Volcanic soil gas 4He/CO2 ratio: a useful geochemical tool for real-time eruption forecasting

TL;DR

This study shows that the ratio of helium to carbon dioxide in volcanic soil gas can help predict eruptions in real time, as demonstrated during the 2011–2012 El Hierro submarine eruption.

Contribution

The study introduces the He/CO2 ratio as a novel real-time geochemical tool for forecasting volcanic eruptions.

Findings

The He/CO2 ratio increased one month before the El Hierro eruption and peaked 10 days before it.

The ratio also peaked days before the highest magma emission rate during the eruption.

The He/CO2 ratio proved useful for forecasting eruption onset during volcanic emergencies.

Abstract

At many dormant volcanoes, magmatic gases are not channeled through preferential degassing routes as fumaroles and only percolate through the flanks of the volcano in a diffuse way. This type of volcanic gas emission provides valuable information, even though the soil matrix contains an important atmospheric component. This study aimed to demonstrate that chemical ratios such as He/CO2 in soil gases provide excellent information on the evolution of volcanic unrest episodes and help forecast the volcanic eruption onset. Before and during the occurrence of the October 2011–March 2012 submarine of El Hierro, Canary Islands, more than 8500 soil He analyses and diffuse CO2 emission measurements were performed. The results show that the soil He/CO2 emission ratio began increasing drastically one month before eruption onset, reaching the maximum value 10 days before. During the eruptive period, this ratio also showed a maximum value several days before the period with the highest magma emission rate. The He/CO2 ratio was also helpful in forecasting the eruption onset. We demonstrate that this tool can be applied in real-time during volcanic emergencies. Our results also encourage a reevaluation of the global He emission from the subaerial volcanism.

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