Volcanologist Dr. Thomas Christopher while speaking on radio this week discussed the different gasses that he records at the La Soufriere volcano and how the measurements of these different gasses aid in the monitoring of the activity of the volcano.
“We measure four gasses in total; I measure hydrogen sulphide, sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide and water” Dr. Christopher said.
He said that measuring these different gasses gives him information about the different parts of the system.
“So when I look at the carbon dioxide flux, over the ratio of the carbon dioxide to the total sulphur, it tells me a lot about what is happening deep, versus just looking at the sulphur flux only, which tells me what’s happening in the mid-crustal region.” Christopher said.
He went on to explain the process further.
“When I am doing that flux measurement, the multigas is actually n the boat with me running at the same time and it’s collecting concentration data for the four gasses. So I can use the ratio for the other three gasses to SO2 to generate flux data for them, based on the SO2 flux which I would have calculated.”
