A mudpot, or mud pool, is a sort of acidic
hot spring
A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...
, or
fumarole
A fumarole (or fumerole) is a vent in the surface of the Earth or other rocky planet from which hot volcanic gases and vapors are emitted, without any accompanying liquids or solids. Fumaroles are characteristic of the late stages of volcani ...
, with limited water. It usually takes the form of a pool of bubbling
mud. The acid and microorganisms decompose surrounding rock into clay and mud.
Description
The mud of a mudpot takes the form of a
viscous
The viscosity of a fluid is a measure of its resistance to deformation at a given rate. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of "thickness": for example, syrup has a higher viscosity than water.
Viscosity quantifies the in ...
, often bubbling,
slurry
A slurry is a mixture of denser solids suspended in liquid, usually water. The most common use of slurry is as a means of transporting solids or separating minerals, the liquid being a carrier that is pumped on a device such as a centrifugal p ...
. As the boiling mud is often squirted over the brims of the mudpot, a sort of mini-volcano of mud starts to build up, sometimes reaching heights of 1 to 1.5 meters. Although mudpots are often called "mud volcanoes", true
mud volcano
A mud volcano or mud dome is a landform created by the eruption of mud or slurries, water and gases. Several geological processes may cause the formation of mud volcanoes. Mud volcanoes are not true igneous volcanoes as they do not produce ...
es are very different in nature. The mud of a mudpot is generally of white to greyish color, but is sometimes stained with reddish or pink spots from
iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...
compounds. When the slurry is particularly colorful, the feature may be referred to as a paint pot.
Geology
Mudpots form in high-temperature
geothermal areas where water is in short supply. The little water that is available rises to the surface at a spot where the soil is rich in
volcanic
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plat ...
ash,
clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4).
Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay pa ...
, and other fine particulates. The thickness of the mud usually changes along with seasonal changes in the
water table
The water table is the upper surface of the zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with water. It can also be simply explained as the depth below which the ground is saturated.
T ...
.
Notable sites
The
geothermal areas of Yellowstone
The geothermal areas of Yellowstone include several geyser basins in Yellowstone National Park as well as other geothermal features such as hot springs, mud pots, and fumaroles. The number of thermal features in Yellowstone is estimated at 10, ...
National Park contain several notable examples of both mudpots and paint pots, as do some areas of
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
,
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
and
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the coun ...
.
Several locations in and around the
Salton Sea
The Salton Sea is a shallow, landlocked, highly saline body of water in Riverside and Imperial counties at the southern end of the U.S. state of California. It lies on the San Andreas Fault within the Salton Trough that stretches to the Gul ...
in California are also home to active mudpots, including the moving
Niland Geyser
Niland Geyser (nicknamed the "Slow One" and formally designated W9) is a moving mud pot or mud spring outside Niland, California in the Salton Trough in an area of geological instability due to the San Andreas fault, formed due to carbon dioxide b ...
.
In the case of Niland Geyser, its name is somewhat of a misnomer, as the release of
carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is t ...
by seismic activity from the nearby
San Andreas Fault
The San Andreas Fault is a continental transform fault that extends roughly through California. It forms the tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate, and its motion is right-lateral strike-slip (horizontal) ...
is responsible for its behaviour, rather than through geothermal activity. The fluid contained within it is near background temperature rather than boiling, measuring around .
in
Lassen Volcanic National Park
Lassen Volcanic National Park is an American national park in northeastern California. The dominant feature of the park is Lassen Peak, the largest plug dome volcano in the world and the southernmost volcano in the Cascade Range. Lassen Vol ...
also contains mudpots.
Photo gallery
File:Mudpot west thumb 20190717 135010 VID.webm, A large boiling mudpot in the parking area of West Thumb Geyser Basin
The geothermal areas of Yellowstone include several geyser basins in Yellowstone National Park as well as other geothermal features such as hot springs, mud pots, and fumaroles. The number of thermal features in Yellowstone is estimated at ...
in Yellowstone
Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellow ...
Image:Fountain Paint Pots in Yellowstone-750px.JPG, Fountain Paint Pots, Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowst ...
Image:MudPot_8334.jpg, Mudpot in Lassen Volcanic National Park
Lassen Volcanic National Park is an American national park in northeastern California. The dominant feature of the park is Lassen Peak, the largest plug dome volcano in the world and the southernmost volcano in the Cascade Range. Lassen Vol ...
Image:Yellowstone mud pot p1090998.jpg, Mudpot in Yellowstone National Park
Image:RincónMudpot Apr2003.jpg, Mudpot at Rincón de la Vieja Volcano National Park
Rincon or Rincón (Spanish for ''corner'') may refer to:
* Rincon (meadow)
* Rincon (abandoned meander)
People
* Rincon (surname)
* Rincón (footballer, born 1977), born Gilvan Santos Souza, Brazilian football striker
* Rincón (footballer, ...
, Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
Image:Mud pool near Waiotapu.ogg, Short video of mud pool activity near Waiotapu
Waiotapu (Māori for " sacred waters") is an active geothermal area at the southern end of the Okataina Volcanic Centre, just north of the Reporoa caldera, in New Zealand's Taupo Volcanic Zone. It is 27 kilometres south of Rotorua. Due to ...
, New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
File:Mud pool at Orakei Korako.ogv, Video of mud pool at Orakei Korako, New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
Image:Hverir mudpool 2012-06-05.jpg, Erupting mudpot at Hverir, Iceland
Image:YellowstoneMudpit.jpg, A mud pot in Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowst ...
, Wyoming
Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to t ...
References
External links
{{Commons category, Mudpots
Mudpots at Yellowstone National Park official site
Springs (hydrology)
Volcanic landforms
Volcanism
Geothermal areas
Articles containing video clips
Volcanic degassing