Web edition: February 1, 2013 Print edition: February 23, 2013;
Vol.183 #4 (p. 18) The end may be near for an erupting mud
volcano that has wreaked havoc in Indonesia. In a few years, the
volcano will spew just 10 percent as much mud as it does today,
scientists predict. The mud volcano known as Lusi began erupting
in May 2006 after a drilling accident at a nearby gas
exploration well. Since then, the eruption has buried an area
about twice the size of New York’s Central Park and displaced
more than 60,000 people. Based on the amount of muck burped up
during the eruption’s first three years, scientists had
estimated Lusi’s fury would last 23 to 50 years. The new
estimate takes into account a longer period of Lusi’s history.
Maxwell Rudolph, now at the University of Colorado Boulder, and
colleagues analyzed satellite measurements collected from
October 2006 to April 2011 of sinking ground caused by the
eruption. Changes in the rate of sinking reflect changes in the
pressure inside the volcano, the team says. H