The Activity of La Bufadora, A Natural Marine Spout in Northwestern Mexico

La Bufadora is a natural marine spout characterized by frequent eruptions of sea water. It is located about 20 km to the southwest of Ensenada, on a cliff of basaltic andesite where the essential elements for the occurrence of this type of spouts are present; namely: a littoral cave with a thin opening, a sea level which is always close to the opening’s tip point and surface waves that vary from mild to strong all year round. We analyzed the activity of La Bufadora, under various conditions of surface waves and ocean tide, by monitoring the recurrence time of the eruptions (T). It was found that T typically lies in the range 13–17 s, which is also the dominant period of the surface waves, and that more and longer periods of inactivity appear as the tide ebbs.