Preliminary study of Mud Volcanoes in Banat (southwest Romania) .

Abstract. The mud volcanoes area from Banat covers a surface of 900 m2. The main mud volcano, known as Forocici volcano (FG), is of gryphon type (11/9 m), characterized by a bubbling pool (salse). Moreover, there are six secondary craters of smaller size and tens of vents in the area that show the emission points of gas and less mud. Gas eruptions from FG contain CO2, CH4, CO and H2S. The CO2 emissions were determined only qualitatively, estimating that these could surpass 15%. Concentration of CH4 is about 12-13%. Concentration in H2S and CO is between 0.4-0.8 ppm. Water from FG has a concentration of 0.020-0.050 ppm for Cr and 0.014-0.050 ppm for Ni. Fe reaches the highest concentrations (0.060-2.400 ppm). The water of FG is a mixture between deep water, phreatic and meteoric water. The soil around the volcanoes has in its first 5 cm a normal concentration for Cr, Pb and Zn. The vegetation, gathered from inside the gryphon, accumulates higher quantities of heavy metals than the same species that develop under normal field conditions. All these data represent an important contribution for the understanding of the output of mud volcanoes and their activity upon the environment