A Reawakened Geyser

Many of you have visited Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.  I have fond memories of a family trip in the early 1960’s, a time when people used to feed black bears marshmallows through open car windows (long since outlawed, of course).  We took our young family there in 1995, and Sherry and I have visited again a couple more times in the past five years or so.

It is an amazing place, for sure.  There is incredible animal life, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone (complete with waterfalls; see pic) and the biggest draw, namely, the out-of-this-world thermal features.  The most famous of these is Old Faithful Geyser, so named because it is guaranteed to erupt every 60-110 minutes, reaching an average height of 130 ft, with an average duration of 1.5-3 min, dispensing 3700-8400 gallons at the scalding temperature of 240oF.

The many geysers, hot pools and mud pots are fascinating and entertaining, but at the same time there is the unnerving realization that all of this activity is due to a large pool of molten magma deep below super- heating water closer to the surface, and the thought always looms in the back of one’s mind that a mini earthquake could cause a structural shift that brings about a more intense, catastrophic eruption in the area.  These thermal springs are extremely dangerous; to fall in one means horrific injury, if not death.

Some geysers are more sporadic than Old Faithful and can lie dormant for many years.  A more unpredictable geyser has been Steamboat Geyser in the Norris Geyser Basin of Yellowstone (pic).  It has a history of very sporadic eruptions.  Two years after the 1959 Hebgen Lake Earthquake, just outside the western boundary of Yellowstone and measuring 7.5 on the Richter Scale, Steamboat Geyser erupted after fifty years of silence, believed by some to be due to thermal shifts below ground while others considered the reawakening coincidental.  As of today, there is no clear correlation between its eruptions and earthquake activity.

Since this reawakening, there have been periods of frequent activity as well as single eruptions separated by long bouts of inactivity.  A recent three-year drought was ended on March 15, 2018 as Steamboat shot a towering stream of hot water into the air, kicking off a new active phase and causing worry among some park watchers that there were greater dangers to come.  Unexpected geyser eruptions can be deadly; in December, 2019, a sudden, unexpected hydrothermal explosion in New Zealand killed 22 people.

Steamboat Geyser is now the world’s tallest active geyser, spouting over 300 feet in the air, well over twice the height of Old Faithful, and one of the most spectacular sights in Yellowstone.  It is more frustrating for tourists, though, since its eruptions have no set timing pattern, unlike its more famous counterpart.  The reason for the sudden restart of Steamboat Geyser remains a mystery, but intense research indicates that, thankfully, there is no immediate threat of a major volcanic eruption.