Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1016/S0016-7037(99)00187-8
Title (Primary) An active subcontinental mantle volatile system in the western Eger rift, Central Europe: Gas flux, isotopic (He, C and N) and compositional fingerprints
Author Weinlich, F.H.; Bräuer, K.; Kaempf, H.; Strauch, G.; Tesař, J.; Weise, S.M.
Source Titel Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
Year 1999
Department HDG; ISOHYD
Volume 63
Issue 21
Page From 3653
Page To 3671
Language englisch
Abstract

The composition and flux of gas emanations, and the isotopic ratios of CO2, He and N2 of 74 mineral springs and dry gas vents (mofettes) in the western Eger rift (Czech Republic) have been analyzed. Four geochemically similar, but tectonically separate, gas escape centers are distinguishable, out of which 3 show a free gas flux >85000 dm3 h−1. All gases from the centers are CO2-rich (>99 vol.%) and have δ13C values ranging from −1.8 to −4.0‰. 3He/4He ratios are as high as R/Ra = 5, and are among the highest measured in Europe. The discharge of the gas mixture decreases with distance from the emanation centers with both decreasing fractions of CO2 and δ13C values, whereas the fractions of N2 and trace gases increase. These changes in chemical and isotopic composition are associated by a decrease in R/Ra ratios from about 5 in the centers to <2 in the peripheries. The changes of the contents and isotopic composition of CO2 can be explained by physico-chemical fractionations of CO2 between gaseous and aqueous phases. Towards the periphery, the contents of free CO2 and its δ13C are reduced by dissolution of CO2 in groundwater, whereby the content of N2 increases. 3He/4He ratios give evidence for mixing of He from both a deep-seated magmatic and a crustal source. The gas emanation centers, with their strongly magmatic δ13C value of about −2.7‰, seem to outline the intersections of the Eger rift and the Mariánské Lázně fault, which are considered to represent a deep-reaching fracture system that enables the ascent of gases from a magmatic body in the European subcontinental mantle (SCM). Therefore, the European SCM is suspected to be the main source of CO2. The most mantle-like He (and probably N2) occurs in the centers of gas release. The total regional gas flux in the western Eger rift is determined to be 3.6 × 108 mol a−1. When related to the investigated area of 1500 km2, flux densities greater than 0.24 × 106, 52, and 0.65 mol km−2 a−1 for CO2, N2 and He respectively are calculated.


Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=8489
Weinlich, F.H., Bräuer, K., Kaempf, H., Strauch, G., Tesař, J., Weise, S.M. (1999):
An active subcontinental mantle volatile system in the western Eger rift, Central Europe: Gas flux, isotopic (He, C and N) and compositional fingerprints
Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 63 (21), 3653 - 3671 10.1016/S0016-7037(99)00187-8