Salton Sea Mud Pots - Mud Volcanoes

A mudpot, mud pool or paint pot is a sort of hot spring or fumarole consisting of a pool of usually bubbling mud.

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 ash, clay and other fine particulates. The thickness of the mud usually changes along with seasonal changes in the water table.

The mud takes the form of a viscous, often bubbling, slurry. 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 3-5 feet. Although mudpots are often called "mud volcanoes", true mud volcanoes are very different in nature.

The mud is generally of white to greyish color, but is sometimes stained with reddish or pink spots from iron compounds. When the slurry is particularly colorful, the feature is then called a "paint pot".

Near the southeastern shore of the Salton Sea


I have several hundred Salton Sea photos - including many of what is seen in this video - on my Flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/slworking/sets/72157605264326878/

The Salton Sea was once a popular place for boating, swimming, fishing, etc., but an increase in the salt level of the water caused large numbers of fish to die and the water became foul. This, in addition to a couple of hurricanes in the 1970's, caused the communities surrounding the sea to deteriorate.

The Salton Sea was recently featured on Life After People on the History Channel.

Grand reopening of the Salton Sea History Museum. Now located at 72-120 S. Lincoln Street (end of road across creek), Mecca, CA 92254

News video: http://www.kesq.com/video/30403959/index.html

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Salton-Sea-History-Museum/125597164130869

Museum homepage: http://www.saltonseamuseum.org/

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• salton
• sea
• mud
• pots
• mudpots
• volcanoes
• co2
• carbon
• dioxide
• geology
• niland
• california

[fhood]

Great video! I gotta get out there some day to see this cool stuff in person!

[slworking2]

@fhood Thanks. This is such an awesome place, indeed.

[jasonmit]

Crazy sounds coming from that place. It looks almost like a different planet.

[slworking2]

@jasonmit It was fun camping next to (and listening to) these things at night.

[kasagar]

A little South West of the town of Niland on the East shore....

[mschilder123]

where abouts along the Salton Sea is this?

[locouk]

Is the gas it gives off flammable?

[chubbyllama7]

+1, 2 RAD sec.

[scubielouie]

how hot is the mud?



[PineGroveBird]

if you ate that stuff that'd be a great detox! :D