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Diffuse CO2 degassing and thermal energy release from Teide volcano summit crater, Canary Islands

Eleazar Padrón1,2 , Nemesio M. Pérez1,2, Gladys V. Melián1,2, Pedro A. Hernández1,2, Luca D'Auria1,2, María Asensio-Ramos1, Germán D. Padilla1,2

  • Affiliations: 1Instituto Volcanológico de Canarias (INVOLCAN), Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, Canary Islands; 2Instituto Tecnológico y de Energías Renovables (ITER), Granadilla de Abona, Tenerife, Canary Islands  

  • Presentation type: Poster

  • Presentation time: Friday 16:30 - 18:00, Room Poster Hall

  • Poster Board Number: 259

  • Programme No: 3.17.32

  • Theme 3 > Session 17

Abstract

Diffuse soil CO2 efflux studies have shown that the amounts of CO2 released by non-visible degassing can be similar or even much larger than CO2 released through advection from fumaroles and volcanic plumes. As most quiescent volcanoes dissipate important amounts of energy through the direct expulsion of volcanic-hydrothermal fluids, the estimation of the flux of thermal energy associated with diffuse degassing is relevant for both volcanic surveillance and geothermal exploration. The summit cone of Teide volcano (Tenerife, Canary Islands) shows a weak fumarolic system and high rates of diffuse CO2 degassing, that represent the main degassing mechanism. Both fumarolic discharges and diffuse CO2 degassing rates have been monitored regularly since 1999 at the summit crater of Teide volcano. The computation of the thermal energy release based on the diffuse CO2 degassing rates has been done by calculating thermal energy given off by the associated steam condensation. The time series of both thermal energy and seismic energy release shows an important increase after 2016, undoubtedly related to the occurrence of an input of magmatic fluids triggered by an injection of fresh magma and convective mixing, with a subsequent significant increase in seismic activity recorded in and around Tenerife Island. The accumulated thermal energy released from the summit crater of Teide associated with the diffuse degassing of hydrothermal fluids in the period 1999-2024, has been estimated in 1.9×1010 MJ, two orders of magnitude larger than the seismic energy released in and around Tenerife Island in the same period, estimated in 4.8×108 MJ.