Gas emanating from a mud volcano, offshore of Taiwan

While surveying geologic features in the deep sea off Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, MBARI Senior Scientist Charlie Paull and his team observed bursts of gas emanating from the seafloor near the top of a large mud volcano 425 meters below the ocean surface. Mud volcanoes form when methane gas and highly fluidized mud bubble up to the seafloor from more than one kilometer beneath the mud surface.

Here large methane gas bubbles are observed as explosive events, which disturb and propel clumps of mud approximately one meter into the water column. During this expedition, a succession of six explosive gas releases was observed over a period of approximately 17 minutes.

For more information, see the MBARI 2017 Annual Report: https://annualreport.mbari.org/2017/

Видео Gas emanating from a mud volcano, offshore of Taiwan канала Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)