"...the muddy clods of earth, colder than ice, gurgle and boil underground; then, through numerous opened mouths, scattered all over the valley, they bubble upwards, bursting out either at a very low or at a higher distance..." said A. Odobescu.

Between Berca and Arbanasi, about 30 km from Buzau, we come across one of the best known geological reserves of Romania, the Muddy Volcanoes. After crossing a concrete bridge over the Buzau river, we enter the small town of Berca, where a little billboard guides us towards a country road winding among dry hills and oil derricks. A rather distressing landscape, but endowed with a certain charm lent to it by its very solitude. When the wind blows, you can feel the smell of oil and salt. A few km farther on, we come across a billboard which guides us towards "Piclele mici." We leave the car here and after having climbed for a while, a strange landscape opens in front of our eyes: a large overflow of mud over slopes and hollows. These formations called by the local people "picle" are known under the name of the "muddy volcanoes." The name of "muddy" is quite clear, but why "volcanoes?"

Purely and simply because of their cone-shaped form with a crater in the middle. In the case of the real volcanoes, the lava comes through the volcanic horn from a hot magma cradle, it gets out through the crater and flows over the slopes turning solid. The muddy volcanoes have been formed through a similar process with the only difference that here the lava has been replaced by mud. However, the real difference is a geological one: the lava was prepared in the telluric depth of the planet where temperatures rise to several thousand degrees, where the metals are melted and where the engines that create the mountains roll on , producing devastating earthquakes and moving the continents. The real volcanoes belong to the kingdom of Pluto the Hot and volcanologists are in charge of their study.
The muddy volcanoes originate in the layer closer to the surface of the earth crust. The gas associated to the crude deposits in the sedimentary rocks, make their way towards the surface through clefts, reach the underground water layer, where they also involve the waters in their movement and on their way upwards, they also wash the clay and the other rock fragments they might meet with.

Since mud cannot exist without water, the muddy volcanoes are affiliated to Neptun's kingdom and it is the oilmen and hydrologists who are dealing with them.
But let's better have a look at the show put up at the surface. The volcanoes cones are not higher than 5-6 meters and the mud drops out on the slightly inclined slopes. A varied range of colours appears in front of our eyes. We discover the beauty of the mud which displays greyish and brown colours of a great variety and refinement. The chocolate borders of the crater are adorned with the white crust of crystallized salt and with belts of yellow sulphur mud, ochre or a shining black.
The pressure of the derrick gas defeats with great difficulty the viscous liquid which swells out, forms a hemisphere, splits and wearily falls down with a sigh into the boiling cauldron. If we bring a lit match closer to them a blue flame will braze out because the bubbles are mostly made of methane.
At the foot of the small volcanoes, the mud torrents have dried up acquiring shapes that remind the bark of the old trees and the honey comb.
After having had a glimpse of "Piclele Mici" is it worth going to visit "Piclele Mari" as well, situated in their immediate neighbourhood. Here, the cones are less striking, in exchange the cauldrons are larger recalling the form of the Hawaii volcanoes. Why do the muddy volcanoes exist only here and not anywhere else, there where crude deposits are found as well? The explanation should be sought in the archeological structure of the Eastern Carpathians. As is known, the Eastern Carpathians are formed of extended peaks oriented towards the north-south, separated among them by depressions, from the Bucovina hills to the chain of volcano mountains. But this is only the tangible part of the iceberg because in the depth the same structure of extended compartments separated by deep faults is observed. One of them is the Bisoca fault, a giant, hundreds of km long cleft. The latter joins the superficial level of the geological structures where the crude and gas ores that emerge to the surface are to be found. A dry emanation of natural gas is located in the vicinity, at Andreiasu, where another geological monument "The Unextinguished Fires" is situated. This faul is an extension of the hypocentral seismic zone of Vrancei Mountains, which actually terrorizes us.

Is there any relationship whatsoever between these phenomena? Definitely not, in keeping with the classical geological theories. However, recently, the American astrophysicist, Thomas Gold, an experienced scientist with a large vision, published in the magazine "Science" a theory that amazed the scientific world. He affirms, bringing the latest arguments in support of his theory, that a very rich bacterial life flourishes at a depth of several thousand meters, in the pores and fissures filled with hot water and gas. A huge organic mass that exceeds the biomass of the earth and which lies at the origin of the formation of the crude and of the methane emanations. These emanations are accumulated on the brink of the tectonic plaques and lubricate their movement. A direct link must exist between the active hypocentral seismic zone and the muddy volcanoes, accordind to Gold. This means that if we put under an observation the systematic activity of the muddy volcanoes, we might obtain more hints on what is prepared for us in Pluto and Hades' kingdom.