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Marine and Petroleum Geology 26 (2009) 1879–1887
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Marine and Petroleum Geology
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/marpetgeo
Modelling eruption cycles and decay of mud volcanoes
Anna Zoporowski*, Stephen A. Miller
Geodynamics/Geophysics, Steinmann-Institute, University of Bonn, Nussallee 8, 53115 Bonn, Germany
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history:
Received 9 June 2008
Received in revised form
20 March 2009
Accepted 23 March 2009
Available online 31 March 2009
Recent debates about the eruptive behavior of mud volcanoes and their activation mechanisms have
been driven particularly by the LUSI eruption in Indonesia that resulted in huge commercial and cultural
damages. Numerical modeling of mud volcanoes, of which few exist, can provide insight into eruptive
behavior and contribute to hazard evaluation. In this paper, we present a simple model to describe fluid
escape from an underground reservoir through a conduit, extruded as a mud volcano at the surface. The
governing equations result in oscillatory behavior, and we study the influence of changes in rheological
properties of surrounding rock and fluid characteristics of the mud on extrusion dynamics. We focus on
understanding long-term eruption behavior, flow cycles, and decay factors. Model results can be used to
estimate the discharge rates and extruded volume from assumptions on the mud reservoir and conduit,
or conversely, the reservoir or conduit properties from discharge rates.
Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
Mud volcano model
Cyclic eruption
Conduit processes
Viscous flow
1. Introduction
Mud volcanoes result from the extrusion of gas- and watersaturated mud both in sub-aerial and in sub-marine environments.
This semi-liquid is forced through openings in the upper crust,
sometimes producing massive quantities of mud on the surface,
as evidenced by the recent LUSI mud volcano in Java, Indonesia.
Globally, the distribution of mud volcanoes shows about 1800
individual sites (Dimitrov, 2002), and extraterrestrial occurrences
are also documented (Fortes and Grindrod, 2006; Skinner and
Tanaka, 2007; Skinner and Mazzini, 2009). The basic mechanism of
mud volcano formation is the release of high-pressure mud trapped
at depth. Triggering mechanisms of the volcanoes are still debated,
but various hypotheses include earthquake-triggering, fault failure,
and drilling (Manga et al., 2009, and references therein).
The morphology of mud volcanoes varies, and includes conical
vents and bubbling mud pools (Fig. 1(a)). Some mud sources are
shallow
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Marine and Petroleum Geology
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/marpetgeo
Modelling eruption cycles and decay of mud volcanoes
Anna Zoporowski*, Stephen A. Miller
Geodynamics/Geophysics, Steinmann-Institute, University of Bonn, Nussallee 8, 53115 Bonn, Germany
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history:
Received 9 June 2008
Received in revised form
20 March 2009
Accepted 23 March 2009
Available online 31 March 2009
Recent debates about the eruptive behavior of mud volcanoes and their activation mechanisms have
been driven particularly by the LUSI eruption in Indonesia that resulted in huge commercial and cultural
damages. Numerical modeling of mud volcanoes, of which few exist, can provide insight into eruptive
behavior and contribute to hazard evaluation. In this paper, we present a simple model to describe fluid
escape from an underground reservoir through a conduit, extruded as a mud volcano at the surface. The
governing equations result in oscillatory behavior, and we study the influence of changes in rheological
properties of surrounding rock and fluid characteristics of the mud on extrusion dynamics. We focus on
understanding long-term eruption behavior, flow cycles, and decay factors. Model results can be used to
estimate the discharge rates and extruded volume from assumptions on the mud reservoir and conduit,
or conversely, the reservoir or conduit properties from discharge rates.
Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
Mud volcano model
Cyclic eruption
Conduit processes
Viscous flow
1. Introduction
Mud volcanoes result from the extrusion of gas- and watersaturated mud both in sub-aerial and in sub-marine environments.
This semi-liquid is forced through openings in the upper crust,
sometimes producing massive quantities of mud on the surface,
as evidenced by the recent LUSI mud volcano in Java, Indonesia.
Globally, the distribution of mud volcanoes shows about 1800
individual sites (Dimitrov, 2002), and extraterrestrial occurrences
are also documented (Fortes and Grindrod, 2006; Skinner and
Tanaka, 2007; Skinner and Mazzini, 2009). The basic mechanism of
mud volcano formation is the release of high-pressure mud trapped
at depth. Triggering mechanisms of the volcanoes are still debated,
but various hypotheses include earthquake-triggering, fault failure,
and drilling (Manga et al., 2009, and references therein).
The morphology of mud volcanoes varies, and includes conical
vents and bubbling mud pools (Fig. 1(a)). Some mud sources are
shallow