The origin of hydrothermal and other gases in the Kenya Rift Valley

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The Kenya Rift Valley (KRV) is part of a major continental rift system from which much outgassing is presently occurring. Previous research on gases in the KRV has tended to concentrate on their geothermal implications; the present paper is an attempt to broaden the interpretation by consideration of new data including helium and carbon isotope analyses from a wide cross-section of sites. In order to do this, gases have been divided into categories dependent on origin. N 2 and noble gases are for the most part atmospherically derived, although their relative concentrations may be altered from ASW ratios by various physical processes. Reduced carbon (CH 4 and homologues) appears to be exclusively derived from the shallow crust, with thermogenic 13 C values averaging -25 PDB for CH 4 . H 2 is likely also to be crustally formed. CO 2 , generally a dominant constituent, has a narrow 13 C range averaging -3.7 PDB, and is likely to be derived with little modification from the upper mantle. Consideration of the ratio C/ 3 He supports this view in most cases. Sulphur probably also originates there. Ratios of 3 He/ 4 He reach a MORB-like maximum of 8.0 R/R A and provide the best indication of an upper mantle source of gases beneath the KRV. A correlation between 3 He/ 4 He and the hydrocarbon parameter log (C 1 / C 2-4 ) appears to be primarily temperature related. The highest 3 He/ 4 He ratios in spring waters are associated with basalts, perhaps because of the leaching of basalt glasses. There may be a structural control on 3 He/ 4 He ratios in the KRV as a whole.

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