The meandering Mundo Mud Pot: Or how Salton Sea tectonics affect international trade

The Union Pacific Railroad’s California to Texas mainline parallels the eastern shore of the Salton Sea, where approximately 70 trains per day carry international goods from Asia to the interior United States. Geothermal activity created by extensional tectonics between the south end of the San Andreas fault and north end of the Imperial fault creates mud pots and mud volcanoes throughout the area by venting of carbon dioxide gas. The gas pushes groundwater laden with Pleistocene age lake sediments to the surface. Aerial photos suggest that the Mundo Mud Pot may have originally formed prior to the 1950s, 1100 feet northeast of the railroad. Since 2004, a newly created mud pot developed a crater shaped caldera approximately 60 to 80 feet in diameter, 400 feet northeast of the railroad. In 2016, after a series of earthquakes in the Brawley Seismic Zone, the mud pot began moving in a southwesterly direction towards the railroad tracks. In May 2018, the railroad was forced to cope with the mud pot and its water discharge as the mud pot had moved to within 80 feet of the mainline. Geophysics and geotechnical methods were used to focus on geologic structures allowing the movement of the mud pot. Methods used to mitigate the discharge and erosion include levee construction, sheet piles, dewatering wells, and riprap. Train traffic has continued to move by constructing two new detour tracks to either side of the mud pot, as it continues to gradually move under the original railroad alignment.

• Record URL:
  https://www.highwaygeologysymposium.org/wp-content/uploads/70th_HGS-OPT.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Copyright © 2019 Highway Geology Symposium (HGS). Abstract reprinted with permission of the HGS.
• Corporate Authors:

  Highway Geology Symposium

  ,   United States 
• Authors:
  • Francuch, Dean G
  • Deane, Travis
  • Zamora, Carol
• Conference:
  • 70th Highway Geology Symposium
  • Location: Portland Oregon, United States
  • Date: 2019-10-21 to 2019-10-24
• Publication Date: 2019

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Photos; References;
• Pagination: 18p
• Monograph Title: Proceedings of the 70th Highway Geology Symposium (HGS 2019)

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Detours; Erosion; Geotechnical engineering; Geothermal resources; International trade; Levees; Railroad traffic; Riprap; Sheet pile walls; Tectonics
• Subject Areas: Environment; Freight Transportation; Geotechnology; Maintenance and Preservation; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01735592
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 2 2020 9:42AM