Composition and exhalation flux of gases from mud volcanoes in Taiwan

Many mud volcanoes are distributed along the tectonic sutures in southern Taiwan and can be divided into five zones based on their relative positions in different tectonic domains. Most active mud volcanoes are exhaling methane-dominated gases. Nevertheless, some gases show unusual carbon dioxide-dominated and/or nitrogen-excess compositions. This implies that there are multiple sources for the gas compositions of mud volcanoes in Taiwan. For better understanding the total amount of exhalation gases and its flux, the gas flow and compositions were continuously measured in the interval of two minutes at Chung-lun (CL) bubbling mud pool for a few months. The major compositions of gases exhaling from this site were 75similar to90% of CO2 and 5similar to12% of CH4. The amount of gases exhaling from the mud pool can be estimated to be about 1.4 ton/year for CH4 and 28 ton/year for CO2, respectively. The preliminary results of exhaling gas flux from the major vents of representative active mud volcanoes, yielded an estimated total CH4 output of the mud volcanoes in Taiwan of ca. 29 ton/year during quiescent period.