Mud Volcanoes, Azerbaijan

Take what you know about volcanoes and imagine mud volcanoes. Rather than hot lava, steam, ash and rocks, mud volcano eruptions involve cold mud, water and gas. Nearly 400 mud volcanoes, more than half of the world total, are found in Azerbaijan and the Caspian Sea. The most common have several small cones or vents and average about 13 feet high. Just be aware: In 2001, a mud volcano about nine miles from Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital, erupted with enough force to send flames hundreds of feet into the sky and spew tons of mud.