Geosphere Journal Entry
Geosphere Journal Entry
Mud Volcano Gushes in Indonesia (September 6, 2006)
A mud volcano is a small volcanic cone of mud and clay built from a mix of hot water and underground sediments. USGS.
A mud volcano has gushed from the ground in Sidoarjo in East Java in Indonesia for the past three months. About 1.75 million cubic feet (50,000 cubic meters) of new mud are spilling above ground every day. The volcano is also spewing clouds of smelly hydrogen sulfide gas.
The mud already covers an area of over 10 square miles (25 square kilometers). It's swallowed up hundreds of homes and threatens to swallow more.
A mud volcano is a cone of mud and clay built up from hot water and underground sediments. These hot sediments bubble up from rocks deep below the surface heated by Earth's molten magma. The steaming mud oozing from the ground in Sidoarjo is about 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius).
Mud volcanoes often occur below the surface of the ocean but are rare on land. Most recently, a mud volcano rose from the Arabian Sea in 1999 to form Malan Island off the coast of Pakistan. In 1945, an earthquake off Pakistan's coast triggered the eruption of three mud volcanoes.
