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This question was inspired by the questionPredicting volcanic eruptions by experimentally proven volatile outgassing observations
Depending on the type of volcano, three types of lava are released by current volcanoes on Earth: basalt, andesite and rhyolite. Given the different compositions of each type of lava are there differences in the ratios of volcanic volatiles $\ce{SO2}$, $\ce{CO2}$ and $\ce{H2O}$ associated with each lava type?
I do not have access to the full-text, but the abstract of Giggenbach (1996)[1] suggests that
The variability in the composition of volcanic gases accessible to sampling, therefore, is largely due to shallow processes, such as reequilibration in response to cooling and dilution by meteoric water, and interaction with fluids of associated hydrothermal systems.
The sectionGas Compositions and Tectonic Settingin [2], from Oregon State University has quite a nice table showing that the different volcanoes do seem to have different gas compositions, depending on where they are found and consequently what type of tectonic setting they occur in. I am not sure if these variations are actually significant though, not being a vulcanologist.
This is certainly not a complete answer, but it does look like it might not be that easy to use the volatiles as a diagnostic feature. Hope that this helps somewhat....
