The influence of crystallinity on high--temperature syn--eruptive gas
uptake by volcanic ash
Abstract
Formation of surficial sulfate– and halide–bearing salts by
syn–eruptive ash–gas interactions is known to occur during volcanic
eruptions. For reactions between aluminosilicates and the gas
SO2, at high temperature regimes (T≥ 600 °C), the
controlling mechanism is the outward chemical diffusion of alkalis and
alkaline earth metals, predominantly Ca2+, that result
in sulfate salt formation, mostly CaSO4, on glass
surfaces. However, most of the experimental research has been conducted
for SO2 reactions with pure crystal–free,
aluminosilicate glass, to simplify the complexities of crystal–bearing
systems. Here, we tested high temperature SO2–reactions
using particles of a rhyolitic, crystal–bearing dome material from a
2013 eruption of Santiaguito volcano (Guatemala), by exposing 2 g of
particles to 25 sccm of SO2 at 600–800°C for 5–60 min
each time. We then compare our results with those of previous studies
using pure glass particles, aiming to determine the influence of crystal
fraction and type on the occurrence and efficiency of gas–ash
reactions. We conducted chemical and microscopic analysis of pre– and
post–treated samples and observed that diffusion of
Ca2+ is reduced in crystal–bearing samples relative
to crystal–free samples at the same conditions. The rate of slow–down
of the diffusion process appears to be dependent on the crystal volume
fraction, providing a mechanism to account for this effect a priori. SEM
images also showed that surface componentry strongly affects presence of
CaSO4, as salts appear to be absent on specific surface
spots corresponding to crystal phases. Our results illustrate the need
for ash-gas reaction studies to further consider both the effect of
bulk– and surface–componentry, in order to more accurately assess
syn-eruptive gas uptake by ash.