Trinidad's Mud Volcanos

Piparo Mud Volcano, Trinidad via Bing Images
Mud! No, don’t start making plans to join a band for Monday Mass – it isn’t about the carnival. Neither does it apply to a mud bath at some exotic Spa (ding, ding, ding … idea for a new industry). It has to do with Mud Volcanoes that dot Trinidad’s southern geological landscape. Nature's unique blend in the southern belt causes the earth to ooze a bubbly concoction to the surface that fascinates the local population as well as visitors to the southern belt in Trinidad. It should be noted that all of the known mud volcanoes are located in the area of the land-based oil finds. The Trinidad and Tobago Geological society provide a map of known mud volcano sites in Trinidad that is presented below with the web address to access more information about these natural wonders.
There are several areas to visit starting with the Devil’s Woodyard that is reported to have at least fifty active vents. These mud vents located east of Marabella erupt infrequently but the events are reported to be very dramatic indeed.
The Piparo site provided a spectacular eruption in 1997 burying ten houses and covering a one square mile area in mud.

The Cascadoux mud volcano is located in the Manzanilla area and is in the same fault line as the offshore volcanic activity at Point Radix. Several others exist including Digity that is located in Debe, South Trinidad, and has a cone that is reportedly 20 feet high that also ejects mud and gas.

L’Eau Michel is located on Penal also in South Trinidad.

Lagon Bouffe is located in the Trinity Hills wildlife sanctuary and is reportedly one of the largest on the island.

The Anglais Point mud volcano is located in the Palo Seco area again in Southern Trinidad and flows about seven hundred feet onto the beach.

The Erin Mud Volcanoes are part of a chain of mud volcanoes that run from Cedros to Morne Diablo and are reported to have the volcano with the largest cone.
The Karamat mud volcano is located in the Moruga area and has small pools of mud with oil visible in the mixture.

The Chatam mud island created a stir with the ocean bubbling and oozing a sulfurous mix. The end product was a dark grey clay stone-like material with yellow streaks of sulfur.

A good place to start looking for information is at the government geological site that is presented as a link above but there are many online resources that provide detailed information about each site. The information presented here is just a start since there are other smaller sites not covered here. Please access the government site for details on the sites if you plan to adventure into Trinidad's Mud volcanic areas.

Erin Mud Volcano

Post a Comment

Your comments can also become a Post!