A Gurgling Mud Pool Is Creeping Across Southern California Like a Geologic Poltergeist

[Judi Lynn]

By Laura Geggel, Senior Writer | November 2, 2018 10:15am ET

A mysterious, bubbling mud geyser is on the move in Southern California, flitting dangerously close to railroad tracks, Highway 111 and some very expensive optic cables, like a geologic poltergeist, according to news sources.

Even stranger, this puzzling geyser — dubbed the "Slow One" — is in the same neighborhood as the source of the so-called "Big One," the giant earthquake that is expected to shake things up where the North American and Pacific tectonic plates rub together to form the San Andreas Fault.

But despite the Slow One's unprecedented movement as of late, there's no evidence that this muddy geyser is an imminent precursor to an earthquake, geophysicist Ken Hudnut, with the U.S. Geological Survey, told the Los Angeles Times. In fact, the region has experienced less seismic activity in recent months than average, he said. [Gallery: Probing Geysers in Yellowstone and Chile]

Researchers have known about the Slow One, also called the Niland Geyser, since 1953. It formed when historic earthquakes caused deep cracks underground that allowed gases to move upward and escape at the surface, causing the bubbling mud pools, the Los Angeles Times reported. Unlike Yellowstone's Old Faithful, which has molten rock that superheats the circulating hot-spring water, the Niland Geyser is heated by bubbling carbon dioxide and registers at about 80 degrees Fahrenheit (nearly 27 degrees Celsius).

More:
https://www.livescience.com/63998-mud-pool-creeping-across-california.html?utm_source=ls-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20181102-ls

[still_one]

1. I think this is also referred to as a mud volcano, and can potentially do a lot of damage