Natural CO2-leaking marine sites
off the coast of Italy
A resource for studying potential impacts, gg
g
p
, and testing g
examining gas migration processes,
monitoring techniques.
Salvatore Lombardi
Università di Roma “La Sapienza”
November 2-4, 2010
Maria Laach, Germany
IEAGHG workshop: Natural Releases of CO2:
Building Knowledge for CO2 Storage Environmental Impact Assessments
Example sites
Ischia
Island
Panarea
Island
There are many sites off the west coast of Italy where natural CO2
is released from the sea floor - these two are the most studied
November 2-4, 2010
Maria Laach, Germany
IEAGHG workshop: Natural Releases of CO2:
Building Knowledge for CO2 Storage Environmental Impact Assessments
Ischia
Ischia
Island
Castello
Aragonese
CO2 vents
• Shallow (<5m), warm-water site in photic zone,
therefore biologically-active area
• Note high population density in vicinity of leaks
November 2-4, 2010
Maria Laach, Germany
IEAGHG workshop: Natural Releases of CO2:
Building Knowledge for CO2 Storage Environmental Impact Assessments
Ischia
Hall-Spencer & Rodolfo-Metalpa 2009
• Estimated
E ti t d flow
fl rate:
t
– south side = 1.4 x 106 L / day over 3000 m2
– north side = 0.7 x 106 L / day over 2000 m2
• Gas composition – 90-95% CO2, 3-6% N2, no H2S
November 2-4, 2010
Maria Laach, Germany
IEAGHG workshop: Natural Releases of CO2:
Building Knowledge for CO2 Storage Environmental Impact Assessments
Ischia
Hall-Spencer & Rodolfo-Metalpa 2009
• St
Studied
di d as an analogue
l
off ocean acidification
idifi ti causedd by
b
increased CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere
y
, with researchers from
• Work lead byy U of Plymouth,
France, Brazil and Italy
November 2-4, 2010
Maria Laach, Germany
IEAGHG workshop: Natural Releases of CO2:
Building Knowledge for CO2 Storage Environmental Impact Assessments
Ischia – biological impact
• Low pH over 120 m
• Note
N variability
i bili off values
l
in
i
gas release area, due to
differential mixingg
• Impact first observed where
avg. pH is still high but
greater pH variability
Hall Spencer et al
Hall-Spencer
al. (2008)
November 2-4, 2010
Maria Laach, Germany
• C
Calcareous
l
species
i
diminished while invasive
non-calcareous are favoured
IEAGHG workshop: Natural Releases of CO2:
Building Knowledge for CO2 Storage Environmental Impact Assessments
Ischia – biological impact
pH = 8.2
pH = 7.3
Missing older, outer
pperiostracum layer
y
Eroded pitted shell
Hall-Spencer et al. (2008)
November 2-4, 2010
Maria Laach, Germany
IEAGHG workshop: Natural Releases of CO2:
Building Knowledge for CO2 Storage Environmental Impact Assessments
Ischia – biological impact
Dias et al. (2010)
• Biodiversity is also affected, even at
moderate pH changes
November 2-4, 2010
Maria Laach, Germany
IEAGHG workshop: Natural Releases of CO2:
Building Knowledge for CO2 Storage Environmental Impact Assessments
Ischia – biological impact
corallines
bryozoans
• Percentage cover of
other species is strongly
impacted at pH values
below
be
ow 8
• Some bryozoan species
were able to survive
l
lower
pH
H bbecause off a
lower Mg calcite level
Martin et al. (2008)
November 2-4, 2010
Maria Laach, Germany
IEAGHG workshop: Natural Releases of CO2:
Building Knowledge for CO2 Storage Environmental Impact Assessments
Ischia – biological impact
• Some species benefited under moderately
increased pCO2
– Some showed stable or increased calcification
linked likely to an increase in DIC
– Se
Seagrass
g ss pproduction
oduc o w
wass highest
g es at ppH 7.6
– Brown algae increased under low pH
conditions
November 2-4, 2010
Maria Laach, Germany
IEAGHG workshop: Natural Releases of CO2:
Building Knowledge for CO2 Storage Environmental Impact Assessments
Panarea
• Located off the NE tip of Sicily
• One of the Aeolian Islands, linked
genetically and structurally with
St
Stromboli,
b li Lipari
Li i andd Vulcano
V l
• Area of interest is a series of islets
to the east of Panarea (box at left)
that encircle a gas emission field of
approximately 3km2
Esposito et al.
al (2006)
November 2-4, 2010
Maria Laach, Germany
IEAGHG workshop: Natural Releases of CO2:
Building Knowledge for CO2 Storage Environmental Impact Assessments
Panarea
General area of
gas emissions
i i
Steinbruckner (2009)
• Gas emissions studied since early 1980’s (Italiano & Nuccio, 1991)
• relatively stable in both gas chemistry (e.g.
(e g 98% CO2,
CO2 1.7%
1 7% H2S
plus other trace gases) and flux rates (7-9 x 106 l/d).
November 2-4, 2010
Maria Laach, Germany
IEAGHG workshop: Natural Releases of CO2:
Building Knowledge for CO2 Storage Environmental Impact Assessments
Panarea
• In Nov. 2002, however, a gas outburst increased flow by 2
orders of magnitude
• After 3 months flow returned to pre-outburst rates
November 2-4, 2010
Maria Laach, Germany
IEAGHG workshop: Natural Releases of CO2:
Building Knowledge for CO2 Storage Environmental Impact Assessments
Panarea
Secca dei Panarelli
Panarelli
Dattilo
Li
Lisca
Bianca
Bi
Bottaro
Secca di Lisca Nera
Lisca Nera
modified after Esposito et al. (2006) and Anzidei et al. (2005)
• Yellow – leakage
g areas in December 2002
• Red – leakage areas one year later
November 2-4, 2010
Maria Laach, Germany
IEAGHG workshop: Natural Releases of CO2:
Building Knowledge for CO2 Storage Environmental Impact Assessments
Panarea – gas migration pathways
(Esposito et al. 2006)
• Underwater mapping
pp g has defined many
y
fracture and lineament directions
November 2-4, 2010
Maria Laach, Germany
IEAGHG workshop: Natural Releases of CO2:
Building Knowledge for CO2 Storage Environmental Impact Assessments
Panarea – gas migration pathways
(Esposito et al. 2006)
Gas bubble lineaments
• Gas bubble lineaments are mainly SW-NE and SE-NW
• Gas exhalation field is presently active where these two fracture
trends intersect and form a network
November 2-4, 2010
Maria Laach, Germany
IEAGHG workshop: Natural Releases of CO2:
Building Knowledge for CO2 Storage Environmental Impact Assessments
Panarea – gas migration pathways
modified after De Astis et al. 2003
Acocella et al. 2009
Stromboli
Filicudi
Alicudi
Salina
Panarea
Lipari
Vulcano
Sicily
• NE-SW direction same as regional trend linking Panarea - Stromboli
• Other studies show that the fractures in the Panarea area are
predominantly extensional, thus more prone to be open
November 2-4, 2010
Maria Laach, Germany
IEAGHG workshop: Natural Releases of CO2:
Building Knowledge for CO2 Storage Environmental Impact Assessments
Panarea – gas migration pathways
Seiland 2009
• In addition to aligned along fractures, gas
leakage also occurs as diffuse fields (left)
and
d strong
t
individual
i di id l spots
t (right)
( i ht)
November 2-4, 2010
Maria Laach, Germany
IEAGHG workshop: Natural Releases of CO2:
Building Knowledge for CO2 Storage Environmental Impact Assessments
Panarea – water quality impact
Seiland 2009
Tassi et al., 2009
• At some vents deep origin waters are released with
the gas, analogous to brine migrating with CO2
mixing dilution,
dilution and potential
• Can be used to study mixing,
impact on water column chemistry and biota
November 2-4, 2010
Maria Laach, Germany
IEAGHG workshop: Natural Releases of CO2:
Building Knowledge for CO2 Storage Environmental Impact Assessments
Panarea – water quality impact
ocean water pH
Seiland 2009
• Similarly this water also has different pH
values, which can be traced and monitored
i the
in
h water column
l
andd bottom
b
waters.
November 2-4, 2010
Maria Laach, Germany
IEAGHG workshop: Natural Releases of CO2:
Building Knowledge for CO2 Storage Environmental Impact Assessments
Panarea – biological impact
Karuza et al., submitted
• Studies near a large, thermal vent shows a
strong influence on viral abundance but
basically none on prokaryote abundance
November 2-4, 2010
Maria Laach, Germany
IEAGHG workshop: Natural Releases of CO2:
Building Knowledge for CO2 Storage Environmental Impact Assessments
Panarea – monitoring methods
Aliani et al., 2010
Gas bubble plume reaching
the water surface
Current meters have
been applied to see the
effect of the bubble
plume on water column
structure / stratigraphy
November 2-4, 2010
Maria Laach, Germany
IEAGHG workshop: Natural Releases of CO2:
Building Knowledge for CO2 Storage Environmental Impact Assessments
Panarea – monitoring methods
Anzidei et al. 2005
• Echo sounder surveys
y have been applied
pp
to show bubbleplume location, strength, and height in water column
November 2-4, 2010
Maria Laach, Germany
IEAGHG workshop: Natural Releases of CO2:
Building Knowledge for CO2 Storage Environmental Impact Assessments
•CO2GeoNet, Network of Excellence for CO2 Geological Storage (partner, team leader, April 2004-March 2009)
Panarea – ongoing / planned work
• European
p
Communityy funded CCS projects
p j
having a component at the natural test site of
Panarea:
– CO2GeoNet, Network of Excellence of Inter-laboratory
g
Storage
g ((OGS,, NIVA,,
connection for CO2 Geological
URS) April 2004-March 2009)
– RISCS (OGS, URS) – started Jan 1, 2010
– ECO2 (OGS
(OGS, URS) – will likely start Jan 1,
1 2011
– PaCO2 (IFM-Geomar, CERTH, IOW, OGS, URS) –
y 2011
will start July,
November 2-4, 2010
Maria Laach, Germany
IEAGHG workshop: Natural Releases of CO2:
Building Knowledge for CO2 Storage Environmental Impact Assessments
Panarea – ongoing / planned work
•CO
CO2GEONET – Network of Excellence of Inter
Interlaboratory Connection for CO2 Geological Storage
((OGS, NIVA, URS),
) April
p 2004-March 2009
9Gas and water quality
9Impact on Biota
9Testing monitoring tools
November 2-4, 2010
Maria Laach, Germany
IEAGHG workshop: Natural Releases of CO2:
Building Knowledge for CO2 Storage Environmental Impact Assessments
Panarea – ongoing / planned work
• RISCS - Research into Impacts and Safety in CO2
Storage
– 4 campaigns (one each season)
• Just completed first campaign 1 week ago
– Integrated chemical, biological, physical measurements
– Profiles across background and vented areas to study
mixing and dilution effects in the water column
– Benthic chambers to study sediment-water exchange
for respiratory and production processes
– Current meters to define system during sampling
periods
November 2-4, 2010
Maria Laach, Germany
IEAGHG workshop: Natural Releases of CO2:
Building Knowledge for CO2 Storage Environmental Impact Assessments
Panarea – ongoing / planned work
• ECO2 - Sub
Sub-seabed
seabed CO2 Storage: Impact on
Marine Ecosystems
– CO2 flux rate measurements
– Testing of novel sensor equipment. Deployment of new
generation, dissolved CO2 monitoring station
– Transplant experiments on biomarkers
– Study of the metabolic and respiratory physiology of
seep-adapted organisms
November 2-4, 2010
Maria Laach, Germany
IEAGHG workshop: Natural Releases of CO2:
Building Knowledge for CO2 Storage Environmental Impact Assessments
Panarea – ongoing / planned work
• PaCO2 - The Panarea natural CO2 seeps: fate and
impact of the leaking gas
– EuroFleets – 5 ship days on R/V Urania
– Joint research with RISCS and ECO2
• Work:
–
–
–
–
–
November 2-4, 2010
Maria Laach, Germany
Hydroacoustics, sub-bottom profiler, sea-air CO2 flux
CTD and water sampling profiling
High resolution profiling,
profiling ADCP,
ADCP eddy correlation
Temperature moorings, GasQuant
Bubble pplume modellingg
IEAGHG workshop: Natural Releases of CO2:
Building Knowledge for CO2 Storage Environmental Impact Assessments
Panarea References
• Acocella, V., Neri, M. and Walter, T.R., 2009. Structural features of Panarea volcano in the frame of the Aeolian Arc (Italy):
Implications for the 2002-2003 unrest. Journal of Geodynamics, 47(5): 288-292.
• Aliani, S., Bortoluzzi, G., Caramanna, G. and Raffa, F., 2010. Seawater dynamics and environmental settings after november 2002 gas
eruption off Bottaro (Panarea, Aeolian Islands, Mediterranean Sea). Continental Shelf Research, In Press, Accepted Manuscript.
• Anzidei, M., Esposito, A., Bortoluzzi, G. and De Giosa, F., 2005. The high resolution bathymetric map of the exhalative area of
Panarea (Aeolian Islands, Italy). Annals of Geophysics, 48(6): 899-921.
• Caliro, S., Caracausi, A., Chiodini, G., Ditta, M., Italiano, F., Longo, M., Minopoli, C., Nuccio, P.M., Paonita, A. and Rizzo, A., 2004.
Evidence of a recent input of magmatic gases into the quiescent volcanic edifice of Panarea, Aeolian Islands, Italy. Geophys. Res. Lett.,
31(7): L07619.
• De Astis,
Astis G.,
G Ventura,
Ventura G.
G and Vilardo,
Vilardo G.,
G 2003.
2003 Geodynamic significance of the Aeolian volcanism (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea,
Sea Italy) in
light of structural, seismological, and geochemical data. Tectonics, 22(4): 1040.
• Esposito, A., Giordano, G. and Anzidei, M., 2006. The 2002-2003 submarine gas eruption at Panarea volcano (Aeolian Islands, Italy):
Volcanology of the seafloor and implications for the hazard scenario. Marine Geology, 227(1-2): 119-134.
• Italiano, F. and Nuccio, P.M., 1991. Geochemical investigations of submarine exhalations to the east of Panarea, Aeolian Islands, Italy.
J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res., 46: 125-141.
• Karuza, A., Celussi, M., Cibic, T., Del Negro, P. and De Vittor, C., submitted. Effects of pH decrease caused by natural releases of
CO2 on marine prokaryotic diversity and virus abundance. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science.
• Sieland, R., 2009. Chemical and isotopic investigations of submarine hydrothermal fluid discharges from anarea, Aeolian Islands, Italy,
Technische Universitat Bergakadeimi Freiberg, Freiberg, Germany, 190 pp.
• Steinbruckner, D., 2009. Quantification of submarine degassing of Panarea Volcano in the Aeolian archipelago, Italy, Technische
Universitat Bergakdeimi Freiberg,
Freiberg Freiberg,
Freiberg Germany
Germany, 126 pp.
pp
• Tassi, F., Capaccioni, B., Caramanna, G., Cinti, D., Montegrossi, G., Pizzino, L., Quattrocchi, F. and Vaselli, O., 2009. Low-pH waters
discharging from submarine vents at Panarea Island (Aeolian Islands, southern Italy) after the 2002 gas blast: Origin of hydrothermal
fluids and implications for volcanic surveillance. Applied Geochemistry, 24(2): 246-254.
• Tassi, F., Capaccioni, B., Caramanna, G., Cinti, D., Montegrossi, G., Pizzino, L., Quattrocchi, F. and Vaselli, O., 2009. Low-pH waters
discharging from submarine vents at Panarea Island (Aeolian Islands, southern Italy) after the 2002 gas blast: Origin of hydrothermal
fluids and implications for volcanic surveillance. Applied Geochemistry, 24(2): 246-254.
November 2-4, 2010
Maria Laach, Germany
IEAGHG workshop: Natural Releases of CO2:
Building Knowledge for CO2 Storage Environmental Impact Assessments
Ischia References
•
•
•
•
Dias, B.B., Hart, M.B., Smart, C.W. and Hall-Spencer, J.M., 2010. Modern seawater acidification: the response of
foraminifera to high-CO2 conditions in the Mediterranean Sea. Journal of the Geological Society, 167: 843-846.
Hall-Spencer, J.M. and Rodolfo-Metalpa, R., 2009. Using scientific diving to investigate the long-term effects of
ocean acidification at CO2 vents. In: B.J. Merkel and M. Schipek (Editors), Research in Shallow Marine and Fresh
Water Systems: 1st International Workshop, Freiburg, Germany, pp. 72-76, May 14 – 16, 2009.
Hall-Spencer, J.M., Rodolfo-Metalpa, R., Martin, S., Ransome, E., Fine, M., Turner, S.M., Rowley, S.J., Tedesco, D.
and Buia, M.-C., 2008. Volcanic carbon dioxide vents show ecosystem effects of ocean acidification. Nature, 454(3).
Martin, S., Rodolfo-Metalpa, R., Ransome, E., Rowley, S.J., Buia, M.-C., Gattuso, J.-F. and Hall-Spencer, J.M., 2008.
Effects of naturally acidified seawater on seagrass calcareous epibionts.
epibionts Biol.
Biol Lett.,
Lett 4: 689-692.
689 692
November 2-4, 2010
Maria Laach, Germany
IEAGHG workshop: Natural Releases of CO2:
Building Knowledge for CO2 Storage Environmental Impact Assessments