Geochemistry of fluids associated with the 1995-1996 eruption of Mt. Ruapehu, New Zealand: signatures and processes in the magmatic-hydrothermal system

The 1995-1996 eruption of Mt. Ruapehu has provided a number of insights into the geochemical processes operating within the magmatic-hydrothermal system of this volcano. Both pre-eruption degassing of the rising magma and its eventual intrusion into the convective zone of the hydrothermal system beneath the lake were clearly reflected in lake water compositions. The eruptions of September-October 1995 expelled the lake, and provided the first-ever opportunity to characterise gas discharges from this volcano. The fumarolic discharges revealed compositions typical of andesite volcanoes and strong interaction with the enclosing meteoric and hydrothermal system fluids. Some 1.1 MT of SO2 gas was released from the volcano between September 1995 and December 1996, whereas ca, twice this amount (2.2 MT equivalent SO2) was erupted as soluble (i.e. leachable) oxyanions of sulphur. Significantly more sulphur was released from the volcano over this period than can be accounted for from the magma volume actually erupted. The evidence suggests that a sizable component of the evolved sulphur was remobilised from the long-lived hydrothermal system within the volcano during the 1995-1996 activity. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.