Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Mud Volcano

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms

  • 102 Accesses

Definition

A type of sedimentary volcano (van Loon 2010) composed of fine-grained mud that originated from depth (Kopf 2002).

Description

Circular to subcircular deposits of mud and rock breccia. These deposits range in diameter from few meters up to tens of kilometers. They can produce a variety of morphologies: domes, cones, caldera-like forms, or relatively flat structures, reflecting physical properties of the rising material (Oehler and Allen 2010). Their shape ranges from conical elevations to negative funnel-shaped forms (Dimitrov 2002).

Morphometry

On Earth, the size ranges typically from 10s of cm high and wide to over 1 km in diameter (Allen et al. 2009). On the deep seafloor they may be up to hundreds of m high and several km wide (van Loon 2010). In Azerbaijan, where they are found in the highest concentration on Earth with 20–40 mounds per 1,000 km2, their diameters are up to ~1–10 km, with heights of ~100–500 m (Amador et al. 2010).

Subtypes by Setting

  1. (1)...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Allen CC, Oehler DZ, Baker DM (2009) Mud volcanoes – A new class of sites for geological and astrobiological exploration of Mars. 40th Lunar Planet Sci Conf, JSC-17637, Houston

    Google Scholar 

  • Amador ES, Allen CC, Oehler DZ (2010) Regional mapping and spectral analysis of mounds in Acidalia Planitia, Mars. 41st Lunar Planet Sci Conf, abstract #1037, Houston

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradak B, Kereszturi A (2002) Application of mud volcanism for rocky and icy planetary bodies. In: 34th COSPAR scientific assembly, The second world space congress, Houston

    Google Scholar 

  • Deville E, Guerlais S-H (2009) Cyclic activity of mud volcanoes: evidences from Trinidad (SE Caribbean). Mar Petrol Geol 26(9):1681–1691

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dimitrov LI (2002) Mud volcanoes – the most important pathway for degassing deeply buried sediments. Earth Sci Rev 59:49–76

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farrand WH, Gaddis LR, Keszthelyi L (2005) Pitted cones and domes on Mars: observations in Acidalia Planitia and Cydonia Mensae using MOC, THEMIS, and TES data. J Geophys Res 110, E05005. doi:10.1029/2004JE002297

    Google Scholar 

  • Feseker T, Foucher J-P, Harmegnies F (2008) Fluid flow or mud eruptions? Sediment temperature distributions on Håkon Mosby mud volcano, SW Barents Sea slope. Mar Geol 247(3–4):194–207

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalinko M (1964) Mud volcanoes, reasons of their origin, development and fading (in Russian). VNIGRI 40:30–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Komar PD (1991) Mud volcanoes on Mars? In: Reports of planetary geology and geophysics program 1990. NASA, Washington, DC, pp 539–541

    Google Scholar 

  • Komatsu G, Okubo CH, Wray JJ, Gallagher R, Orosei R, Cardinale M, Chan MA, Ormo J (2012) Small mounds in Chryse Planitia, Mars: testing a mud volcano hypothesis. 43rd Lunar Planet Sci Conf, abstract #1103, Houston

    Google Scholar 

  • Kopf AJ (2002) Significance of mud volcanism. Rev Geophys 40(2):2–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGill GE (2005) Geologic map of cydonia mensae–Southern acidalia Planitia, Mars: Quadrangles MTM 40007, 40012, 40017, 450007, 45012, 45017. USGS Geol Inv Ser I-2811

    Google Scholar 

  • Milkov AC (2000) Worldwide distribution of submarine mud volcanoes and associated gas hydrates. Mar Geol 167(1–2):29–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oehler DZ, Allen CC (2010) Evidence for pervasive mud volcanism in Acidalia Planitia, Mars. Icarus 208:636–657

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oehler DZ, Allen CC (2011) Habitability of a large ghost crater in Chryse Planitia, Mars. Exploring Mars habitability, 14 June 2011, Lisbon

    Google Scholar 

  • Pondrelli M, Rossi AP, Ori GG, van Gasselt S (2010) Sedimentary volcanoes in the Crommelin South Crater, Mars. In: First international conference on Mars sedimentology and stratigraphy #6025

    Google Scholar 

  • Pondrelli M, Rossi AP, Ori GG et al (2011) Mud volcanoes in the geologic record of Mars: the case of Firsoff crater. Earth Planet Sci Lett 304:511–519

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skinner JA Jr, Mazzini A (2009) Martian mud volcanism: terrestrial analogs and implications for formational scenarios. Mar Petrol Geol 26:1866–1878

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skinner JAJ, Tanaka KL (2007) Evidence for and implications of sedimentary diapirism and mud volcanism in the southern Utopia highland–lowland boundary plain, Mars. Icarus 186(1):41–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tanaka KL (1997) Sedimentary history and mass flow structures of Chryse and Acidalia Planitiae, Mars. J Geophys Res 102(E2):4131–4149. doi:10.1029/96JE02862

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tanaka KL (2005) Geology and insolation-driven climatic history of Amazonian north polar materials on Mars. Nature 437:991–994

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Loon AJ (2010) Sedimentary volcanoes: overview and implications for the definition of a volcano on Earth. In: Cañón-Tapia E, Szakács A (eds) What is a volcano? Geological Society of America special paper 470. Geological Society of America, Boulder, pp 31–41. doi:10.1130/2010.2470(03)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wrede C, Brady S, Rockstroh S, Dreier et al (2012) Aerobic and anaerobic methane oxidation in terrestrial mud volcanoes in the Northern Apennines. Sedimentary Geol 263–264:210–219

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Planetary Science Research Group, Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

    Henrik Hargitai

Authors
  1. Henrik Hargitai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Henrik Hargitai .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this entry

Cite this entry

Hargitai, H. (2014). Mud Volcano. In: Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_510-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_510-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-9213-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation