Tip Sheets
Magma expert: Iceland volcano spewing CO2 may not signal impending eruption
September 24, 2018
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The Katla volcano in Iceland is emitting a large volume of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, according to a team of Icelandic and British researchers, sparking speculation about when it might erupt and how great an eruption might be.
Esteban Gazel
associate professor of earth and atmospheric sciences
Esteban Gazel, associate professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at Cornell University, is an expert on the processes inside the Earth that produce magma and volcanoes. He says a variety of factors can cause the release of large amounts of carbon dioxide from a volcano.
Gazel says:
“The high release of carbon dioxide could be due to many things. It could be due to new magma in the system or simply a relaxation of the system that allows more carbon dioxide to be exsolved.
“Eruptions are triggered by depressurization of volatiles from magma. For example, the more water and carbon dioxide magma has in solution, the more explosive it could be. Imagine a can of soda. If you shake it, it will ‘explode’ when you release the pressure due to the exsolution of carbon dioxide.”
