Falevici Radu Andrei

Secția Inginerie Geologică, 102 B

Geysers
 Geysers
• A geyser is usually a pool of hot water that sends a
column of water and steam into the air on a regular or
irregular schedule. It’s a hot spring that intermittently
spouts jets of steam and hot water. The term is derived
from the Icelandic word geysir, meaning “to gush.”
• Geysers result from the heating of groundwater by shallow bodies
of magma. They are generally associated with areas that have seen
past volcanic activity. The spouting action is caused by the sudden
release of pressure that has been confining near-boiling water in
deep, narrow conduits beneath a geyser. As steam or gas bubbles
begin to form in the conduit, hot water spills from the vent of the
geyser, and the pressure is lowered on the water column below.
Water at depth then exceeds its boiling point and flashes into
steam, forcing more water from the conduit and lowering the
pressure further. This chain reaction continues until the geyser
exhausts its supply of boiling water.
• The boiling temperature
of water increases with
pressure; for example, at
a depth of 30 metres
(about 100 feet) below
the surface, the boiling
point is approximately
140 °C (285 °F).
Geothermal power from
steam wells depends on
the same volcanic heat
sources and boiling
temperature changes
with depth that drive
geyser displays.
As water is ejected from geysers and is cooled, dissolved silica is precipitated in mounds on
the surface. This material is known as sinter. Often geysers have been given fanciful names
(such as Castle Geyser in Yellowstone National Park) inspired by the shapes of the colourful
and contorted mounds of siliceous sinter at the vents.

Yellowstone National Park: Castle Geyser

• Geysers are rare. There are more than 300 of them in Yellowstone
in the western United States—approximately half the world’s
total—and about 200 on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian
Far East, about 40 in New Zealand, 16 in Iceland, and 50 scattered
throughout the world in many other volcanic areas.
• Perhaps the most famous geyser is Old Faithful in Yellowstone. It
spouts a column of boiling water and steam to a height of about 30
to 55 metres (100 to 180 feet) on a roughly 90-minute timetable.
• Yellowstone National Park in the United States is one of the most famous areas
of hot springs and geysers in the world. The total heat flux from these thermal
features is estimated to be 300 megawatts (300 million watts). The last great
eruption at Yellowstone occurred about 630,000 years ago when some 1,000
cubic km (240 cubic miles) of rhyolitic pumice and ash were ejected in huge
pyroclastic flows and resulted in the formation of a caldera—a large circular or
oval depression caused by collapse of the surface following magma removal—
approximately 45 by 75 km (28 by 47 miles) in size. Yellowstone Lake now
occupies part of this giant caldera. Since that last great outburst, about 1,200
cubic km (288 cubic miles) of rhyolite lava flows and domes have erupted in
numerous smaller events. The cooling roots of such past eruptions, or possibly
the new intrusions of magma at shallow depth, are the heat sources for the
Yellowstone hot springs and geysers.

• Geysers are hot springs that intermittently spout a column of hot water and
steam into the air. This action is caused by the water in deep conduits beneath a
geyser approaching or reaching the boiling point. At 300 metres (about 1,000
feet) below the surface, the boiling point of water increases to approximately
230 °C (450 °F) because of the increased pressure of the overlying water. As
bubbles of steam or dissolved gas begin to form, rise, and expand, hot water
spills from the geyser’s vent, lowering the pressure on the water column below.
Water at depth then momentarily exceeds its boiling point and flashes into
steam, forcing additional water from the vent. This chain reaction continues until
the geyser exhausts its supply of boiling water.
• Groundwater percolates through
porous rock into fractures deep
underground, where heat from a
nearby magma chamber
superheats the pressurized
water to a temperature above
the boiling point of water at
surface pressure. In hot springs
the rising superheated water is
cooled below the boiling point
by groundwater before reaching
the surface. In geysers the
superheated water collects in
underground pockets. There a
small drop in pressure caused by
the release of water at the
surface flashes the superheated
water into steam, which
expands and ejects a column of
steam and water into the air.
When the supply of steam and
hot water is exhausted, the
spouting stops and the cycle
begins again
• After a geyser stops spouting, the conduits at depth refill with
groundwater, and reheating begins again. In geysers such as
Yellowstone’s Old Faithful, the spouting and recharge period is
quite regular. This famous geyser has gushed to heights of 30 to
55 metres (100 to 180 feet) about every 90 minutes for more
than 100 years. If Old Faithful’s eruption lasts only a minute or
two, the next interval will be shorter than average, while a four-
minute eruption will be followed by a longer interval. Other
geysers have much more erratic recharge times.