Posted 11 February 2007 @ 12:06
Updated 11 February 2007 @ 12:13
SIDOARJO, 11 February 2007 - The first scientific report reveals that the 2006 eruption will most likely continue to erupt and emit several thousand cubic metres of mud a day for months, if not years to come. This will leave at least 10 km2 around the volcano vent uninhabitable for years and over 11,000 people permanently evacuated.
An Aberdeen researcher contributed to the study, which was led by Durham University, and is published in the February issue of US journal, GSA Today. It reveals that the eruptionwas almost certainly caused by the drilling of a nearby exploratory borehole looking for gas. The finding reinforces a United Nations report from July last year.
The mud volcano, known locally as "Lusi", has destroyed infrastructure and erased four villages and 25 factories. Thirteen people have also died as a result of a rupture in a natural gas pipeline that lay underneath one of the holding dams built to retain the mud. It first erupted on 29 May, 2006 in the Porong subdistrict of Sidoarjo in Eastern Java, close to Indonesia`s second city of Surabaya.
The team of mud volcano and pressure experts, who analysed subsurface and satellite images of the area for their study, propose that a local region around the central volcano vent will collapse to form a crater. In addition, an area of at least the dimensions of the flow (10km2) will probably sag over the next few months and years.
Dr Mads Huuse, a Lecturer in Geophysics, College of Physical Sciences, said: "Mud volcanoes are a common feature of the geological record around the world, and this is an excellent opportunity for scientists to observe the onset and continued eruption of a mud volcano - to understand how they are created and what happens when they erupt."
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