(excerpt from Is a Volcano Eruption at the Salton Sea Imminent?,

San Diego Examiner, October 2012)

The Salton Buttes, a line of four small volcanoes on the Salton Sea’s southeastern shore, are not only still considered active by scientists, new research indicates they last erupted thousands of years more recently than previously thought. With increased earthquake activity, sulfur smells and mud volcanoes at the Salton Sea, the U.S. Geological Survey is wondering if there is a possibility that there could soon be a volcano eruption.

Patt Abbott, a geologist that was part of a research group says, “Most definitely volcanic activity is possible.” Abbott was part of a research group that collected aerial footage of muddy pits and volcanic gases about 100 miles east on the southern end of the Salton Sea. At that location are the Salton Buttes and underneath is a magma pool about 2 to 4 miles down. Abbott is worried that a major earthquake could create a path for the magma and it would reach the surface. Abbott said that an earthquake, “really pumps energy into a freshly enlarged magma body.” Just last August, Brawley, which is near the Salton Sea was hit by over 100 earthquakes, with the largest hitting 5.5 on the Richter Scale. The USGS attributed the temblors to faults in the Brawley Seismic Zone. “It’s certainly a concern to geologists,” Bruce Perry, an Earth sciences lecturer at California State University-Long Beach. “When you get these swarms, it’s often an indicator of an upward movement of magma. And if the magma breaches the surface, you have a volcanic eruption.”

In September, a rotten egg smell, reached Riverside and Los Angeles County. It was initially blamed on the dying fish in the Salton Sea, but now scientists think it may have been caused by volcanic gases, which are known to let off geo-excreted solids, liquids and gases like sulfur dioxide gas that smells like rotten eggs. “It’s very unusual that any odor would be this widespread, from the Coachella to Los Angeles County. We’re talking well over 100 miles. I can’t recall ever confirming an odor traveling that distance, said Sam Atwood, spokesman for the South Coast Air Quality Management District.