Abstract
THE level of the hot, acidic crater lake at Volcán Poás, Costa Rica, dropped progressively over a two-year period up to April 1989, when only scattered boiling mud pools remained1–3. Here we report the observation of large bodies of molten sulphur occupy-ing part of the former lake bottom, which formed after the last of the lake water had disappeared. To our knowledge, this is the first reported occurrence of terrestrial sulphur lakes. We suggest that their formation resulted from removal of the overlying water, which allowed lake sediment temperatures to rise above the liquidus of the elemental sulphur deposits contained within them. The sulphur ponds bubbled vigorously because of the flux of hot gases from below, which kept them molten at a temperature of ∼ 116 °C. The low viscosity of sulphur at this temperature is likely to have been critical in enabling its migration through the lake sediments to collect at fumarole vents. Some aspects of the origin of the sulphur lakes at Poás may be analogous to the putative formation of sulphur bodies on the Jovian moon Io4,5.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barquero, H., Soto, G. J., Fernandez, M. & Flores, H. Sci. Event Alert Network Bull.) 14(3), 4–6 (1989).
Soto, G. et al. Sci. Event Alert Network Bull. 14(4), 7–10 (1989).
Rymer, H. & Brown, G. Nature (in the press).
Sagan, C. Nature 280, 750–753 (1979).
Carr, M. H., Masursky, H., Strom, R. G. & Terrile, R. J. Nature 280, 729–733 (1979).
Brown, G. et al. Nature 339, 370–373 (1989).
Gorshkov, G. S. Volcanism and the Upper Mantle (Plenum, New York, 1970).
Barquero, S., Fernández, E., Barboza, V. & Martini, M. Sci. Event Alert Network Bull. 14(5), 9–10 (1989).
Watanabe, T. Jap. J. Geol. Geogr. 17, 289–310 (1940).
Colony, W. E. & Nordlie, B. E. Econ. Geol. 68, 371–380 (1973).
Skinner, B. J. Pacific Sci. 24, 144–145 (1970).
Greeley, R., Theilig, E. & Christensen, P. Icarus 60, 189–199 (1984).
Naranjo, J. A. Nature 313, 778–780 (1985).
Theilig, E. A Primer on Sulfur for the Planetary Geologist, NASA Contr. Rep. No. 3594 (NASA, Washington, DC, 1982).
Ohashi, R. J. Akita Mining College 1, 1–10 (1919).
Giggenbach, W. N.Z. J. Sci. 17, 33–45 (1974).
McClelland, L., Simkin, T., Summers, M., Nielsen, E. & Stein, T. C., eds Global Volcanism 1975-1985 (Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 1989).
Bennett, F. D. & Raccichini, S. M. Nature 271, 342–344 (1978).
Francis, P. W., Thorpe, R. S., Brown, G. C. & Glasscock, J. Nature 283, 754–756 (1980).
Casadevall, T. J. et al. J. geophys. Res. 89, 9633–9641 (1984).
Whitney, J. A. & Stormer, J. C. Geology 11, 99–102 (1983).
Prosser, J. T. & Carr, M. J. J. Volcan. geotherm. Res. 33, 131–146 (1987).
Brantley, S. L., Borgia, A., Rowe, G., Fernadez, J. F. & Reynolds, J. R. Nature 330, 470–472 (1987).
Sinton, W. M. J. geophys. Res. 86, 3122–3128 (1981).
Pearl, J. C. & Sinton, W. M. in Satellites of Jupiter (ed. Morrison, D.) (University of Arizona Press, 1982).
Rothery, D. A., Francis, P. W. & Wood, C. A. J. geophys. Res. 93, 7993–8008 (1988).
McEwan, A. S. & Soderblom, L. A. Icarus 55, 191–217 (1983).
Hapke, B. Icarus 79, 56–74 (1989).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Oppenheimer, C., Stevenson, D. Liquid sulphur lakes at Poás volcano. Nature 342, 790–793 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/342790a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/342790a0
This article is cited by
-
Solid sulfur spherules near fumaroles of Hakone volcano, Japan
International Journal of Earth Sciences (2019)
-
Salt shell fallout during the ash eruption at the Nakadake crater, Aso volcano, Japan: evidence of an underground hydrothermal system surrounding the erupting vent
Earth, Planets and Space (2018)
-
Color and temperature of the crater lakes at Kelimutu volcano through time
Bulletin of Volcanology (2018)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
