The smell isn't very bad right now, but that's because we're wearing gas masks. My unprotected, stinging eyes, on the other hand, aren't handling the fumes as well. Jeff is a geochemist with the U.S. Geological Survey at Hawaii Volcanoes Observatory. It's his job to monitor and analyze the gases emitted by Kilauea. Today he's invited me on a sampling mission.
Gases are the force behind volcanic eruptions.
They also affect the Earth's atmosphere after they've escaped the volcano. Massive amounts of volcanic gases may also have been responsible for dramatic climate changes in the Earth's early history. Without having gotten much past chemistry 101, it takes me awhile to catch on to basic volcano degassing concepts, but Jeff is patient. When I meet him at his office in the observatory, he gives me a quick primer on Kilauea's degassing model. Jeff tells me to imagine a champagne bottle.