Geyser
Geyser | |
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spring | |
Formed by | Particular hydrogeological conditions that exist in a few places on Earth |
A geyser (
Generally, geyser field sites are located near active
A geyser's eruptive activity may change or cease due to ongoing mineral deposition within the geyser plumbing, exchange of functions with nearby hot springs, earthquake influences, and human intervention.[3] Like many other natural phenomena, geysers are not unique to Earth. Jet-like eruptions, often referred to as cryogeysers, have been observed on several of the moons of the outer solar system. Due to the low ambient pressures, these eruptions consist of vapor without liquid; they are made more easily visible by particles of dust and ice carried aloft by the gas. Water vapor jets have been observed near the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus, while nitrogen eruptions have been observed on Neptune's moon Triton.
There are also signs of carbon dioxide eruptions from the southern polar ice cap of Mars. In the case of Enceladus, the plumes are believed to be driven by internal energy. In the cases of the venting on Mars and Triton, the activity may be a result of solar heating via a solid-state greenhouse effect. In all three cases, there is no evidence of the subsurface hydrological system which differentiates terrestrial geysers from other sorts of venting, such as fumaroles.
Etymology
The term 'geyser' in English dates back to the late 18th century and comes from Geysir, which is a geyser in Iceland.[4] Its name means "one who gushes".[4][5]
Geology
Form and function
Geysers are nonpermanent geological features. Geysers are generally associated with volcanic areas.
The heat needed for geyser formation comes from
Eruptions
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Strokkur geyser erupting (clockwise from top left)
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Geyser activity, like all hot spring activity, is caused by surface water gradually seeping down through the ground until it meets rock heated by magma. In non-eruptive hot springs, the geothermally heated water then rises back toward the surface by convection through porous and fractured rocks, while in geysers, the water instead is explosively forced upwards by the high steam pressure created when water boils below. Geysers also differ from non-eruptive hot springs in their subterranean structure; many consist of a small vent at the surface connected to one or more narrow tubes that lead to underground reservoirs of water and pressure tight rock.[8]
As the geyser fills, the water at the top of the column cools off, but because of the narrowness of the channel,
Ultimately, the temperatures near the bottom of the geyser rise to a point where boiling begins, forcing steam bubbles to rise to the top of the column. As they burst through the geyser's vent, some water overflows or splashes out, reducing the weight of the column and thus the pressure on the water below. With this release of pressure, the superheated water flashes into steam, boiling violently throughout the column. The resulting froth of expanding steam and hot water then sprays out of the geyser vent.
A key requirement that enables a geyser to erupt is a material called geyserite found in rocks nearby the geyser. Geyserite, mostly silicon dioxide (SiO2), is dissolved from the rocks and is deposited on the walls of the geyser's plumbing system and on the surface. The deposits make the channels carrying the water up to the surface pressure-tight. This allows the pressure to be carried all the way to the top and not leak out into the loose gravel or soil that are normally under the geyser fields.[8]
Eventually the water remaining in the geyser cools back to below the boiling point and the eruption ends; heated groundwater begins seeping back into the reservoir, and the whole cycle begins again. The duration of eruptions and time between successive eruptions vary greatly from geyser to geyser; Strokkur in Iceland erupts for a few seconds every few minutes, while Grand Geyser in the United States erupts for up to 10 minutes every 8–12 hours.[8]
General categorization
There are two types of geysers: fountain geysers which erupt from pools of water, typically in a series of intense, even violent, bursts; and cone geysers which erupt from cones or mounds of
There are many volcanic areas in the world that have
Geysers are fragile phenomena and if conditions change, they may go dormant or extinct. Many have been destroyed simply by people throwing debris into them while others have ceased to erupt due to dewatering by geothermal power plants. However, the Geysir in Iceland has had periods of activity and dormancy. During its long dormant periods, eruptions were sometimes artificially induced—often on special occasions—by the addition of surfactant soaps to the water.[12]
Biology
The specific colours of geysers derive from the fact that despite the apparently harsh conditions, life is often found in them (and also in other hot
In the 1960s, when the research of the biology of geysers first appeared, scientists were generally convinced that no life can survive above around 73 °C maximum (163 °F)—the upper limit for the survival of cyanobacteria, as the structure of key cellular proteins and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) would be destroyed. The optimal temperature for thermophilic bacteria was placed even lower, around 55 °C average (131 °F).[13]
However, the observations proved that it is actually possible for life to exist at high temperatures and that some bacteria even prefer temperatures higher than the boiling point of
Major geyser fields and their distribution
Geysers are quite rare, requiring a combination of water, heat, and fortuitous plumbing. The combination exists in few places on Earth.[17][18]
Yellowstone National Park, U.S.
Yellowstone is the largest geyser locale, containing thousands of hot springs, and approximately 300 to 500 geysers. It is home to half of the world's total number of geysers in its nine geyser basins. It is located mostly in
Valley of Geysers, Russia
The Valley of Geysers (Russian: Долина гейзеров) located in the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia is the second largest concentration of geysers in the world. The area was discovered and explored by Tatyana Ustinova in 1941. Approximately 200 geysers exist in the area along with many hot-water springs and perpetual spouters. The area was formed due to a vigorous volcanic activity. The peculiar way of eruptions is an important feature of these geysers. Most of the geysers erupt at angles, and only very few have the geyser cones that exist at many other of the world's geyser fields.[18] On June 3, 2007, a massive mudflow influenced two thirds of the valley.[20] It was then reported that a thermal lake was forming above the valley.[21] Few days later, waters were observed to have receded somewhat, exposing some of the submerged features. Velikan Geyser, one of the field's largest, was not buried in the slide and has recently[quantify] been observed to be active.[22]
El Tatio, Chile
The name "El Tatio" comes from the Quechua word for oven. El Tatio is located in the high valleys on the Andes surrounded by many active volcanoes in Chile, South America at around 4,200 metres (13,800 ft) above mean sea level. The valley is home to approximately 80 geysers at present. It became the largest geyser field in the Southern Hemisphere after the destruction of many of the New Zealand geysers, and is the third largest geyser field in the world. The salient feature of these geysers is that the height of their eruptions is very low, the tallest being only six metres (20 ft) high, but with steam columns that can be over 20 metres (66 ft) high. The average geyser eruption height at El Tatio is about 750 millimetres (30 in).[18][23]
Taupō Volcanic Zone, New Zealand
The Taupō Volcanic Zone is located on New Zealand's
In the beginning of the 20th century, the largest geyser ever known, the Waimangu Geyser existed in this zone. It began erupting in 1900 and erupted periodically for four years until a landslide changed the local water table. Eruptions of Waimangu would typically reach 160 metres (520 ft) and some superbursts are known to have reached 500 metres (1,600 ft).[18] Recent scientific work indicates that the Earth's crust below the zone may be as little as five kilometres (3.1 mi) thick. Beneath this lies a film of magma 50 kilometres (30 mi) wide and 160 kilometres (100 mi) long.[25]
Iceland
Due to the high rate of volcanic activity in Iceland, it is home to some of the most famous geysers in the world. There are around 20–29 active geysers in the country as well as numerous formerly active geysers.[26] Icelandic geysers are distributed in the zone stretching from south-west to north-east, along the boundary between the Eurasian Plate and the North American Plate. Most of the Icelandic geysers are comparatively short-lived, it is also characteristic that many geysers here are reactivated or newly created after earthquakes, becoming dormant or extinct after some years or some decades.
Two most prominent geysers of Iceland are located in
Geysers are known to have existed in at least a dozen other areas on the island. Some former geysers have developed historical farms, which benefitted from the use of the hot water since medieval times.
Extinct and dormant geyser fields
There used to be two large geysers fields in
Many of New Zealand's geysers have been destroyed by humans in the last century. Several New Zealand geysers have also become dormant or extinct by natural means. The main remaining field is
Misnamed geysers
There are various other types of geysers which are different in nature compared to the normal steam-driven geysers. These geysers differ not only in their style of eruption but also in the cause that makes them erupt.
Artificial geysers
In a number of places where there is geothermal activity, wells have been drilled and fitted with impermeable casements that allow them to erupt like geysers. The vents of such geysers are artificial, but are tapped into natural hydrothermal systems. These so-called artificial geysers, technically known as erupting geothermal wells, are not true geysers. Little Old Faithful Geyser, in Calistoga, California, is an example. The geyser erupts from the casing of a well drilled in the late 19th century. According to Dr. John Rinehart in his book A Guide to Geyser Gazing (1976 p. 49), a man had drilled into the geyser in search for water. He had "simply opened up a dead geyser".[33]
In the case of the Big Mine Run Geyser in Ashland, Pennsylvania, the heat powering the geyser (which erupts from an abandoned mine vent) comes not from geothermal power, but from the long-simmering Centralia mine fire.[34]
Perpetual spouter
This is a natural hot spring that spouts water constantly without stopping for recharge. Some of these are incorrectly called geysers, but because they are not periodic in nature they are not considered true geysers.[35][36]
Commercialization
Geysers are used for various activities such as electricity generation, heating and tourism. Many geothermal reserves are found all around the world. The geyser fields in Iceland are some of the most commercially viable geyser locations in the world. Since the 1920s hot water directed from the geysers has been used to heat greenhouses and to grow food that otherwise could not have been cultivated in Iceland's inhospitable climate. Steam and hot water from the geysers has also been used for heating homes since 1943 in Iceland. In 1979 the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) actively promoted development of geothermal energy in the "Geysers-Calistoga Known Geothermal Resource Area" (KGRA) near Calistoga, California through a variety of research programs and the Geothermal Loan Guarantee Program.[37] The Department is obligated by law to assess the potential environmental impacts of geothermal development.[38]
Extraterrestrial geyser-like features
There are many bodies in the Solar System where eruptions which superficially resemble terrestrial geysers have been observed or are believed to occur. Despite being commonly referred to as geysers, they are driven by fundamentally different processes, consist of a wide range of volatiles, and can occur on vastly disparate scales; from the modestly sized Martian carbon dioxide jets to the immense plumes of Enceladus. Generally, there are two broad categories of feature commonly referred to as geysers: sublimation plumes, and cryovolcanic plumes (also referred to as cryogeysers).
Sublimation plumes are jets of sublimated volatiles and dust from shallow sources under icy surfaces. Known examples include the CO2 jets on Mars, and the nitrogen eruptions on Neptune's moon Triton.
On Mars carbon dioxide jets are believed to occur in the southern polar region of Mars during spring, as a layer of dry ice accumulated over winter is warmed by the sun. Although these jets have not yet been directly observed, they leave evidence visible from orbit in the form of dark spots and lighter fans atop the dry ice. These features consist primarily of sand and dust blown out by the outbursts, as well as spider-like patterns of channels created below the ice by the rapid flow of CO2 gas.[39] There are a plethora of theories to explain the eruptions, including heating from sunlight, chemical reactions, or even biological activity.[40]
Triton was found to have active eruptions of nitrogen and dust by Voyager 2 when it flew past the moon in 1989. These plumes were up to 8 km high, where winds would blow them up to 150 km downwind, creating long, dark streaks across the otherwise bright south polar ice cap.[41] There are various theories as to what drives the activity on Triton, such as solar heating through transparent ice,[42] cryovolcanism, or basal heating of nitrogen ice sheets.[43]
Cryovolcanic plumes or cryogeysers generally refer to large-scale eruptions of predominantly water vapour from active cryovolcanic features on certain icy moons. Such plumes occur on Saturn's moon Enceladus and Jupiter's moon Europa.
Plumes of water vapour, together with ice particles and smaller amounts of other components (such as
In December 2013, the
See also
- Cold-water geyser – Natural explosive eruption of cold water
- Earliest known life forms – Putative fossilized microorganisms found near hydrothermal vents
- Hot spring – Spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater
- Hydrothermal explosion – Explosion of superheated ground water converting to steam
- Ice volcano – Wave-driven mound of ice formed on terrestrial lakes
- List of geysers
- Mudpot – Hot spring, or fumarole, with limited water
- Soffioni – Jet of steam and other vapors issuing from the ground
Notes
- ^ "Definition of geyser noun from Cambridge Dictionary Online". Retrieved 2011-07-09.
- ^ "geyser | Definition of geyser in English by Oxford Dictionaries". Oxford Dictionaries | English. Archived from the original on June 9, 2013.
- ^ Bryan, T.S. 1995
- ^ a b "geyser | Definition of geyser in English by Lexico Dictionaries". Lexico Dictionaries | English. Archived from the original on July 5, 2019. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
- ^ "geyser | Origin and meaning of geyser by Online Etymology Dictionary". www.etymonline.com. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
- ^ a b c d How geysers form Gregory L.
- ISBN 9781438109695.
- ^ a b c d Krystek, Lee. "Weird Geology: Geysers]". Museum of Unnatural Mystery. Retrieved 2008-03-28.
- PMID 26336706. Retrieved 2015-05-17.
- ^ "Yellowstone thermal features". Yahoo!. 2008-04-02. Archived from the original on November 16, 2007.
- ^ Brown, Sabrina (2019). Diatom-inferred records of paleolimnological variability and continental hydrothermal activity in Yellowstone National Park, USA (PhD dissertation). University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
- ^ Pasvanoglu, S.; Kristmannsdóttir, H.; Björnsson, S.; Torfason, H. (2000). "Geochemical Study of the Geysir Geothermal Field in Haukadalur, S. Iceland". Proceedings World Geothermal Congress 2000.
- ^ a b Lethe E. Morrison, Fred W. Tanner; Studies on Thermophilic Bacteria Botanical Gazette, Vol. 77, No. 2 (Apr., 1924), pp. 171–185
- ^ Michael T. Madigan and Barry L. Marrs; Extremophiles Archived 2008-04-09 at the Wayback Machine atropos.as.arizona.edu Retrieved on 2008-04-01
- ^ Vielle, C.; Zeikus, G.J. Hyperthermophilic Enzymes: Sources, Uses, and Molecular Mechanisms for Thermostability. Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews. 2001, 65(1), 1–34.
- ^ Industrial Uses of Thermophilic Cellulase University of Delaware, Retrieved on 2008-03-29 Archived October 10, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Glennon, J.A. and Pfaff R.M. 2003; Bryan 1995
- ^ a b c d e f Glennon, J Allan "World Geyser Fields" Archived 2007-06-30 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 2008-04-04
- ^ "Yellowstone geysers" nps.gov Retrieved on 2008-03-20
- ^ Mehta, Aalok (2008-04-16). "Photo in the News: Russia's Valley of the Geysers Lost in Landslide". National Geographic. Archived from the original on June 17, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-07.
- Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
- ^ Shpilenok, Igor (2007-06-09). "June 2007 Special release – The Natural Disaster at the Valley of the Geysers". Archived from the original on April 12, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
- ^ Glennon, J.A. and Pfaff. R.M., 2003
- doi:10.1080/00288306.1993.9514588. Archived from the originalon 2008-11-22.
- ^ Central North Island sitting on magma film Archived 2009-01-07 at the Wayback Machine Paul Easton, The Dominion Post, 15 September 2007. Retrieved 2008-04-16
- ^ "Geysers of Iceland". 5 October 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
- ^ Gardner Servian, Solveig "Geysers of Iceland" Retrieved on 2008-04-16
- ^ "Whakarewarewa, The Thermal Village" Retrieved 2008-04-04
- ^ "Orakeikorako". www.waikatoregion.govt.nz. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
- ^ "Yellowstone Supervolcano Could Be an Energy Source. But Should It?". Science. 2018-08-08. Archived from the original on August 8, 2018. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
- ^ Valley, Waimangu Volcanic. "1886 Mt Tarawera Eruption". Waimangu Volcanic Valley. Archived from the original on 2020-05-15. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
- ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
- ^ Jones, Wyoming "Old Faithful Geyser of California" Archived 2019-06-07 at the Wayback Machine WyoJones' Geyser Pages Retrieved on 2008-03-31
- ^ Albert, Jessica (June 17, 2018). "Getting to the Bottom of This Gushing Geyser in Schuylkill County". WNEP-TV. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
- ^ WyoJones "Thermal Feature Definitions" Archived 2019-07-21 at the Wayback Machine WyoJones Retrieved on 2008-04-03
- ^ "Geysers - Old Faithful Virtual Visitor Center". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
- S2CID 129626036.
- ^ Kerry O’Banion and Charles Hall Geothermal energy and the land resource: conflicts and constraints in The Geysers- Calistoga KGRA osti.gov Retrieved on 2008-04-12
- ^ Burnham, Robert (2006-08-16). "Gas jet plumes unveil mystery of 'spiders' on Mars". Arizona State University web site. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
- Bibcode:2001LPI....32.1543H.
- PMID 17793016.
- ^ Kirk, R.L., Branch of Astrogeology "Thermal Models of Insolation-driven Nitrogen Geysers on Triton" Harvard Retrieved 2008-04-08
- ISSN 0019-1035.
- S2CID 6976648.
- PMID 16527970.
- ^ Cook, Jia-Rui C.; Gutro, Rob; Brown, Dwayne; Harrington, J.D.; Fohn, Joe (12 December 2013). "Hubble Sees Evidence of Water Vapor at Jupiter Moon". NASA.
- ISSN 2397-3366.
- ISSN 2397-3366.
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- Kelly W.D., Wood C.L. (1993). Tidal interaction: A possible explanation for geysers and other fluid phenomena in the Neptune-Triton system, in Lunar and Planetary Inst., Twenty-Fourth Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. Part 2: 789–790.
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External links
- Geysers and How They Work by Yellowstone National Park
- Geyser Observation and Study Association (GOSA)
- GeyserTimes.org
- Geysers of Yellowstone: Online Videos and Descriptions
- About Geysers by Alan Glennon
- Geysers, The UnMuseum
- Johnston's Archive Geyser Resources
- The Geology of the Icelandic geysers by Dr. Helgi Torfason, geologist
- Geysers and the Earth's Plumbing Systems by Meg Streepey
- National Geographic
- Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (9th ed.). 1879. pp. 556–558. .