{"id":4514,"date":"2022-09-18T13:32:31","date_gmt":"2022-09-18T13:32:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/curtisarchie.com\/wpmocha\/?page_id=4514"},"modified":"2022-09-21T14:08:56","modified_gmt":"2022-09-21T14:08:56","slug":"impact-of-eruptions","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/curtisarchie.com\/wpmocha\/?page_id=4514","title":{"rendered":"Impact of Eruptions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Even though there are twenty-six known mud volcanic areas in the onshore of Trinidad, eruptive activity has been documented only at six of these . Three, along the crest of the Southern Anticline and three just south of the central range near the centre of the island. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/KE1zUlDtuCw\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A graph illustrating the timing and frequency of documented mud volcano eruptions between 1852 \u2013 2022 shows some clustering of activity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A similar plot for six mud volcanoes over the same time period shows that the south coast mud volcanoes were fairly active between 1891 and 1911, 1960 \u2013 1965 and 1998-2001.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fire Hazards<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Navigation Hazards<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The sudden and rapid creation of shallow banks and islands (Plate 4) can create navigational hazards especially in areas with high levels of marine traffic. Offshore Chatham on the south coast is an area on identified as Despatch Reef, which marks the location of the 1911 and 1928 mud volcano eruptions. Over time these were eroded by waves and currents below sea level, no new bathymetric surveys have been done in this area and such changes in water depth due to mud volcanic activity is unknown. There is a possibility that vessels may run aground due to inaccurate maps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gas and Liquid Hazards<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Analysis of the gasses at selected sites by Higgins & Saunders (1974) and DeVille et al (2003), revealed that it is primarily methane (93%) and Carbon Dioxide (6.54%), minor amounts of Ethane (0.33%) and no Hydrogen Sulphide. Thus, the only danger posed is the methane igniting, Carbon Dioxide levels are too low to be a concern especially in open areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Where does the water contained in the mud come from? Research by Dia et al (1998) and Castrec-Rouelle et al. (2002) on concentrations of trace elements, isotopes of 10Be, 9 Be, Oxygen, Hydrogen and Strontium, revealed revealed that they were due to mixing from meteoric shallow aquifers from deeper than 3km. This deep source is the reason why even during the driest periods mud pools and fluids are present. Higgins & Saunders (1974) analysed water from selected mud volcanoes and found that the pH averages 8.9 which is basic, salinity averages 18,439 ppm. Piparo has the lowest salinity, this suggests that meteoric water recharge is important here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disruption of the ground surface<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The Google Earth image with mud flow overlay reveals that most of the village of Piparo is built on old mud flows. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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