Mud Volcano and Mud Spring Tourism Landscape

Under certain geological conditions, geothermal heat generated by tectonic forces or magmatic intrusions can cause groundwater, oil or gases in the subsurface to eject mud, rock fragments, gases and small amounts of groundwater, forming a natural landscape similar to a volcanic landscape. Mud volcanoes are generally less than 10 m high and dozens of metres in diameter. The largest mud volcano is near the Baku Oil Fields in the Caspian Sea area of Russia, where the cone is several hundred metres high. Along a 20-km-long zone in Kaohsiung in Taiwan, there are more than ten mud volcanoes. Mud volcanoes and mud springs have tourism value as well as medicinal value because the mud often contains a range of trace elements.