Mud Volcano

The terms Mud Volcano or mud dome are used to refer to formations created by geo-excreted liquids and gases, although there are several different processes which may cause such activity. Temperatures are much cooler in these processes than found at igneous volcanoes.



A cold mud pot in Glenblair, California

The largest mud volcano structures are 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) in diameter and reach 700 metres (2,300 ft) in height. About 20% of the gas released from these structures is methane, with much less carbon dioxide and nitrogen emitted. Ejected materials are often a slurry of fine solids suspended in liquids which may include water, which is frequently acidic or salty, and hydrocarbon fluids.   Recently, possible mud volcanoes have been identified on Mars.             A mud volcano may be the result of a piercement structure created by a pressurized mud diapir which breaches the Earth's surface or ocean bottom. Their temperatures may be as low as the freezing point of the ejected materials, particularly when venting is associated with the creation of hydrocarbon clathrate hydrate deposits. Mud volcanoes are often associated with petroleum deposits and tectonic subduction zones and orogenic belts; hydrocarbon gases are often erupted. They are also often associated with lava volcanoes; in the case of such close proximity, mud volcanoes emit incombustible gases including helium, whereas lone mud volcanoes are more likely to emit methane.


Mud volcano in Baratang, Andaman Islands. India

     Approximately 1,100 mud volcanoes have been identified on land and in shallow water. It has been estimated that well over 10,000 may exist on continental slopes and abyssal plains .
            Europe
There are generally few mud volcanoes in Europe, but dozens can be found on the Taman Peninsula of Russia and the Kerch Peninsula of southeastern Ukraine. In Italy, they are common in the northern front of the Apennines and in Sicily. Another relatively accessible place where mud volcanoes can be found in Europe are the Berca Mud Volcanoes near Berca in Buzău County, Romania, close to the Carpathian Mountains.


Two mud volcanoes on the Taman Peninsula near Taman Stanitsa

            Asia

Lusi (Indonesia)

Drilling or an earthquake may have resulted in the Sidoarjo mud flow on May 29, 2006, in the Porong subdistrict of East Java province, Indonesia. The mud covered about 440 hectares, or 1,087 acres (4.40 km²), and inundated four villages, homes, roads, rice fields, and factories, displacing about 24,000 people and killing 14. The gas exploration company involved was operated by PT Lapindo Brantas. In 2008, it was termed the world's largest mud volcano and is beginning to show signs of catastrophic     collapse, according to geologists who have been monitoring it and the surrounding area. A catastrophic collapse could sag the vent and surrounding area by up to 150 metres (490 ft) in the next decade. In March 2008, the scientists observed drops of up to 3 metres (9.8 ft) in one night.



Satellite image of Mud Volcano in Pakistan

  
      Most of the subsidence in the area around the volcano is more gradual, at around 0.1 centimetres (0.039 in) per day. Now named Lusi – a contraction of Lumpur Sidoarjo, where lumpur is the Indonesian word for "mud" – the mud volcano appears to be a hydrocarbon/hydrothermal hybrid.

       Central Asia
Many mud volcanoes exist on the shores of the Black Sea and Caspian Sea. Tectonic forces and large sedimentary deposits around the latter have created several fields of mud volcanoes, many of them emitting methane and other hydrocarbons. Features over 200 metres (656 ft) high exist in Azerbaijan, with large eruptions sometimes producing flames of similar scale (see below). Iran and Pakistan also possess mud volcanoes in the Makran range of mountains in the south of the two countries. In fact, the world's largest and highest volcano is located in Balochistan, Pakistan.


A series of mud volcanoes in Gobustan, Azerbaijan

       Azerbaijan
^{Azerbaijan and its Caspian coastline are home to nearly 400 mud volcanoes, more than half the total throughout the continents. In 2001, one mud volcano 15 kilometres (9 mi) from Baku made world headlines when it suddenly started ejecting flames 15 metres (49 ft) high.  In Azerbaijan, eruptions are driven from a deep mud reservoir which is connected to the surface even during dormant periods, when seeping water still shows a deep origin. Seeps have temperatures up to 2 °C (3.6 °F) - 3 °C (5.4 °F) above the ambient temperature.
       Iran
There are many mud volcano in Iran: in Hormozgan province, Sistan & Balouchestan province and Golestan province
[[File:Mud volcano in Jask, Hormozgan province, Iran.  Mud volcano in Iran}.
      
     Pakistan
In Pakistan there are more than 80 active mud volcanoes, all of them in Baluchistan province; there are about 10 locations having clusters of mud volcanoes. In the west, in Gwadar District, the mud volcanoes are very small and mostly sit in the south of Jabal-e-Mehdi toward Sur Bandar. Many more exist in the north-east of Ormara. The remainder are in Lasbela District and are scattered between south of Gorangatti on Koh Hinglaj to Koh Kuk in the North of Miani Hor in the Hangol Valley. In this region, the heights of mud volcanoes range between 800 to 1,550 feet (243.8 to 472.4 m). The most famous is Chandaragup. The biggest crater found is about 50 feet (15.24 m) in diameter. Most mud volcanoes in this region are situated in out-of-reach areas having very difficult terrain. Dormant mud volcanoes stand like columns of mud in many other areas.

Yellowstone's "Mud Volcano" feature

                          
      Philippines
In the Turtle Islands, in the province of Tawi-Tawi, the southwestern edge of the Philippines bordering Malaysia, presence of mud volcanoes are evident on three of the islands - Lihiman, Great Bakkungan and Boan Islands. The northeastern part of Lihiman Island is distinguished for having more violent kind of mud extrusions mixed with large pieces of rocks, creating a 20-m (66-ft) wide crater on that hilly part of the island. Such extrusions are reported to be accompanied by mild earthquakes and evidence of extruded materials can be found high up the surrounding trees. Submarine mud extrusions off the island, have also been observed by local residents.  

      Other Asian locations
China has a number of mud volcanoes in Xinjiang province.
There are also mud volcanoes at the Arakan Coast in Myanmar (Burma).
There are two active mud volcanoes in South Taiwan, and several inactive ones.
The island of Baratang, part of the Great Andaman archipelago in the Andaman Islands, Indian Ocean, has several sites of mud volcanic activity. There was a significant eruption event in 2003.
There are mud volcanoes on the island of Pulau Tiga, off the western coast of the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo.
A drilling accident offshore of Brunei on Borneo in 1979 caused a mud volcano which took 20 relief wells and nearly 30 years to halt the eruption.

One of the Devil's Woodyard Volcano (Hindustan, Trinidad & Tobago