The global carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) flux from subaerial volcanoes remains poorly quantified, limiting our understanding of the deep carbon cycle during geologic time and in modern Earth. Past attempts to extrapolate the global volcanic CO 2 flux have been biased by observations being available for a relatively small number of accessible volcanoes. Here, we propose that the strong, but yet unmeasured, CO 2 emissions from several remote degassing volcanoes worldwide can be predicted using regional/global relationships between the CO 2 /S T ratio of volcanic gases and whole-rock trace element compositions (e.g., Ba/La). From these globally linked gas/rock compositions, we predict the CO 2 /S T gas ratio of 34 top-degassing remote volcanoes with no available gas measurements. By scaling to volcanic SO 2 fluxes from a global catalogue, we estimate a cumulative “unmeasured” CO 2 output of 11.4 ± 1.1 Mt/yr (or 0.26 ± 0.02·10 12 mol/yr). In combination with the measured CO 2 output of 27.4 ± 3.6 Mt/yr (or 0.62 ± 0.08·10 12 mol/yr), our results constrain the time-averaged (2005–2015) cumulative CO 2 flux from the Earth’s 91 most actively degassing subaerial volcanoes at 38.7 ± 2.9 Mt/yr (or 0.88 ± 0.06·10 12 mol/yr).

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International audienceThe spatial and temporal coverage of measurements of previous termvolcanicnext term gas emissions remains patchy. However, over the last decade, emissions inventories have improved thanks to new measurements of some of the lesser-known previous termvolcanicnext term areas. We report on one such region - the Vanuatu island arc, in the Southwest Pacific - for which we now have sufficient systematic observations to offer a systematic emissions inventory. Our new estimate is based on SO2 flux measurements made in the period 2004-2009 with ultraviolet spectroscopy techniques for the following volcanoes: Yasur, Lopevi, Ambrym, Ambae, Gaua and Vanua Lava (from south to north). These are the first ever measurements for Lopevi, Gaua and Vanua Lava. The results reveal the Vanuatu arc as one of Earth's prominent sources of previous termvolcanicnext term degassing with a characteristic annual emission to the atmosphere of ~ 3 Tg of SO2 (representing about 20% of hitherto published global estimates). Our new dataset highlights the sustained prodigious degassing of Ambrym volcano, whose 5 Gg d-1 mean flux of SO2 represents nearly two-thirds of the total budget for the Vanuatu arc. This confirms Ambrym as one of the largest previous termvolcanic sources worldwide comparable to Etna, often considered as the most vigorous source of previous termvolcanic emission on Earth. We also report a high degassing for Ambae of ~ 2 Gg d-1 SO2, representing more than 28 % of the Vanuatu arc budget. Thus, 90 % of the SO2 output from Vanuatu is focused in the central part of the arc (from Ambrym and Ambae) where magmas originate from enriched Indian-type mantle and where peculiar tectonic conditions could favour high magma production rates

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Volcanoes provide important contributions to atmospheric budgets of SO 2 and reactive halogens, which play significant roles in atmospheric oxidative capacity and radiation. However, the global source strengths of volcanic emissions remain poorly constrained. These uncertainties are highlighted here by the first measurements of gas emission rates from Ambrym volcano, Vanuatu. Our initial airborne ultraviolet spectroscopic measurements made in January 2005 indicate fluxes of 18-270 kg s -1 of SO 2 , and 62-110 gs -1 of BrO, into the atmosphere, placing Ambrym amongst the largest known contemporary point sources of both these species on Earth. We also estimate high Cl and F fluxes of~8-14 and~27-50 kg s -1 , respectively, for this period. Further observations using both airborne and spaceborne remote sensing reveal a fluctuating SO 2 output between 2004 and 2008, with a surge in the first half of 2005, and underline the substantial contribution that a single passively degassing volcano can make to the atmospheric budget of sulfur and halogens.

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Persistent lava lakes are rare on Earth and provide volcanologists with a remarkable opportunity to directly investigate magma dynamics and degassing at the open air. Ambrym volcano, in Vanuatu, is one of the very few basaltic arc volcanoes displaying such an activity and voluminous gas emission, but whose study has long remained hampered by challenging accessibility. Here we report the first high temporal resolution (every 5 sec) measurements of vigorous lava lake degassing inside its 300 m deep Benbow crater using OP-FTIR spectroscopy. Our results reveal a highly dynamic degassing pattern involving (i) recurrent (100-200 sec) short-period oscillations of the volcanic gas composition and temperature, correlating with pulsated gas emission and sourced in the upper part of the lava lake, (ii) a continuous long period (∼8 min) modulation probably due to the influx of fresh magma at the bottom of the lake, and (iii) discrete CO 2 spike events occurring in coincidence with the sequential bursting of meter-sized bubbles, which indicates the separate ascent of large gas bubbles or slugs in a feeder conduit with estimated diameter of 6±1 m. This complex degassing pattern, measured with unprecedented detail and involving both coupled and 2 decoupled magma-gas ascent over short time scales, markedly differs from that of quieter lava lakes at Erebus and Kilauea. It can be accounted for by a modest size of Benbow lava lake and its very high basalt supply rate (~20 m 3 s -1 ), favouring its rapid overturn and renewal. We verify a typical basaltic arc signature for Ambrym volcanic gas and, based on contemporaneous SO 2 flux measurements, we evaluate huge emission rates of 160