Old Faithful Geyser

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"Old Faithful" redirects here. For other uses, see Old Faithful (disambiguation).

There is also an erupting geothermal well near Calistoga, California.

Old Faithful Geyser, short period eruption

Old Faithful Geyser

The Old Faithful Geyser, located in Yellowstone National Park, is perhaps the world's most famous geyser. Old Faithful was named in 1870 by the Washburn Party and was the first geyser in the park to receive a name.^[1]

An eruption can shoot 3,700–8,400 gallons (14,000–32,000 l) of boiling water to a height of 106–184 feet (30–55 m) lasting from 1.5–5 minutes. The intervals range from 65–92 minutes with 91 minutes being the average.^[2] More than 137,000 eruptions have been recorded. Harry M. Woodward first described a mathematical relationship between the duration and intervals of the eruptions (1938). Old Faithful is not the tallest or largest geyser in the park. That title belongs to the less predictable Steamboat Geyser.

Over the years, the length of the intervals has increased, which may be the result of earthquakes affecting subterranean water levels. These disruptions have made the earlier mathematical relationship inaccurate, but have in fact made Old Faithful more predictable. With an error of 10 minutes, Old Faithful will erupt 65 minutes after an eruption lasting less than 2.5 minutes or 92 minutes after an eruption lasting more than 2.5 minutes. The reliability of Old Faithful can be attributed to the fact that it is not connected to any other thermal features of the Upper Geyser Basin.

Between 1983 and 1994, four probes containing temperature and pressure measurement devices and video equipment were lowered into Old Faithful. The probes were lowered as deep as 72 feet (22 m). Temperature measurements of the water at this depth was 244°F (118°C), the same as was measured in 1942. The video probes were lowered to a maximum depth of 42 feet (13 m) to observe the conduit formation and the processes that took place in the conduit. Some of the processes observed include fog formation from the interaction of cool air from above mixing with heated air from below, the recharge processes of water entering into the conduit and expanding from below, and entry of superheated steam measuring as high as 265°F (129°C) into the conduit.^[3]

[edit] References

^ Bauer, Clyde Max (1947). Yellowstone Geysers. Yellowstone Park, Wyoming: Haynes, Inc. ASIN B0007E44C4.
^ Old Faithful Geyser. Old Faithful Area Tour. Retrieved on September 18, 2005.
^ Hutchinson RA, Westphal JA, and Kieffe SW (1997). "In situ observations of Old Faithful Geyser". Geology 25 (10): 875-878.