Radionuclides and sulfur content in Mount Etna plume in 1983–1995: new constraints on the magma feeding system

Radionuclide activities (210Pb, 210Bi, 210Po) were investigated in Mount Etna plume from 1983 to 1995. At SE crater the long-term observation (12 years) of the 210Po/210Pb ratio shows that it can behave as a degassing vent not directly related to the main magma reservoir depending on the magma level inside the volcano. Since 1992, the simultaneous determination of radionuclides and sulfur in the main plume results in new constraints on the degassing model of Lambert et al. (Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 76 (1986) 185). The 210Po/SO2 and 210Pb/SO2 ratios enable us to identify two sources of 210Po in the plume: one is magmatic, correlated with SO2, the other one is an additional component issued from the decay of 210Pb in the shallow degassing cell, and depends directly on the residence time of the gases before their emission. Estimations of the volume of degassing magma, the residence time of the gases and the proportion of undegassed magma renewing the shallow degassing cell are given for the period 1992–1995. During the 1992 eruption, the rate of degassing magma volume is estimated to have been as high as 5×106 m3/day, and the volume of the shallow degassing magma reservoir about 0.5 km3. In 1994 and 1995 the rate of non-erupted degassing magma volume was estimated to have been about 0.18 km3/year. During the entire 1983–1995 period, only 15–20% of the degassed magma was erupted.