Old Faithful Geyser

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"Old Faithful" redirects here. For other uses, see Old Faithful (disambiguation).
There is also a regularly-erupting geyser named Old Faithful near Calistoga, California.
Old Faithful Geyser during an eruption
Old Faithful Geyser during an eruption

Old Faithful is a cone geyser located in Wyoming, in Yellowstone National Park in the United States. Old Faithful was named in 1870 during the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition and was the first geyser in the park to receive a name.[1][2]

Contents

[edit] Eruptions

Old Faithful Geyser, short period eruption
Old Faithful Geyser, short period eruption
Old Faithful beginning to erupt
Old Faithful beginning to erupt
Old Faithful Geyser
Old Faithful Geyser
Old Faithful from Observation Point, 2003
Old Faithful from Observation Point, 2003

Eruptions can shoot 3,700 to 8,400 U.S. gallons (14–32 kL) of boiling water to a height of 106–184 feet (30–55 m) lasting from 1.5 to 5 minutes. The average height of an eruption is 145 feet (44 m).[3] The highest recorded eruption was 185 feet high. Eruptions often occur about 90 minutes apart, but this interval can range from 45 to 125 minutes on occasion.[4] 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).[citation needed] Old Faithful is not the tallest or largest geyser in the park; that title belongs to the less predictable Steamboat Geyser.[2]

[edit] Increasing interval

Over the years, the length of the interval 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.[5]

[edit] Measurement

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 (22m). 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.[6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Bauer, Clyde Max (1947). Yellowstone Geysers. Yellowstone Park, Wyoming: Haynes, Inc. ASIN B0007E44C4. 
  2. ^ a b Old Faithful Geyser. Old Faithful Area Tour. Retrieved on September 18, 2005.
  3. ^ Chapple, Janet (2005). Yellowstone Treasures. Providence, RI: Granite Peak Publications, 79. ISBN 0-9706873-1-1. 
  4. ^ Old Faithful. The Geyser Observation and Study Association (2007-09-20). Retrieved on October 7, 2007.
  5. ^ Old Faithful slows, but grows. Billings Gazette. Retrieved on July 21, 2007.
  6. ^ Hutchinson RA, Westphal JA, and Kieffer SW (1997). "In situ observations of Old Faithful Geyser". Geology 25 (10): 875-878. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1997)025<0875:ISOOOF>2.3.CO;2. 

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 44.4605° N 110.8281° W