Berca Mud Volcanoes

About this place

The Berca Mud Volcanoes are a geological and botanical reserve in the commune of Scorțoasa near the town of Berca in Buzău County, southeast Romania, about 93 km east of Brașov in a straight line. Its best-known sites are Pâclele Mari and Pâclele Mici. The volcanoes form where gas rising from 3,000 metres down forces its way through layers of clay and water, pushing salty water and mud ahead of it to overflow from the vents while the gas, mostly methane, escapes as bubbles. The mud dries at the surface into a firm cone a few metres high that looks like a real volcano. The mud is cold, because it comes from layers of the Earth's crust rather than from deep inside the planet. The reserve is unique in Romania, with only a few counterparts in Europe. Around the cones spreads a bare, cracked grey ground like the surface of the Moon, as the very salty soil keeps out most plants except a few rare salt-tolerant species. The small vents bubble with wet grey mud, thin mud streams trickle between eroded mounds, and green hills ring the site. Visitors walk among the cones and lean in to watch the bubbles; keep to dry ground, as the mud around the vents is sticky. Wear old shoes, and avoid visiting after rain, when the ground turns to mire.