Thermobaric Depth Settings of Sedimentary Rock Basins and Their Fluid Dynamics: Communication 2. Superhigh Pressures and Mud Volcanoes

Abstract

The paper addresses regularities in the location of mud volcanoes and their spatial association with tectonic faults, anticlinal uplifts, and oil-and-gas fields. The mud volcanic activity is linked with superhigh pressures developed in the stratospheric clayey sequences owing to phase transformations of clay minerals and organic matter. Earthquakes play a crucial role in the fracturing of clays, as well as increase of their permeability and formation of mud breccias. With the Aligul mud volcano (Turkmenistan) as example, the paper discusses processes of the liquefaction of sandstones and clays and the consequent formation of mud volcanic breccias.