Deep magmatic degassing versus scrubbing: Elevated CO2 emissions and C/S in the lead-up to the 2009 eruption of Redoubt Volcano, Alaska

We report CO_2, SO₂, and H₂S emission rates and C/S ratios during the five months leading up to the 2009 eruption of Redoubt Volcano, Alaska. CO₂emission rates up to 9018 t/d and C/S ratios ≥30 measured in the months prior to the eruption were critical for fully informed forecasting efforts. Observations of ice-melt rates, meltwater discharge, and water chemistry suggest that surface waters represented drainage from surficial, perched reservoirs of condensed magmatic steam and glacial meltwater. These fluids scrubbed only a few hundred tonnes/day of SO₂, not the >2100 t/d SO₂expected from degassing of magma in the mid- to upper crust (3–6.5 km), where petrologic analysis shows the final magmatic equilibration occurred. All data are consistent with upflow of a CO₂-rich magmatic gas for at least 5 months prior to eruption, and minimal scrubbing of SO₂by near-surface groundwater. The high C/S ratios observed could reflect bulk degassing of mid-crustal magma followed by nearly complete loss of SO₂in a deep magmatic-hydrothermal system. Alternatively, high C/S ratios could be attributed to decompressional degassing of low silica andesitic magma that intruded into the mid-crust in the 5 months prior to eruption, thereby mobilizing the pre-existing high silica andesite magma or mush in this region. The latter scenario is supported by several lines of evidence, including deep long-period earthquakes (−28 to −32 km) prior to and during the eruption, and far-field deformation following the onset of eruptive activity.