What gases are emitted by Kīlauea and other active volcanoes?
Ninety-nine percent of the gas molecules emitted during a volcanic eruption are water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), and sulfur dioxide (SO2). The remaining one percent is comprised of small amounts of hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride, and other minor gas species.
Learn more: Volcanic Gas
Related Content
Does vog (volcanic smog) impact plants and animals?
Who monitors volcanic gases emitted by Kīlauea and how is it done?
Where and how do sulfur dioxide and volcanic gases (vog) affect air quality in Hawaii?
Should I cancel my plans to visit to Hawai`i Island because of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and vog?
What health hazards are posed by vog (volcanic smog)?
What is "vog"? How is it related to sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions?
Does ash ever erupt from Kīlauea Volcano?
Why is it important to monitor volcanoes?
How are volcanic gases measured?
Is it dangerous to work on volcanoes? What precautions do scientists take?
The National Volcano Early Warning System (NVEWS) will help USGS better monitor nation’s most dangerous volcanoes
In September 2004, USGS scientists detected sudden, but unmistakable, signs that Mount St. Helens was waking up. Volcano monitors had picked up the occurrence of hundreds of small earthquakes and other signals that the volcano’s crater floor had begun to rise. Within a week, several eruptions blasted clouds of ash into the atmosphere, and soon after, a new lava dome emerged in the crater.
Kīlauea Volcano Erupts
Today's update for June 21st, 2018 will be the last of the daily updates on this USGS feature story. We encourage you to keep checking the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) Kīlauea status website for daily activity updates. You can also visit the USGS Facebook page and the USGS Twitter feed as updates become available. For press inquiries, please email volcanomedia@usgs.gov.
EarthWord–Vog
Just like smog and fog, this EarthWord is not what you want to see while driving...
Living with Vog on an Active Volcano: New Resources
New informational products about the health hazards of volcanic air pollution known as “vog,” are available through a new interagency partnership.
EarthWord: Fumarole
Fumaroles are openings in the earth’s surface that emit steam and volcanic gases, such as sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide. They can occur as holes, cracks, or fissures near active volcanoes or in areas where magma has risen into the earth’s crust without erupting. A fumarole can vent for centuries or quickly go extinct, depending on the longevity of its heat source.
New Study Looks at How People Cope with Vog
A new study to examine how people who live downwind of Kīlauea Volcano cope with volcanic gas emissions, or vog, is currently underway.
Kilauea’s Volcanic Gases and Their Environmental Impacts
U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists Jeff Sutton and Tamar Elias will update information on Kīlauea Volcano’s gas emissions and associated environmental impacts. Their presentation will be at the park’s Kīlauea Visitor Center Auditorium. Park entrance fees apply.
PubTalk 8/2018 — What on Earth is going on at Kilauea Volcano?
Title: What on Earth is going on at Kilauea Volcano?
- First significant summit explosions in nearly a century
- Largest summit collapse volume since at least 1800
- Voluminous fissure eruptions feeding channelized lava flow
- Unparalleled new opportunities for understanding the volcanic system
USGS HVO geochemist measuring gases released from Kīlauea Volcano
USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geochemist measuring gases released from Kïlauea with a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer, an instrument that detects gas compositions on the basis of absorbed infrared light. The data obtained from FTIR measurements have been useful in identifying the many components of volcanic-gas emissions, which provide information on the
...Gas plume from Halemaʻumaʻu Crater, Kilauea Volcano
With stagnant winds present, the plume from Halema`uma`u Crater at the summit of Kilauea Volcano, stands straight up, showing off the distant, but bright, full moon.
Active lava lake at summit of Kīlauea volcano
Aerial photograph of active lava lake in Hale maʻumaʻu Crater at the summit of Kīlauea volcano.
Fumarole on Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaiʻi
Fumarole on Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaiʻi. Elemental sulfur vapor escaping from the fumarole has cooled to form yellow-colored crystals around its margins. Credit: Robert L. Christiansen.
Collecting Gas Sample at a Fumarole
USGS geologist Deborah Bergfeld collects a gas sample from a superheated (hotter than the boiling point) fumarole in Little Hot Springs Valley at Lassen Volcanic National Park.
Collecting Gas at a Boiling Pool
USGS geologist Laura Clor (right) and Rachel Teasdale (California State University – Chico, left) collect gas samples from a thermal feature at Sulphur Works in Lassen Volcanic National Park.
Monitoring Volcanic Gases on Kilauea's East Rift Zone II
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Geochemist Jeff Sutton and CSAV international volcanology students visit a continuous gas monitoring site on Kilauea's east rift zone during field studies portion of the summer training course. Instrumentation at this site measures ambient concentration of noxious sulfur dioxide gas released from the volcano's vents, along with
...Monitoring Volcanic Gases on Kilauea's East Rift Zone
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Geochemist Jeff Sutton and CSAV international volcanology students visit a continuous gas monitoring site on Kilauea's east rift zone during field studies portion of the summer training course. Instrumentation at this site measures ambient concentration of noxious sulfur dioxide gas released from the volcano's vents, along with meteorological
...Collecting Volcanic Gas Samples
Steven Ingebritsen (lower right, in blue hat) kneels in the warm mud as he collects samples of the gases emitted from the fumaroles on the north side of Crater Rock on Mount Hood. The samples are taken back to the laboratory for an analysis of the gases' chemical composition. By routinely collecting gas samples and comparing their composition to past measurements,
...Volcanic Gas Sampling
Christoph Kern acquires ultraviolet images of volcanic gas over the dome and crater of Mount St. Helens. Although practically invisible to the human eye, sulfur dioxide absorbs ultraviolet light and appears dark in images captured by the equipment. Sulfur dioxide is typically emitted from magma as it approaches the surface, so surveys are conducted on a regular basis at
...The Air We Breathe…It’s a Gas!
We live at the bottom of an ocean of air. Most adults take around 29,000 breaths a day, children breathe a little faster; but what is in this air we breathe? What are the gases in the air? How much of each gas is there? Do these gases have different weights? How cold are liquid nitrogen and dry ice, and where did those names come from? Come join us to explore these