Modest volcanic SO<sub>2</sub> emissions from the Indonesian archipelago.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 35690615.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-022-31043-7 and PMC identifier 9188567.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Indonesia hosts the largest number of active volcanoes, several of which are renowned for climate-changing historical eruptions. This pedigree might suggest a substantial fraction of global volcanic sulfur emissions from Indonesia and are intrinsically driven by sulfur-rich magmas. However, a paucity of observations has hampered evaluation of these points-many volcanoes have hitherto not been subject to emissions measurements. Here we report new gas measurements from Indonesian volcanoes. The combined SO<sub>2</sub> output amounts to 1.15 ± 0.48 Tg/yr. We estimate an additional time-averaged SO<sub>2</sub> yield of 0.12-0.54 Tg/yr for explosive eruptions, indicating a total SO<sub>2</sub> inventory of 1.27-1.69 Tg/yr for Indonesian. This is comparatively modest-individual volcanoes such as Etna have sustained higher fluxes. To understand this paradox, we compare the geodynamic, petrologic, magma dynamical and shallow magmatic-hydrothermal processes that influence the sulfur transfer to the atmosphere. Results reinforce the idea that sulfur-rich eruptions reflect long-term accumulation of volatiles in the reservoirs.