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Characterization of some selected mud volcanoes of southern Taiwan

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Abstract

In the present study, some mud volcanoes in Pingtung and Kaohsiung areas were selected. The selected mud volcanoes are located above the mud diaper system in southern Taiwan. Three different sampling techniques were used to collect samples in and around the said mud volcanoes. The results show that river water samples from different places fall on the meteoric line. Mud samples are found to be heavier in oxygen isotope while hydrogen isotope remains the same. Soil gas samples were also collected at the depth of 1 m and dissolved gases from the mud volcanic site (or nearby) were collected for gas chromatography analyses. Soil gas samples and dissolved gas from mud pool and groundwater were analyzed for radon concentration using RAD7 (solid-state nuclear track detector) bi-weekly. Long-term investigation will be needed to understand the relationship of mud volcanoes the eruption cycle with gas composition variations. It will also help to understand their relationship with tectonic activities in the region.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Ministry of Science and Technology Taiwan for supporting this work financially under the Projects VW/MOST 105-2116-M-492-003 and 105-2811-M-492-004.

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Correspondence to Vivek Walia.

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Kumar, A., Yang, TH., Walia, V. et al. Characterization of some selected mud volcanoes of southern Taiwan. Acta Geophys. 66, 1257–1265 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11600-018-0162-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11600-018-0162-x

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