The Mud Pots of Calipatria CA

On the southern end of the Salton Sea, (sort of) near the very small town of Calipatria, CA, is an area that's very geothermally active. I won't try to explain mudpots - here's the Wikipedia explanation:

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

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 geothermal areas of Yellowstone National Park contain several notable examples of both mudpots and paint pots, as do some areas of Iceland and New Zealand."

It wasn't too easy to find because it's off the main state route (maybe two or three miles). But once you find them, it's worth the detour.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• mudpot
• Salton Sea
• Calipatria

[TheBByamashiro]

no offence my friend but could you reupload the clip without the music? i just love the sounds of bubbles;) or at least if you can not tell me how can deactivate the music in a program...thank you

[spunk0164]

@TheBByamashiro Been traveling out of town. I'll see if I can find the source video footage and post without the music. No promises but I'll see when I can do. (All depends on whether I can find the original footage ...) P.S. I checked with Youtube - you can't remove the music once it's uploaded to Youtube ... now I know!

[Josemedeiros]

Thanks for putting this up. I like the music, tell them to hit mute on the volume icon, if it bothers them, adding narration explaining what we are seeing would be a nice to have.

[TheBByamashiro]

oh...and i thought i said something that make you mad....:/

[TheBByamashiro]

did i say something wrong? :(