Santa Barbara: Solfatara Volcano Erupts again ! The Hope Ranch Volcano shows its fire

Well, now to a geologic oddity on Santa

Barbara County south coast. It began

acting up again this morning.

Firefighters were called to Hope Ranch

about 11:00 and smoke was rising from

the phenomenon some call Hope Ranch

volcano. Sulfatara is burning. When we

hear that, we're like, "Oh my god, we're

thinking about the super volcano cample

in Naples." But this is something else.

That's why I thought you have to hear

this because this is very, very

interesting. Hope Ranch Volcano. Um, I

have to say US, California, Santa

Barbara. I've spent quite a bit of time

in Santa Barbara actually. Uh, I've

lived there for a while. So, I was like,

volcano. Okay. But I know what it is.

But I want to tell you because we see

the headlines, smoke from whole branch

volcano prompts response. And it's it's

a recurring bluff phenomenon is that

that sends up smoke and uh very very

interesting. You see you see the image.

So just happened plumes of smoke were

rising from the cliffs in Santa Barbara

County near the Hope Ranch Thursday. So

has prompted a response from local

firefighter crews. So can firefighters

extinct a volcano? Aha, usually not. So,

what's going on there? And it was, of

course, renewed confusion over what many

residents refer to as the Hope Ranch

volcano. And for the record, um, we

think that there are no volcanoes in

Santa Barbara County. So, what is it

then? What does exist there is a

recurring geological phenomenon along

the bluffs that is very, very

interesting. And the firefighters say

this typically requires little

intervention. So I want to quote one of

the firefighters, the Santa Barbara

County Fire spokesperson, Michael Gray,

has said, "It's something I've always

just accepted as the Hope Ranch volcano,

and we monitor it until it stops." Still

a mystery. So crews were called to the

area after smoke was reported near the

cliff. So right at the ocean, fire

engine and battalion chief responded and

remained on scene to assess the risk to

nearby vegetation. So could that volcano

spark a dangerous dangerous wildfire?

Right? Especially in California, you

don't want that. So they said also they

were worried that this incident um may

have involved damage to underground

drainage pipes, right? So the crews are

still there working to confirm if the

volcano has damaged some draining pipes

at the cliffs. And a lot of times the

local the locals they know about this

phenomenon and they don't even call 911.

So they seem to know if this is

happening in your um backyard, right?

So,

there's quite a few documentaries about

the so-called Hope Branch volcano, but

in 2021,

um, and the Santa Barbara Independent

has covered the volcano story, um,

because it had sparked a small

vegetation fire along the same stretch

of bluffs that are there and it had done

the same in 2020, 2019, and 2017 as

well. So that is something you don't

want to see, right? But the nickname

whole branch volcano, the smoking cliffs

are not volcanic. So what are they then?

Why is it burning there? So

they have identified this phenomenon as

they call it as a form of spontaneous

combustion. So, it's also not a mud

volcano or something like this, but it

is linked to the region's geology,

but it's not magma. We have to make that

clear. So, what is it? The cliffs, and

that's interesting. The cliffs contain

layers of iron sulfites and

hydrocarbons. So when there's a

landslide, even a small landslide

occurring or some erosion like if

there's heavy rainfall for example, um

they expose these materials to oxygen

and then we have a chemical reaction

that is going on there that generates

heat. And then if the conditions are

right, that heat can build to the point

that it is igniting, producing smoke and

occasionally small brush fires. And you

see the fire in this image here. This is

just recently. And then the phenomenon

is sometimes described, they call it

really they call it sulfatara.

Sulfatara. And and that is not only used

for the super volcano camp where we have

the Sulfatara this sand dune-like thing

there where we have most of the

epicenters and the unrest that's ongoing

right now. We just have a confirmed uh

land uplift there. You should check that

out. It's on my channel. Have a

playlist.

So it's a chemical reaction right that

creates the heat. But sulfatara is used

here, a term for like vents that emit

sulfurous gases and steam. The same

gases are being released at the super

volcano in Kambig or Yellowstone or

other volcanoes.

So the gases that are being released

there, that heat can build to the point

of ignition, produces smoke,

occasionally these brush fires and

sudden combustion. But even the label

sulfatara it's it's not entirely

accurate when it comes to this volcano

there. Geologists say um as the activity

is driven by surface level chemical

reactions rather than deeper geothermal

processes. Right? If they were deeper

and geothermal usually there is magma or

something involved. So right now crews

continue to monitor the site. There is

no evacuations or like structural

threats there right now. So that hasn't

been reported. But it's really really

interesting. And I I'll show you this

image. Um you can see the plumes of

smoke that are rising from from the

cliffs near Hope Branch. Hope Branch is

just an area. Um this is how this area

is called, right? It's and it it it and

that's what's interesting. It can be

seen from UCSB's

campus.

So, this is where I lived for quite a

while. I've never seen it. Um, I've been

to Hope Branch and we've been on the

cliffs there in this area quite a bit

and uh I I didn't know it at that time.

I learned it later. So, that's why when

I saw that, I thought I have to let you

know about this. So that's why I like

this image here where you really see it

from campus. That's that's really

interesting. It's a great area. I have

very fond memories about that. So guys,

I hope you liked it, but you should also

check out what's going on around the

world. A lot of crazy things. We just

had this magnitude 7.7 earthquake in

Japan and they have issued only the

second time an alert for a big mega

thrust earthquake, 9 plus. We all

remember 2011. But the interesting thing

is they drilled into this dangerous

subduction zone. So these bad

earthquakes are not a coincidence

because there is something very very

strange down there. And it could be not

only at that dangerous Japanese

subduction zone. It could maybe be on

the west coast Cascadia subduction zone

or all along the ring of fire. This is

new findings about these subduction

zones and about why the mega thrust

earthquake happened exactly where it

happened and not further here or there.

So this could be a game changer. So

watch the video in the end screen.

There's lots going on. Stay safe and I

see you here in the next one. Bye-bye.