Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Fumarolic gases at Mombacho volcano (Nicaragua): presence of magmatic gas species and implications for volcanic surveillance

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Bulletin of Volcanology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Mombacho is a deeply dissected volcano belonging to the Quaternary volcanic chain of Nicaragua. The southern, historic collapse crater (El Crater) currently hosts a fumarolic field with a maximum temperature of 121°C. Chemical and isotopic data from five gas-sampling field campaigns carried out in 2002, 2003 and 2005 highlight the presence of high-temperature gas components (e.g. SO2, HCl and HF), which indicate a significant contribution of juvenile magmatic fluids to the hydrothermal system feeding the gas discharges. This is strongly supported by the mantle-derived helium and carbon isotopic signatures, although the latter is partly masked by either a sedimentary subduction-related or a shallow carbonate component. The observed chemical and isotopic composition of the Mombacho fluids seems to indicate that this volcanic system, although it has not experienced eruptive events during the last centuries, can be considered active and possibly dangerous, in agreement with the geophysical data recorded in the region. Systematic geochemical monitoring of the fumarolic gas discharges, coupled with a seismic and ground deformation network, is highly recommended in order to monitor a possible new eruptive phase.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ballentine CJ, O’Nions RK, Oxburgh, ER, Horvath F, Deak J (1991) Rare-gas constraints on hydrocarbon accumulation, crustal degassing and groundwater-flow in the Pannonian Basin. Earth Planet Sci Lett 105:229–246

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowen GJ, Wilkinson B (2002) Spatial distribution of delta O-18 in meteoric precipitation. Geology 30:315–318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Capaccioni B, Mangani F (2001) Monitoring of active but quiescent volcanoes using light hydrocarbon distribution in volcanic gases: the results of 4 years of discontinuous monitoring in the Campi Flegrei (Italy). Earth Planet Sci Lett 188:543–555

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Capaccioni B, Martini M, Mangani F (1995) Light hydrocarbons in hydrothermal and magmatic fumaroles: hints of catalytic and thermal reactions. Bull Volcanol 56:593–600

    Google Scholar 

  • Capaccioni B, Taran Y, Tassi F, Vaselli O, Mangani F, Macias JL (2004) Source conditions and degradation processes of light hydrocarbons in volcanic gases: an example from El Chichón volcano (Chiapas State, Mexico). Chem Geol 206:81–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chiodini G, Marini L (1998) Hydrothermal gas equilibria: The H2O–H2–CO2–CO–CH4 system. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 62:2673–2687

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chiodini G, Marini L, Russo M (2001) Geochemical evidence for the existence of high-temperature hydrothermal brines at Vesuvio volcano, Italy. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 65:2129–2147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coleman ML, Shepherd TJ, Durham JJ, Rouse JE, Moore GR (1982) Reduction of water with zinc for hydrogen isotope analysis. Anal Chem 54:993–995

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Craig H (1961) Isotopic variations in meteoric water. Science 133:1702–1703

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeMets C (2001) A new estimate for present-day Cocos-Caribbean plate motion: implications for slip along the Central American volcanic arc. Geophys Res Lett 28:4043–4046

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ehrenborg J (1996) A new stratigraphy for the Tertiary volcanic rocks of the Nicaraguan Highland. Geol Soc Am Bull 108:830–842

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elming SA, Layer P, Ubieta K (2001) A palaeomagnetic study and age determinations of Tertiary rocks in Nicaragua, Central America. Geophys J Int 147:294–309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Epstein S, Mayeda TK (1953) Variation of O18 content of waters from natural sources. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 4:213–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans WC, White LD, Rapp JB (1988) Geochemistry of some gases in hydrothermal fluids from the southern Juan De Fuca Ridge. J Geophys Res 93:15305–15313

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farley KA, Neroda E (1998) Noble gases in the Earth’s mantle. Ann Rev Earth Planet Sci 26:189–218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gerlach TM, Nordlie BE (1975) The C–O–H–S gaseous system, part II: temperature, atomic composition and molecular equilibria in volcanic gases. Am J Sci 275:377–395

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giggenbach WF (1987) Redox processes governing the chemistry of fumarolic gas discharges from White Island, New Zealand. Appl Geochem 2:143–161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giggenbach WF (1991b) Chemical techniques in geothermal exploration. In: D’Amore F (ed) Application of geochemistry in geothermal reservoir development. UNITAR, New York, pp 253–273

    Google Scholar 

  • Giggenbach WF (1992) Isotopic shifts in waters from geothermal and volcanic systems along convergent plate boundaries and their origin. Earth Planet Sci Lett 113:495–510

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giggenbach WF (1996) Chemical composition of volcanic gases. In: Scarpa M, Tilling RJ (eds) Monitoring and mitigation of volcanic hazards. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 221–256

    Google Scholar 

  • Giggenbach WF, Gougel RL (1989) Method for the collection and analysis of geothermal and volcanic water and gas samples. NZ-DSIR Report, CD 2387, pp 1–53

  • Global Volcanism Program (1980) Volcanic Activity Reports, SEAN Bulletin 05:12. http://www.volcano.si.edu

  • Global Volcanism Program (1982) Volcanic Activity Reports, SEAN Bulletin 07:03. http://www.volcano.si.edu

  • Global Volcanism Program (1988) Volcanic Activity Reports, SEAN Bulletin 13:01. http://www.volcano.si.edu

  • Global Volcanism Program (1991) Volcanic Activity Reports, BGVN 16:02. http://www.volcano.si.edu

  • Global Volcanism Program (1994) Volcanic Activity Reports, BGVN 19:11. http://www.volcano.si.edu

  • Havlíèek P, Hradecký P, Mlèoch B, Novák Z, Staník E, Šebesta J, Buitrago N, Navarro M (1998) Estudio geológico para reconocimiento de riesgo natural y vulnerabilidad geológica en el área de Masaya y Granada. Servicio Geológico Checo-Instituto Nicaragüense de Estudios Territoriales, Praha-Managua. Archive INETER, Managua, Nicaragua

  • Hradecký P (1988) Geológia del Volcán Mombacho y sus alrededores. Archive INETER, Managua, Nicaragua

  • IAEA (2004) Isotope Hydrology Information System, ISOHIS Database. http://isohis.iaea.org

  • IAEA/WMO (2004) Global Network of Isotopes in Precipitation, GNIP Database. http://isohis.iaea.org

  • Incer J (1995) Geografía dinámica de Nicaragua. Hipamer, Managua, Nicaragua

  • Kita I, Nitta K, Nagao K, Taguchi S, Koga A (1993) Difference in N2/Ar ratio of magmatic gases from northeast and southwest Japan: new evidence for different state of plate subduction. Geology 21:391–394

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • La Femina PC, Dixon TH, Strauch W (2002) Bookshelf faulting in Nicaragua. Geology 30:751–754

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lide DR (2001) Handbook of chemistry and physics, 82nd edn. CRC, Boca Raton, Florida, USA

  • Mamyrin BA, Tolstikhin IN (1984) Helium isotopes in nature. In: Fyfe WS (ed) Developments in geochemistry. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 1–273

    Google Scholar 

  • Martini M (1993) Water and fire: Vulcano island from 1977–1991. Geochem J 27:297–303

    Google Scholar 

  • Martini M (1996) Chemical characters of the gaseous phase in different stages of volcanism: precursors and volcanic activity. In: Scarpa G, Tilling R (eds) Monitoring and mitigation of volcano hazards. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 199–219

    Google Scholar 

  • Marty B, Jambon A (1987) C/3He in volatile fluxes from the solid Earth: implications for carbon geodynamics. Earth Planet Sci Lett 83:16–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McBirney AR, Williams H (1965) Volcanic history of Nicaragua. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, pp 1–65

    Google Scholar 

  • Montegrossi G, Tassi F, Vaselli O, Buccianti A, Garofalo K (2001) Sulfur species in volcanic gases. Anal Chem 73:3709–3715

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Notsu K, Sugiyama K, Hosoe M, Uemura A, Shimoike Y, Tsunomori F, Sumino H, Yamamoto J, Mori T, Hernandez PA (2005) Diffuse CO2 efflux from Iwojima volcano, Izu-Ogasawara arc, Japan. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 139:147–161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oremland RS, Miller LG, Whiticar MJ (1987) Sources and flux of natural gases from Mono Lake, California. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 51:2915–2929

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patino LC, Carr MJ, Feigenson MD (2000) Local and regional variations in Central American arc lavas controlled by variations in subducted sediment input. Contrib Mineral Petrol 138:265–283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poreda RJ, Farley KA (1992) Rare-gases in Samoan xenoliths. Earth Planet Sci Lett 113:129–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Protti M, Guendel F, McNally K (1995) Correlation between the age of the subducting Cocos plate and the geometry of the Wadati-Benioff zone under Nicaragua and Costa Rica. In: Mann P (ed) Geologic and tectonic development of the Caribbean plate boundary in southern Central America. Geol Soc Am Spec Pap 295:309–326

  • Rollinson H (1993) Using geochemical data. Longman, London, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Seewald JS (1994) Evidence for metastable equilibrium between hydrocarbons under hydrothermal conditions. Nature 370:285–287

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaw AM, Hilton DR, Fischer TP, Walker JA, Alvarado GE (2003) Contrasting He–C relationship in Nicaragua and Costa Rica: insights into C cycling through subduction zones. Earth Planet Sci Lett 214:499–513

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shock LE (1993) Hydrothermal dehydration of aqueous organic compounds. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 57:3341–3349

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sigurdsson H, Houghton B, McNutt S, Rymer H, Stix J (2000) Encyclopedia of volcanoes. Academic Press, San Diego

    Google Scholar 

  • Snyder G, Poreda R, Hunt A, Fehn U (2001) Regional variations in volatile composition: Isotopic evidence for carbonate recycling in the Central American volcanic arc. Geochem Geophys Geosyst 2. DOI 10.1029/2001GC000163

  • Snyder G, Poreda R, Fehn U, Hunt A (2003) Sources of nitrogen and methane in Central American geothermal settings: Noble gas and 129I evidence for crustal and magmatic volatile components. Geochem Geophys Geosyst 4. DOI 10.1029/2002GC000363

  • Sumino H, Notsu K, Nakai S, Sato M, Nagao K, Hosoe M, Wakita H (2004) Noble gas and carbon isotopes of fumarolic gas from Iwojima volcano, Izu-Ogasawara arc, Japan: implications for the origin of unusual arc magmatism. Chem Geol 209:153–173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Symonds RB, Gerlach TM, Reed MH (2001) Magmatic gas scrubbing: implications for volcano monitoring. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 108:303–341

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taran YA, Giggenbach WF (2003) Geochemistry of light hydrocarbons in subduction-related volcanic and hydrothermal fluids. In: Simmons SF, Graham IJ (eds) Volcanic, geothermal, and ore-forming fluids: rulers and witnesses of processes within the Earth. Soc Econ Geol Spec Publ 10:61–74

  • Taran YA, Pokrovsky BG, Esikov AD (1989) Deuterium and oxygen-18 in fumarolic steam and amphiboles from some Kamchatka volcanoes: “andesitic waters”. Doklady Akademii Nauk SSSR 304:440–443

    Google Scholar 

  • Tassi F (2004) Fluidi in ambiente vulcanico: Evoluzione temporale dei parametri composizionali e distribuzione degli idrocarburi leggeri in fase gassosa. PhD Thesis, University of Florence, Italy

  • Tassi F, Vaselli O, Capaccioni B, Nencetti A, Montegrossi G, Macias JL, Magro G (2003) Chemical composition of fumarolic gases and spring discharges from El Chichon volcano, Chiapas, Mexico: causes and implications of the changes detected over the period 1998–2000. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 123:105–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tassi F, Martinez C, Vaselli O, Capaccioni B, Viramonte J (2005a) The light hydrocarbons as new geoindicators of equilibrium temperatures and redox conditions of geothermal fields: evidence from El Tatio (northern Chile). Appl Geochem 20:2049–2062

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tassi F, Vaselli O, Capaccioni B, Giolito C, Duarte E, Fernandez E, Minissale A, Magro G (2005b) The hydrothermal-volcanic system of Rincon de la Vieja volcano (Costa Rica): a combined (inorganic and organic) geochemical approach to understanding the origin of the fluid discharges and its possible application to volcanic surveillance. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 148:315–333

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vallance JW, Schilling SP, Devoli G (2001) Lahar hazards at Mombacho Volcano, Nicaragua. US Geol Surv Open-File Rep 01-455

  • van Wyk de Vries B (1993) Tectonics and magma evolution of Nicaraguan volcanic systems. PhD Thesis, The Open University, UK

  • van Wyk de Vries B, Francis PW (1997) Catastrophic collapse at stratovolcanoes induced by gradual volcano spreading. Nature 387:387–390

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Wyk de Vries B, Hernandez P (1994) Map of Mombacho summit area. Global Volcanism Program, Volcanic Activity Reports, BGVN 19:11

    Google Scholar 

  • Vaselli O, Tassi F, Minissale A, Montegrossi G, Duarte E, Fernandez E, Bergamaschi F (2003) Fumarole migration and fluid geochemistry at Poas volcano (Costa Rica) from 1998 to 2001. In: Oppenheimer C, Pyle DM, Barclay J (eds) Volcanic degassing. Geol Soc London Spec Publ 213:247–262

  • Weinberg RF (1992) Neotectonic development of western Nicaragua. Tectonics 11:1010–1017

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whiticar MJ, Suess E (1990) Hydrothermal hydrocarbon gases in the sediments of the King-George Basin, Bransfield Strait, Antarctica. Appl Geochem 5:135–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Pedro Perez, Eliecer Duarte and Angelo Minissale for their help during the fieldwork and Orlando, Guillermo and Felix for the nice drive through the coffee plantations and the wild forests of Mombacho. Further thanks to Graziella Devoli and Antonio Alvarez for providing important bibliography and information on Mombacho volcano. Thanks to Lars Rüpke for the helpful advice provided to the first author during the preparation of the manuscript.

W.C. Evans, T.P. Fischer, B. van Wyk de Vries, M. Edmonds, an anonymous reviewer and J. Donnelly-Nolan are warmly thanked for providing useful suggestions, comments and advice.

This work was supported by the DFG as part of the SFB 574 “Volatiles and Fluids in Subduction Zones” at Kiel University (Germany) and by the Volkswagen Foundation (I/76 590). This publication is contribution no. 82 of the Sonderforschungsbereich SFB 574.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. SFB 574, IFM-GEOMAR, Wischhofstraße 1-3, 24148, Kiel, Germany

    K. Garofalo, M. Frische & T. H. Hansteen

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Florence, Via G. La Pira 4, 50121, Florence, Italy

    F. Tassi & O. Vaselli

  3. CNR-IGG Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources, Via G. La Pira 4, 50121, Florence, Italy

    O. Vaselli

  4. Estación Experimental de Zaidín, CSIC, Prof. Albareda 1, 18008, Granada, Spain

    A. Delgado-Huertas

  5. Department of Environmental Sciences, Second University of Naples, Via Vivaldi 43, 81100, Caserta, Italy

    D. Tedesco

  6. CNR National Research Council, Institute of Environmental Geology and Geo-Engineering, Piazzale A. Moro, 00100, Roma, Italy

    D. Tedesco

  7. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, 227 Hutchinson Hall, Rochester, NY, 14627, USA

    R. J. Poreda

  8. INETER, Instituto Nicaragüense de Estudios Territoriales, Frente a Policlínica Oriental, 2110, Managua, Nicaragua

    W. Strauch

Authors
  1. K. Garofalo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. F. Tassi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. O. Vaselli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. A. Delgado-Huertas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. D. Tedesco
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. M. Frische
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. T. H. Hansteen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. R. J. Poreda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. W. Strauch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to K. Garofalo.

Additional information

Editorial responsibility: J. Donnelly-Nolan

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Garofalo, K., Tassi, F., Vaselli, O. et al. Fumarolic gases at Mombacho volcano (Nicaragua): presence of magmatic gas species and implications for volcanic surveillance. Bull Volcanol 69, 785–795 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-006-0108-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-006-0108-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation