Unexplained patch of hot soil monitored

Firefighters are monitoring a patch of land north of Fillmore,California where the ground climbed to 812 degrees on Friday for unknown reasons.

Possible theories include that natural hydrocarbons such as oil or gas are burning deep in the earth. But nobody knows for sure what might have ignited the materials.

"We are a little perplexed at this point, to tell you the truth," said David Panaro, a geologist with the Ventura County Watershed Protection, who was one of a few scientists called in to help solve the mystery. "This is not your usual geological detective story."

The area has recorded high heat at least five times since 1987, said Allen King, a retired geologist with the U.S. Forest Service, who also surveyed the scene where small streams of smoke wafted from cracks in the ground. The area is on land owned by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and leased by an oil company.

Ventura County Star article


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[edit on 4-8-2008 by Jbird]

Wow, thanks for that, quite interesting.

I hope you will keep this updated?

small streams of smoke wafted from cracks in the ground

I sure wish they had included any type of smell with this comment!

I remember reading on a geologic site about this area,that when they found oil in this area at one spot the oil was flowing out of the ground like water and was green in color.It took very little effort to refine it.They called it "sweet oil".
One hour prior to the 5.4 in L.A area there was a 1.8 in this same area.

usgs This shows some interesting data for this site.

Of course being so close to the main tectonic plate line for the area it could be a naturally formed fissure through the crust to the mantle making it possible for a small area to receive some geothermic activity making it extremely hot.

Basically and I'm going on only the basis of this article, it may be a pocket of geothermic gas hot enough to ignite higher areas of fossil fuels with enough composition of oxygen and fuel for it to keep burning for an extended period of time thus making the ground hot.

It is not unknown for new volcanic activity to from time to time start out on relatively flat areas of land. Recent seismic shifts in the main Pacific/American plate could cause small areas like this to become geothermically active resulting in these hot spots.

Please keep us aprised of this

[edit on 8/3/2008 by whatukno]

Following your link led me to the an article about the Lockwood Valley. That area is about 20 - 30 miles due north or so,the northern part of Ventura county. The area in the article is near here.


Just north of the 126 highway. The green OUTLINED triangle.



To the moderator of this board. I read and NOW understand how to properly post from an external source.

(no need to Quote the post immediately before yours, mate)

[edit on 9-8-2008 by Jbird]

This rock is streaked black by liquid crude oil that is trickling naturally out of the ground. This seep is located in Ventura County, California.

Photo by M. Dosch. From Onshore Oil and Gas Seeps in California.