et al 2015). Liquid sulfur flows indicate vent clearing events following heating above the melting point of sulfur (119 °C), causing sudden depressurization that can potentially trigger phreatic eruptions (Rouwet et al 2017;Mora-Amador et al 2019). In fact, a second phreatic eruption on 12 January 2012 occurred at this exact site.…”

Section: Turrialbamentioning

confidence: 96%

Response of a hydrothermal system to escalating phreatic unrest: the case of Turrialba and Irazú in Costa Rica (2007–2012)

Rouwet

Mora‐Amador²,

Ramírez³

et al. 2021

Earth Planets Space

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This study presents the first hydrogeochemical model of the hydrothermal systems of Turrialba and Irazú volcanoes in central Costa Rica, manifested as thermal springs, summit crater lakes, and fumarolic degassing at both volcanoes. Our period of observations (2007–2012) coincides with the pre- and early syn-phreatic eruption stages of Turrialba volcano that resumed volcanic unrest since 2004, after almost 140 years of quiescence. Peculiarly, the generally stable Irazú crater lake dropped its level during this reawakening of Turrialba. The isotopic composition of all the discharged fluids reveals their Caribbean meteoric origin. Four groups of thermal springs drain the northern flanks of Turrialba and Irazú volcanoes into two main rivers. Río Sucio (i.e. “dirty river”) is a major rock remover on the North flank of Irazú, mainly fed by the San Cayetano spring group. Instead, one group of thermal springs discharges towards the south of Irazú. All thermal spring waters are of SO4-type (i.e. steam-heated waters), none of the springs has, however, a common hydrothermal end-member. A water mass budget for thermal springs results in an estimated total output flux of 187 ± 37 L/s, with 100 ± 20 L/s accounted for by the San Cayetano springs. Thermal energy release is estimated at 110 ± 22 MW (83.9 ± 16.8 MW by San Cayetano), whereas the total rock mass removal rate by chemical leaching is ~ 3000 m3/year (~ 2400 m3/year by San Cayetano-Río Sucio). Despite Irazú being the currently less active volcano, it is a highly efficient rock remover, which, on the long term can have effects on the stability of the volcanic edifice with potentially hazardous consequences (e.g. flank collapse, landslides, phreatic eruptions). Moreover, the vapor output flux from the Turrialba fumaroles after the onset of phreatic eruptions on 5 January 2010 showed an increase of at least ~ 260 L/s above pre-eruptive background fumarolic vapor fluxes. This extra vapor loss implies that the drying of the summit hydrothermal system of Turrialba could tap deeper than previously thought, and could explain the coincidental disappearance of Irazú’s crater lake in April 2010.

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“…Lake volume changed dynamically through time and these changes largely result from the input of meteoric precipitation and fluids at the lake bottom and the water loss caused by seepage and evaporation (Brown et al, 1989;Rowe et al, 1992a;Rouwet et al, 2017). Laguna Caliente has dried out various times during the last decades (1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)2017), inducing subaerial degassing of the fumaroles located at the bottom of the crater (Rowe et al, 1992a;Martínez et al, 2000;Rymer et al, 2009) and peculiar sulfur volcanism (Oppenheimer, 1992;Mora-Amador et al, 2019b).…”

Section: Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since 1998, various changes have been observed in fumarolic activity: new fumarolic vents were formed and fumarolic activity migrated inside the Main Crater; changes in lake level and color were observed (Vaselli et al, 2003(Vaselli et al, , 2019Rouwet et al, 2017;Mora-Amador et al, 2019a). In December 2005, floating sulfur spherules with tails were present at the lake, an early-warning indicator of oncoming phreatic eruptions (Takano et al, 1994;Mora Amador et al, 2019b).…”

Section: Historical Activity At Poás Volcanomentioning

confidence: 99%

Rare Earth Elements Variations in a Hyperacid Crater Lake and Their Relations With Changes in Phreatic Activity, Physico-Chemical Parameters, and Chemical Composition: The Case of Poás Volcano (Costa Rica)

et al. 2022

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Decades of geochemical monitoring at active crater lakes worldwide have confirmed that variations in major elements and physico-chemical parameters are useful to detect changes in volcanic activity. However, it is still arduous to identify precursors of single phreatic eruptions. During the unrest phase of 2009–2016, at least 679 phreatic eruptions occurred at the hyperacid and hypersaline crater lake Laguna Caliente of Poás volcano (Costa Rica). In this study, we investigate the temporal variations of Rare Earth Elements (REE) dissolved in Laguna Caliente in order to 1) scrutinize if they can be used as a new geochemical tool to monitor changes of phreatic activity at hyperacid crater lakes and 2) identify the geochemical processes responsible for the variations of REE concentrations in the lake. The total concentration of REE varies from 950 to 2,773 μg kg−1. (La/Pr)N-local rock ratios range from 0.93 to 1.35, and Light REE over Heavy REE (LREE/HREE)N-local rock ratios vary from 0.71 to 0.95. These same parameters vary in relation to significant changes in phreatic activity; in particular, the (La/Pr)N-local rock ratio increases as phreatic activity increases, while that of (LREE/HREE)N-local rock decreases when phreatic activity increases. REE concentrations and their ratios were compared with the variations of major elements and physico-chemical parameters of the lake. Calcium versus (La/Pr)N-local rock and versus (LREE/HREE)N-local rock ratios show different trends compared to the other major elements (Na, K, Mg, Al, Fe, SO4, and Cl). Moreover, a higher loss of Ca (up to 2,835 ppm) in lake water was found with respect to the loss of Al, K, and Na. This loss of Ca is argued to be due to gypsum precipitation, a process corroborated by the mass balance calculation simulating the precipitation of gypsum and the contemporaneous removal of REE from the lake water. The observed relations between REE, changes in phreatic activity, and the parameters commonly used for the monitoring of hyperacid volcanic lakes encourage investigating more on the temporal and cause-effect relationship between REE dynamics and changes in phreatic activity at crater lake-bearing volcanoes.

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The Extraordinary Sulfur Volcanism of Poás from 1828 to 2018

Cited by 11 publications

References 69 publications

Response of a Hydrothermal System to Escalating Phreatic Unrest the Case of Turrialba and Irazú in Costa Rica (2007-2012)

Response of a Hydrothermal System to Escalating Phreatic Unrest the Case of Turrialba and Irazú in Costa Rica (2007-2012)

Response of a hydrothermal system to escalating phreatic unrest: the case of Turrialba and Irazú in Costa Rica (2007–2012)

Rare Earth Elements Variations in a Hyperacid Crater Lake and Their Relations With Changes in Phreatic Activity, Physico-Chemical Parameters, and Chemical Composition: The Case of Poás Volcano (Costa Rica)

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