In Buzau County, there is a unique tourist attraction: the Mud Volcanoes.
The uod volcanoes were created through a process of accumulation of natural gas at a depth of over 3000 m.The has has to go through a clay soil and through the groundwater. In its movement, it pushes both to the surface, creating a cold mud that surfaces under the form of cones that look like dry volcanoes.
The Mud Volcanoes
The same phenomenon can also be found in our country – though at a lower level – in Moldavia and in Transylvania.
The Mud Volcanoes we are talking about are located in Buzau, near Paclele Mari – Paclele Mici, an area that was declared natural monument ever since 1924. THough this phenomenon is more frequent than the “living fires”, it is not common at all, being seldon found outside of Asia. In Europe, it can only be found in Romania, Italy and Ucraine.
In Berca, Buzau, the mud volcanoes stretch on a surface of 30 hectares.
Paclele Mici
Although the available surface of the phenomenon here is of 10 of the 30 total hectares, most mud volcanoes can be found here; they are small and differently shaped.
“The volcanoes” here have diameters between 2 and 8 metres and a cone-shaped crater. “Lava” (i.e., mud) flows from them. At first glance, the mud appears to be hot because of the bubbles it makes, it is actually cold. The bubbles are in fact caused by the gases.
Paclele Mari
A few kilometres away from Paclele Mari, there are 20 hectares of mud volcanoes, the rest – not so many, but some of the tallest. At the center of the platform, there are three giant volcanoes, each with a diameter of 100 metres.
Worth mentioning is also the fact that rare plants grow here as well, protected by law, which confers the Mud Volcanoes area the status of natural reservation.
Getting to the Mud Volcanoes is quite easy, especially if you hire a car and drive there yourself!