Napag Mud Volcano

Napag is an active mud volcano in Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan province, in the country's arid southeast near the Pakistan border and the Gulf of Oman coast. It is recognized for its continuous saline mud emissions.

The rising water and mud pass through salt-bearing sediments and evaporite layers beneath the region, picking up dissolved salts. That is why its emissions are described as saline mud and brine rather than fresh mud.

Yes, Iran has a number of mud volcanoes, concentrated in the southeast, including Sistan and Baluchestan, and along its southern coastal belt. They share the same gas-driven geology found in neighboring Azerbaijan across the Caspian region.

Mud volcanoes like Napag are typically surface expressions of gas, often methane, escaping from organic-rich sediments at depth. Geologists treat them as indicators of petroleum systems in a sedimentary basin.