The Berca Mud Volcanoes () is a geological and botanical reservation located in

Scorțoasa Scorțoasa is a commune in Buzău County, Muntenia, Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the we ...

commune close to

Berca Berca is a commune located in the hillside of Buzău County, Muntenia, Romania, in the valley of the river Buzău. It is an oil and natural gas extraction location. The commune is composed of thirteen villages: Băceni, Berca, Cojanu, Joseni, Mân ...

Buzău County Buzău County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in the Historical regions of Romania, historical region Muntenia, with the capital city at Buzău. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 432,054 and the population density was 70.7/km ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. Its most spectacular feature is the ''

mud volcano A mud volcano or mud dome is a landform created by the eruption of mud or Slurry, slurries, water and gases. Several geological processes may cause the formation of mud volcanoes. Mud volcanoes are not true Igneous rock, igneous volcanoes as th ...

es'', small volcano-shaped structures typically a few metres high caused by the eruption of mud and

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

es.

The geological phenomenon

As the gases erupt from 3000 metres deep towards the surface, through the underground layers of

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

and

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

, they push up underground salty water and mud, so that they overflow through the mouths of the volcanoes, while the gas emerges as bubbles. The mud dries off at the surface, creating a relatively solid conical structure resembling a real volcano. The mud expelled by them is cold, as it comes from inside the Earth's

continental crust Continental crust is the layer of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks that forms the geological continents and the areas of shallow seabed close to their shores, known as '' continental shelves''. This layer is sometimes called '' si ...

layers, and not from the mantle. The reservation is unique in

. Elsewhere in Europe, similar phenomena can be observed in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

(northern

Apennines The Apennines or Apennine Mountains ( ; or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; or – a singular with plural meaning; )Latin ''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which would be segmented ''Apenn-inus'', often used with nouns s ...

and

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

(in the

Kerch Peninsula The Kerch Peninsula is a major and prominent geographic peninsula located at the eastern end of the Crimean Peninsula. This peninsula stretches eastward toward the Taman Peninsula between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. Most of the peninsula i ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

(in the Taman Peninsula) as well as

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

Gases

There are several sites (the main tourist sites being Pâclele Mari and Pâclele Mici), and gas analysis shows that the composition varies from site to site, but is mainly methane, with approximately 2% carbon dioxide, and 2–15% nitrogen. More details are given in Etiope et al.

Flora

The mud volcanoes create a strange lunar landscape, due to the absence of vegetation around the cones. Vegetation is scarce because the soil is very salty, an environmental condition in which few plants can survive. However, this kind of environment is good for some rare species of plants, such as ''

Nitraria schoberi ''Nitraria schoberi'', the nitrebush (a name it shares with other members of its genus), is a species of flowering plant in the family Nitrariaceae. It has an Irano-Turanian distribution. Its fruit, edible and salty-sweet, are collected by local ...

'' and '' Obione verrucifera'' as these plants can survive the high salt levels in the soil.

Tourism

The phenomenon can be observed on two separate locations near the Berca commune, dubbed ''the Little Mud Volcanoes'' and ''The Big Mud Volcanoes''. The volcanoes themselves are surrounded by 'badlands' of water-cut ravines. Admission fees are charged (4 RON/adult in 2017) and (since you're walking on a crust of dried mud that is not entirely solid yet and will most likely never be solid) access is only permitted on dry days to prevent destruction of the unique environment.

References

Gallery

Volcanes de lodo, Buzau, Rumanía, 2016-05-29, DD 40.jpg, Detail view of the mud Volcanes de lodo, Buzau, Rumanía, 2016-05-29, DD 23.jpg, View of a mud flow from the base Volcanes de lodo, Buzau, Rumanía, 2016-05-29, DD 18.jpg, A small but active mud volcano File:Berca Muddy vulcanos 8.jpg, Vegetation at the base of the mud volcanoes Volcanes de lodo, Buzau, Rumanía, 2016-05-29, DD 38.jpg, Flowing mud Volcanes de lodo, Buzau, Rumanía, 2016-05-29, DD 31.jpg, A bubble of gas bursting through the mouth of a Mud Volcano Volcanes de lodo, Buzau, Rumanía, 2016-05-29, DD 50.jpg, General view Volcanes de lodo, Buzau, Rumanía, 2016-05-29, DD 34.jpg, Channel of mud Volcanes de lodo, Buzau, Rumanía, 2016-05-29, DD 27.jpg, Landscape formed by the mud flows RO BZ Vulcanii Noroioși de la Pâclele Mici.JPG, General view

External links

{{commonscat, Berca mud volcanoes
Environmental Hazards and Mud Volcanoes in Romania

360° panoramic images from the Muddy Volcanoes

Etiope et al. Gas flux to the atmosphere from mud volcanoes in eastern Romania
* Beautiful Mud Volcanoes: Photography – https://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Mud-Volcanoes-Photography-Places/dp/154490911X Geography of Buzău County Mud volcanoes Protected areas of Romania Tourist attractions in Buzău County Geology of Romania