MORE - Mofette research
Description:
Mofettes in the Eger Rift are gas emission sites where CO2 ascends through conduits from the Earth’s mantle to the Earth’s surface and as such provide natural windows to magmatic/volcanic processes at depth. The ICDP project “Drilling the Eger Rift: Magmatic fluids driving the earthquake swarms and the deep biosphere” provides a unique opportunity to study interactions between fluids and seismic swarm earthquakes.
The primary objective of the proposed research on mofettes in the Eger Rift is to clarify the geo-physical link between fluid properties and earthquakes. Ascending mantle fluids will be tracked along a vertical profile from a depth of a few hundred meters to the surface. Such a gradient setup provides clues on the origin of temporal variations related to (i) the admixture of crustal to mantle fluids, (ii) the opening of faults, and (iii) the release of hydrogen during seismic events and a subsequent methane generation.
