Santiago Crater, of Masaya Caldera Complex near Managua, Nicaragua, entered a phase of intense magmatic degassing in late 1979. The flux of SO2 increased rapidly from a previous average of 380 t d-1 to approximately 1200 t d-1 in February 1980. We report on results of a study of the gas flux and geochemistry conducted as part of a broader interdisciplinary study of the volcano and its impact on the adjacent environment. Masaya is an unusual volcano because of its low shield like form, consistent tholeiitic basaltic composition, frequent activity, and especially because of the approximately 25 year cycle of major non-eruptive degassing crises. We have used a combination of techniques involving remote sensing of the flux of SO2 and direct filter sampling of the ratios of the sulfur and halogen gases and aerosols to quantify the flux of all of these species. The three-stage filters successively trap aerosols, halogen acid gases, and sulfur dioxide and are analyzed by ion chromatography. We have used the ratios of various species, with the COSPEC measurements of the flux of SO2, to calculate that the average flux of SO2 is 1275 t d-1, HCl is 830 t d-1, HF is about 16 t d-1, and HBr is at most 1 t d-1. H2S and SO4= are only minor sulfur species.

The flux of SO2 and HCl represents the largest reported noneruptive sustained volcanic release of these species in the world. Masaya of contributed 7% of the total SO2 estimated to have been released by volcanoes worldwide in 1981. The flux of SO2 has declined by about 9% each year since 1979 and can be modeled as a first-order kinetic rate law with a decay constant of approximately 0.04 yr-1. Approximately 2.2¿106 tons of SO2 has been released between September 1979 and September 1985. The ratio S/Cl has declined more rapidly than the flux of SO2, reflecting the greater solubility of HCl than SO2 in the magma. The SO2 flux at Santiago varies more widely within a single day than observed at other degassing volcanoes and may be controlled at least in part by effects of the solid earth tide. An area larger than 500 km2 has been severely impacted downwind of the volcano. Downwind ground-level concentrations of SO2 of 0.25 ppm are frequently encountered. Acid rain, unusually chloride rich, has a pH as low as 2.63.

S/Cl ratios in the gas plume increase downwind, probably as a result of the high solubility and dry-deposition velocity of HCl. Preliminary analyses of primary concentrations of sulfur and chlorine in the magma of the present lava lake are used to calculate that at least 1.2 km3 has been completely degassed, with respect to sulfur, to provide the observed flux. This implies that 10 km3 have been degassed by previous crises in the past century and further suggests a magma supply rate of approximately 0.1 km3/yr (comparable with Kilauea or Etna volcanoes). During historic time, only two lava flows have been extruded, implying an unusually low ratio of extrusion/intrusion of only 0.0007.