What are mud volcanoes?

The rice farmers in Sidoarjo Regency woke up to a strange sight. There was steam coming out of the ground.

Natural gas, water and boiling-hot mud were added to the mix. The fields were covered in mud when the eruption intensified. The residents were worried about the eruption and decided to leave.

It didn't stop. The villages were covered in mud over the course of weeks. The Indonesian government started to build levees to stop the spread of mud. They built new levees behind the first one. The government was able to stop the mud's advance, but not before it wiped out a dozen villages and forced 60,000 people to relocate.

Why would the Earth begin to excrete large amounts of mud?

Introducing mud volcanoes

A mud volcano is an example of the Lusi structure. Mud, fluids and gases erupt at the Earth's surface, forming them. The term "volcano" is a reference to the world of volcanic eruptions where molten rock comes to the surface. I have been studying these structures for the past five years, but nothing compares to seeing an active eruption.

The mud bubbles up to the surface in mud volcanoes. Sometimes the eruptions are violent. Most of the methane coming out of a mud volcano is very dangerous. Spectacular fiery eruptions can be created when this gas ignites.

In other parts of the world, mud volcanoes are more common than in North America.

They form when fluids and gases build up under pressure in the Earth and find a way to escape. The fluids carry mud up the cracks and create a mud volcano.