Characterisation of volcanic aerosol plumes using sun photometry and trace element analysis (MRes Dissertation Project)

 Martin Daily1, Dr Evgenia Ilyinskaya1,

1School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK

Summary

The aerosol plumes of Mt Yasur (Vanuatu) and Mt Erebus (Antarctica), two active volcanoes exhibing persistent low-level activity, have been characterised using a handheld MICROTOPS II sun photometer to retrieve particle size distributions and fluxes using an inverse modelling code [I]. Mt. Erebus’ aerosols, sampled using cascade impactors, were further characterised in terms of their size resolved metal and major anion composition. Results show that these mildly explosive volcanoes’ emissions are dominated by submicron sized particles and in the case of Mt Erebus are highly enriched in metals and halogens.