| Summary: | Dissertation (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2013 Surface measurements of volcanic emissions can provide critical insight into subsurface processes at active volcanoes such as the influx or ascent of magma, changes in conduit permeability, and relative eruption size. In this dissertation I employ direct and remote measurements of volcanic emissions to characterize activity and elucidate subsurface processes at three active volcanoes around the North Pacific. The 2009 eruption of Redoubt Volcano, Alaska, produced elevated SO2 emissions that were detected by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) satellite sensor for over three months. This provided a rare opportunity to characterize Redoubt's daily SO2 emissions and to validate the OMI measurements. Order of magnitude variations in daily SO2 mass were observed, with over half of the cumulative SO2 emissions released during the explosive phase of the eruption. Correlations among OMI daily SO2 mass, tephra mass and acoustic energies during the explosive phase suggest that OMI data may be used to infer eruption size and explosivity. From 2007 through 2010 direct and remote measurements of volcanic gas composition and flux were measured at Bezymianny Volcano, Kamchatka, Russia. During this period Bezymianny underwent five explosive eruptions. Estimates of passive and eruptive SO2 emissions suggest that the majority of SO2 is released passively. Order of magnitude variations in total volatile flux observed throughout the study period were attributed to changes in the depth of gas exsolution and separation from the melt at the time of sample collection. These findings suggest that exsolved gas composition may be used to detect magma ascent prior to eruption at Bezymianny Volcano. Karymsky Volcano, Kamchatka, Russia, is a dynamic volcano which exhibited four end-member activity types during field campaigns in 2011 and 2012, including: discrete ash explosions, pulsatory degassing, gas jetting, and explosive eruption. These activity types were characterized ...
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