Mud eruption has occurred and spread out during the past two months in Ninh Thuan.
Nguyen Dinh Hoe, VACNE
From February 2011, in Loi Hai commune, Thuan Bac district, Ninh Thuan province, there have appeared many mud mounds. The mud is grey and does not have strange smell. From one mud mound at the beginning, there are now four additional ones. The smallest mound is about 1 square meter, and the largest is 2 square meters. The Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Ninh Thuan province said the mounds are expanding.
Mud erupts in Ninh Thuan, Photo: Tuoi Tre Newspaper
Mud eruption is not an abnormal phenomenon in the world. On the basis of scale and characteristics of the erupted mud, there are different names for this geological type such as mud pot, paint pot, mud pool, and mud volcano. This phenomenon is related to the post volcano eruption: about 1,100 mud volcanoes have been discovered in land and in low water areas, but in addition more than 10,000 others are still in deep sea.
Post-volcano eruption has sometimes been observed in the Central Highlands and Ninh Thuan is located in the western side of these basalt plateaus. However, mud eruption often occurs due to the activation of current fault systems. These systems normally push up sharply mineral water. In dry areas, instead of creating mineral water, faults push mud up. The mud isn't hot, but mineral content is richer than that of surface mud.
Currently, specific researches about mud eruption in Thuan Bac, Ninh Thuan have not been conducted, but according to geological laws, this phenomenon is linked to the strong recurrence of active geological background here (regarding post eruption and recurrence of faults). At small scale, mud eruption can attract tourists, but it is a geological disaster in many parts of the world.
Ninh Thuan’s geological basis turns out to be not quiet. For the construction of a nuclear power plant in Ninh Thuan, it is necessary to take it into consideration.
Source in Vietnamese: http://vacne.org.vn/default.aspx?newsid=5461