Abstract
The earliest reports on mud volcanoes in Pakistan stem from the year 1840. Despite recurrent visits ever since, progress in studying these features in detail has been slow. Increased interest in mud volcanoes occurred in the aftermath of an earthquake in 1945, which initiated the sudden emergence of islands offshore from the Makran Desert. These islands were built from highly viscous mud with a high gas content. The mud was driven up by high buoyancy forces. The study of mud volcanoes in Pakistan intensified concurrently with marine cruises offshore from the Pakistani coast, particularly during the last 15 years, by which mud volcanoes on the abyssal plain and widespread gas seeps in the shallow waters of the upper continental slope were identified. The discharged gases on and offshore are predominantly of bacterial origin and appear to rise from the upper km of the subsurface. Little is known about the periodicity of gas discharge. A new instrumentation to monitor gas flow periodicities is briefly described.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bannert, D., Cheema, A., Ahmed, A., and Schäffer, U., 1992. The structural development of the western fold belt, Pakistan., Geol. Jahrb. Series B, 80, 1–60.
DeJong, K. A., 1982. Tectonics of the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, and southern Pakistan region. In: Nain, A.E.M. and Staehli, F.G. (eds) The Ocean Basins and Margins, v6: The Indian Ocean, 315–351.
Delisle, G., Von Rad U., Andruleit H., Von Daniels CH., Tabrez A. R., and Inam, A., 2002. Active mud volcanoes on-and offshore eastern Makran, Pakistan, International Journal of Earth Sciences, 91, 93–110.
Delisle, G., and Berner, U., 2002. Act gas hydrates as cap rock in the Makran accretionary prism? In: Clift, P.D., Kroon, D., Gaedicke, C. and Craig. J. (eds), The Tectonic and Climatic Evolution of the Arabian Sea Region, Geol. Society, London, Special Publications, 195, 137–146.
DeMets, C., Gordon, R.G., Argus, D.F., and Stein, S., 1990. Current plate motions: Geophysical Journal International, 101, 425–478.
Gaedicke, Ch., Prexl, A., Schlüter, H-U., Meyer, H., Roeser, H., and Clift, P., 2002. Seismic stratigraphy and correlation of major regional unconformities in the north Arabian Sea.? In: Clift, P.D., Kroon,.D, Gaedicke, C., Craig, J., (eds), The Tectonic and Climatic Evolution of the Arabian Sea Region, Geol. Society, London, Special Publications, 195, 137–146.
Harrison, J. V., 1944. Mud volcanoes on the Makran coast. Geographical Journal, 103, 180–181.
Hart, J, 1840. Some account of a journey from Kuzrachee to Hinglaj, in the Lus Territory, descriptive of the intermediate country, and of the port of Soumeanee, J. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, 9, 134–154.
Hunting Survey Corporation Ltd., 1960. Reconnaissance geology of part of West Pakistan. Maracle Press, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.
Lavrushin, V. U., Polyak, B. G., Prasolov, R. M., and Kamenskii, I. L., 1996. Sources of material in mud volcano products (based on isotopic, hydrochemical, and geological data), Lithology and Mineral Resources, 31,6, 557–578.
Minshull, T. A., and White, R. S., 1989. Sediment compaction and fluid migration in the Makran accretionary prism., Journal of Geophysical Research, 94, 7387–7402.
Roeser, H. A., and Shipboard Scientific Party, 1997. The Makran accretionary wedge off Pakistan: Tectonic evolution and and Fluid migration-Part 1. BGR openfile report, Archive No 116 643.
Stiffe, A. W., 1874. On the mud-craters and geological structure of the Mekran coast, Quarterly Journal of the Geol. Soc. London, 30, 50–53.
Skrine, C. P., 1936. The Quetta earthquake, Geographical Journal, 88, 414–430.
Snead, R. J., 1964. Active mud volcanoes of Baluchistan, west Pakistan, The Geograpical Review, 54, 545–560.
Sondhi, V. P., 1947. The Makran Earthquake, 28 November 1945, the birth of new islands, Indian Minerals 1, 146–154.
Taponnier, P., Mattauer, M., Proust, F., and Cassaigneau, Ch., 1982. Mesozoic Ophiolites, Sutures, and large scale Tectonic Movements of Afghanistan, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 52, 355–371.
Von Rad, U., Berner, U., Delisle, G., Doose-Rolinski, H., Fechner, N., Linke, P., Lückge, A., Roeser, H. A., Schmaljohann, R., Wiedicke, M., and Sonne 122/130 Scientific Parties, 2000. Gas and fluid venting at the Makran accretionary wedge off Pakistan, Geo-Marine Letters 20, 10–19.
White, R. S., and Louden, K. E., 1982. The Makran continental margin: Structure of a thickly sedimented convergent plate boundary. In: Watkins J.S., Drake C.L. (eds) Studies in continental margin geology, American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 34, 499–518.
Wiedicke, M., Neben, S., and Spiess, V., 2001. Mud volcanoes at the front of the accretionary complex, Pakistan, Marine Geology, 172, 57–73.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2005 Springer
About this paper
Cite this paper
Delisle, G. (2005). Mud Volcanoes of Pakistan — an Overview. In: Martinelli, G., Panahi, B. (eds) Mud Volcanoes, Geodynamics and Seismicity. NATO Science Series, vol 51. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3204-8_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3204-8_14
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-3202-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-3204-2
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)