Contribution and mission of geochemistry to mud volcano study

The greatest contribution of geochemistry in mud volcano study is estimation of fluid source depth. In particular, knowing the depth of the substance that came from the deepest part is very important information to know the formation mechanism of mud volcano. A tool for the estimation is a geothermometer. The most important thing is to use data of solid phase and liquid phase that actually had equilibrated. Ultra-deep drilling will give us a very good opportunity to create the “really correct geothermometer”. Furthermore, in order to change the temperature of fluid source obtained by the geothermometer to the depth of fluid source, it is necessary to know the "correct geothermal structure". Thus, in mud volcano research, comprehensive research on knowledge of various researches such as geochemistry, geophysics, geology, microorganisms, etc. is necessary. Therefore, I would like the community of researchers studying on mud volcano to be revitalized