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The present Bulletin of Mud Volcanology is a window into the world of information on mud volcanoes. From here you can find many types of materials on mud volcanoes worldwide, such as maps, photographs, graphs, dissertations' thesis, etc. This Bulletin will guide you to wide resources, collected in the libraries or resources of other information services of Azerbaijan.
The electronic Bulletin of Mud Volcanology publishes electronic versions of papers on mud volcanism and mud volcanoes, their products, eruptive behavior, hazards and other related sceintific and applied problems. Papers should be aimed at understanding the deep structure of mud volcanoes, their evolution, mechanism and forming conditions. In addition, results received through the use of geochemical, lithological, remote sensing, GPS and geophysical techniques are welcome and will also published in the Bulletin.
Authors are requested to fax or e-mail the title, abstract, acknowledgments, and either introductory or concluding section (or both), as well as the number of pages and figures in the manuscript, to the executive editors for further submission to the regular issue of the Bulletin.
Preambule
Mud volcanism is a natural phenomenon relating directly to the evolution of the Cenozoic molasses of sutural troughs that could be developed by the indispensable and principal presence of the Paleocene and Miocene rock series. However, mud volcanoes are located in the areas of inter-mountain troughs, which have already done intensive downwarping. On a whole, mud volcanoes are located in 26 countries of the world (Columbia, Trinidad, Romania, Ukraine, Turkmenistan, Iran, Pakistan, Burma, Malaysia, etc.) within mobile belts of the Alpine-Himalaya, Pacific and Central Asia.
The territory of Azerbaijan is a unique and classic region of mud volcanism. Of a total 800 terrestrial mud volcanoes of the world, there are 400 mud volcanoes located in the South Caspian oil-and-gas basin and more than 300 - within Eastern Azerbaijan and the adjacent area of the Caspian Sea. That is why Azerbaijan is considered as the motherland of mud volcanoes. There is no other country in the world like Azerbaijan in respect to the quantity of volcanoes, their variety and activity. There are gigantic volcanoes of 400-500 m high (Toragay, Beyuk Kanizadag, Otmanbozdag, Bozdag Guzdek) and active frequently erupting Lokbatan, Shikhzairly, Keyreki, Kushchi, Bakhar and numerous volcanoes characterized by intensive gryphon activity (Dashgil, Utalgi, Kalendarakhtarma, Ayrantekan, Solakhay, etc.), and about 40 mud volcanoes extruding oil on the Earth surface (Matrasa, Klich, Charagan, Girlikh, Akhtarma-Pashali, Shorbulakh, etc.).
All forms of mud volcanic manifestations are developed in Azerbaijan. Side by side with active mud volcanoes there are extinct mud volcanoes (Kursanga, etc.) that are dormant more than 100-150 years, and also the buried volcanoes (Zikh, Bibiaybat) having stopped their activity in the previous geological stages.
More than 230 mud volcanoes occur in the Caspian Sea. The main part of these are located within Azerbaijan sector of the sea floor. Marine mud volcanoes are subdivided into submarine (situated at depths from 10 to 800 m) and insular, and we can mention about 8 islands of mud volcanic origin in the Caspian Sea (Khara-Zire, Garasu, Zenbil, Gil, Sangi-Mugan, ets.).
The mud volcanoes are not only of oil and gas companions due to which geologists reveal oil and gas fields. Volcanic mud includes a number of valuable microelements such as Boron, Manganese, Lithium, Vanadium, Copper, etc., and water of volcanoes is rich in Boron, Bromine, Iodine, etc. Due to these peculiarities the mud of volcanoes has widely been used in medicine for treatment of different sickneses such as dermatological, gastro-intestinal, urological, gynaecological and is also used in perfumery. Moreover, mud from volcanoes can be used in construction, as raw material for production of ceramics, bricks and metallurgy.
The mud volcanoes of Azerbaijan are studied from the middle of the nineteenth century. Results of scientific investigations have been published in numerous articles and monographs. The complex investigations of mud volcanoes are carried out by the Geology Institute of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (GIA) since 1966. In 1971 for the first time in the world, the "Atlas of Azerbaijan mud volcanoes" was published, and the "Map of mud volcanoes of oil and gas fields of Azerbaijan" in a scale of 1 : 500 000 was issued in 1978.
The other regions of Alpine folded belt within former USSR populated by mud volcanoes (Kerch, Taman peninsula, NW Kuban, Eastern Georgia, SW Turkmenistan, Sakhalin) had comprehensively been studied by the specialists of GIA too, and the book "Mud volcanism of the Soviet Union and relation with oil-and-gas content" (1980) had been published, and the map of mud volcanoes of South Caspian Sea in scale of 1 : 500 000 had been issued (1995). The number of publications devoted to the eruptions of mud volcanoes.
Approximately from 2 to 5 big eruptions of volcanoes happen in Azerbaijan annualy. So, about 8 onshore and offshore eruptions had been recorded in 2001. There are more than 270 eruptions of 85 mud volcanoes were recorded in Azerbaijan since 1810 to 2001.
The main purpose of the study of mud volcanoes is prospecting for oil and gas accumulation within deep sediments and their evaluation. The geochemical methods of prospecting for deep oil and gas deposits and mapping of marine mud volcanoes used in the practical works in the Caspian Sea had been worked out in GIA. The genetic types of oils extruded by mud volcanoes, the terrigene-carbonaceous rock fragments of Paleocene and Miocene age in the mud breccia, allowing us to solve the problems of depth and stratigraphic intervals of hydrocarbon accumulation has been studied. In result of complex geochemical investigations of eruptions' products of mud volcanoes (chemical, and isotopic content of gas, water, organics, mud minerals etc) has been determined that the production and migration of hydrocarbons happen in the thick sediments of the Earth's crust. The relation of formation of mud volcanoes to Paleocene and Miocene deposits had scientifically been grounded. The physical and chemical model of mud volcano and mathematical model of mud volcanism had been developed in GIA.
Mud breccia as a source of use of valuable chemical elements like Boron, Manganese, Lithium, Vanadium, Strontium was also studied. The high Boron content of breccia and water of volcanoes had been determined within all regions of the Alpine folded belt populated by mud volcanoes.
Tectonic features of the regions populated by mud volcanoes, correlation of eruptions and seismicity, periodicity of eruptions had been studied, morphogenetic subdivision of mud volcanic manifestations had been conducted, and radiometric and thermal investigations of mud volcanoes had been carried out. It has been determined that the regularities of distribution and activity of mud volcanoes is stipulated by dependence between their morphology, activity degree, oil content, character of faults and folded structures and geodynamic situation in the Western Azerbaijan.
Gas and hydro-geochemical indexes of relation between volcanism and seismicity and increase of mud volcanic activity worked out and the character of space and time correlation between eruptions of mud volcanoes and earthquakes had been revealed.
Last years the scientists-volcanologists of GIA were engaged in modeling of the origin process and eruption mechanism of mud volcanoes. The composition of updated map of mud volcanoes of Azerbaijan and adjacent area of the Caspian Sea (scale 1 : 500 000) on geodynamic basis is in progress. Some scientific and practical aspects of mud volcanism related to ecology, hazard assessment, organization of national park of big and active mud volcanoes, modern clinic with mud treatment, tourist trips on mud volcanoes, etc.
We are sure those scientific and practical aspects of mud volcanism that provides a basis for understanding of cardinal questions of genesis and mechanism of eruptions of mud volcanoes are developed in other regions of mud volcanoes too. That is why with the aim to coordinate the works on the problem of mud volcanism and use of investigations results, we call all of scientists and specialists for cooperation.
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