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Romanian mud volcanoes
The Berca Mud Volcanoes are a geological and botanical reservation located in the Berca commune in the Buzău County in Romania. These are the only known active volcanoes in the whole of Romania, and well worth a visit. The left hand side is showing the 'large field' of cold-mud volcanoes, while the right is showing the 'small field'. The small field is easy to get to, just follow the signs. The other more remote field is a lot tricker to get to and you really need to either be a keen walker or have a four-by-four car or a trusty Romanian dacia - the modern cars will have difficulty with the roads.
The soil around the volcanoes is completely devoid of life because the soil is so salty. However, this kind of environment is good for some rare species of plants, such as Nitraria schoberi and Obione verrucifera. There are cracks which get bigger, as you do down the hill, where the rain washes the mud away. It is a very strange sight. All around this area you will see gas and oil wells on every ridge, pumping out oil and petrol from below the ground. The next four photos are of the mud volcanoes in action. Getting one of these volcanoes to produce a bubble, when the flash does off, is a great achievement. We had to take lots, and lots of pictures!
The volcanoes are due to fissures in the soil which go down 3000 metres, to an underground gas field. As the gas escapes, passes through layers of clay and water, pushing the muddy, salty mixture to the surface. As the gas escapes, it makes the mud bubble up. When the new clay has been pushed up, it dries in the sun to help create the volcanic cones.
Romanians a certain this mud has special medical properties. It is good for rubbing onto any rheumatism. You can collect the glasses from the local restarant at the entrance.
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