Volcanic gas

Volcanic gases are gases given off by active (or, at times, by dormant) volcanoes. These include gases trapped in cavities (vesicles) in volcanic rocks, dissolved or dissociated gases in magma and lava, or gases emanating from lava, from volcanic craters or vents. Volcanic gases can also be emitted through groundwater heated by volcanic action.

The sources of volcanic gases on Earth include:

Substances that may become gaseous or give off gases when heated are termed volatile substances.

The principal components of volcanic gases are water vapor (H₂O), carbon dioxide (CO₂), sulfur either as sulfur dioxide (SO₂) (high-temperature volcanic gases) or hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) (low-temperature volcanic gases), nitrogen, argon, helium, neon, methane, carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Other compounds detected in volcanic gases are oxygen (meteoric)^{[clarification needed]}, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen bromide, sulfur hexafluoride, carbonyl sulfide, and organic compounds. Exotic trace compounds include mercury, halocarbons (including CFCs), and halogen oxide radicals.

The abundance of gases varies considerably from volcano to volcano, with volcanic activity and with tectonic setting. Water vapour is consistently the most abundant volcanic gas, normally comprising more than 60% of total emissions. Carbon dioxide typically accounts for 10 to 40% of emissions.

Volcanoes located at convergent plate boundaries emit more water vapor and chlorine than volcanoes at hot spots or divergent plate boundaries. This is caused by the addition of seawater into magmas formed at subduction zones. Convergent plate boundary volcanoes also have higher H₂O/H₂, H₂O/CO₂, CO₂/He and N₂/He ratios than hot spot or divergent plate boundary volcanoes.

Magma contains dissolved volatile components, as described above. The solubilities of the different volatile constituents are dependent on pressure, temperature and the composition of the magma. As magma ascends towards the surface, the ambient pressure decreases, which decreases the solubility of the dissolved volatiles. Once the solubility decreases below the volatile concentration, the volatiles will tend to come out of solution within the magma (exsolve) and form a separate gas phase (the magma is super-saturated in volatiles).

The gas will initially be distributed throughout the magma as small bubbles, that cannot rise quickly through the magma. As the magma ascends the bubbles grow through a combination of expansion through decompression and growth as the solubility of volatiles in the magma decreases further causing more gas to exsolve. Depending on the viscosity of the magma, the bubbles may start to rise through the magma and coalesce, or they remain relatively fixed in place until they begin to connect and form a continuously connected network. In the former case, the bubbles may rise through the magma and accumulate at a vertical surface, e.g. the 'roof' of a magma chamber. In volcanoes with an open path to the surface, e.g. Stromboli in Italy, the bubbles may reach the surface and as they pop small explosions occur. In the latter case, the gas can flow rapidly through the continuous permeable network towards the surface. This mechanism has been used to explain activity at Santiaguito, Santa Maria volcano, Guatemala and Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat. If the gas cannot escape fast enough from the magma, it will fragment the magma into small particles of ash. The fluidised ash has a much lower resistance to motion than the viscous magma, so accelerates, causing further expansion of the gases and acceleration of the mixture. This sequence of events drives explosive volcanism. Whether gas can escape gently (passive eruptions) or not (explosive eruptions) is determined by the total volatile contents of the initial magma and the viscosity of the magma, which is controlled by its composition.