AREAS APPROPRIATED FOR HEALTH AND TOURISM WILL REPRESENT GEOMORPHOLOGICAL CHANGES, POLLUTION, AND NATURAL HAZARDS IN COLOMBIA: FAR FROM RHETORIC, CLOSER TO REALITY

Geological movements of over saturated material such as masses, gases, and occasionally hydrocarbon traces of thin clay strata causing land deformations are known as argillaceous diapirs at the border of the Caribbean Plate in Colombia. There are near and far from the beach along more than 400 kilometers would represent communal issues. These geological phenomena along the west part of the Colombian Caribbean with many argillaceous diapirs and mud volcanoes identifiable for their crater diameter of 0.50 m up to large 200 m, which are captivating.

It is necessary to increase scientific interest through making health programs for different aspects such as affectation from continuous gas emanation to respiratory system, use mud volcanoes as relaxing pool, and probable effects of mud on the skin, eyes, ears, mouth, and the body’s hurt exposed. The attractive of mud volcano is a salty mineral presence, which can clean human skin, recreate and relaxing minds. However, it is necessary to control this ‘volcanoes’ through public medical policies and tourist programs. In addition, some mud volcanoes are enormous as a professional pool where people through their curiosity can perceive a relaxing time and medical procedure for skin and some myths on their sickness such as arthritis, rheumatism, and others. Are these salty minerals with gas inside a muddy mass a placebo painkiller? On the contrary, argillaceous diapirs represent issue along the sea platform, oceanfront, and continent, several changes regarding geomorphological characteristics of the land and increasing erosion along shoreline.

Also, mud volcanoes represent natural hazards with the capacity to destroy buildings, infrastructure, and more. In addition, they represent a high hazard of environmental pollution because they are origin of continuous gas flow into the atmosphere, groundwater, surface water, soil and rocks both near and far from the beach.