Soil gas prospection of He,222Rn and CO2: Vulcano Porto area, Aeolian Islands, Italy

In March 1994, soil gases were sampled in the area of Vulcano Porto, on the island of Vulcano, using a grid of about 200 points/km2. Analysed gases were CO2, He and222Rn and, over a smaller area, H2S. Some of the samples were also analysed for the isotope composition of CO2single bondC. Three anomalous CO2 degassing areas were identified: Grotta dei Palizzi, the area near the Telephone Exchange, and the area near the beach fumaroles. The behaviour of He and222Rn is different in these 3 areas. The concentration of He is much lower than that of atmospheric He (down to −3950 ppb) in the isthmus, and only in the area near Grotta dei Palizzi does it have values significantly higher than atmospheric ones (up to 1900 ppb). The activity of222Rn, always significantly positively related to CO2 concentrations, peaked in the 2 fumarole areas (isthmus, Telephone Exchange).