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'The Little One' (Migrating Mud Geyser; Southern California)

EnolaGaia

I knew the job was dangerous when I took it ...
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This mud geyser is a side effect of the subterranean forces in play beneath southern California - the forces feared to result in 'The Big One' (earthquake) sooner or later. It's also interesting because its surface eruption point has begun moving around, and its current movements suggest threats to adjacent infrastructure (a railway; a highway; a pipeline; etc.).

A Gurgling Mud Pool Is Creeping Across Southern California Like a Geologic Poltergeist
A mysterious, bubbling mud geyser is on the move in Southern California, flitting dangerously close to railroad tracks, Highway 111 and some very expensive optic cables, like a geologic poltergeist ...

Even stranger, this puzzling geyser — dubbed the "Slow One" — is in the same neighborhood as the source of the so-called "Big One," the giant earthquake that is expected to shake things up where the North American and Pacific tectonic plates rub together to form the San Andreas Fault. ...

Researchers have known about the Slow One, also called the Niland Geyser, since 1953. It formed when historic earthquakes caused deep cracks underground that allowed gases to move upward and escape at the surface, causing the bubbling mud pools, the Los Angeles Times reported. ...

After not moving for decades, the geyser caught the attention of scientists when it began moving around over the past few years ... Then, over the past six months, the geyser went on an erratic tour, first moving 60 feet (18 meters) over a few months and then a whopping 60 feet in one day, officials reported in Imperial County, where the muddy spring is located. ...

FULL STORY (With Photo): https://www.livescience.com/63998-mud-pool-creeping-across-california.html
 
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