Geyser

A geyser is a special kind of spring that shoots water and steam into the air in big bursts. These amazing natural fountains are very rare and only happen in a few places on Earth. Most geysers are found close to areas where there is still active volcanic activity, because the heat from deep underground helps make them work.

Water from the surface moves down deep into the ground, about two thousand meters or six thousand six hundred feet, where it touches very hot rocks. This makes the water boil under pressure, and then it bursts out through the geyser's opening in strong bursts of hot water and steam.

Sometimes a geyser's bursts can change or even stop. This can happen because of minerals building up inside, changes from nearby hot springs, small shakes in the Earth called earthquakes, or even because people have changed the area. Geysers aren’t only found on Earth; similar bursts happen on some of the moons of faraway planets and their moons, like Enceladus, a moon of Saturn. These are called cryogeysers and shoot out gas and dust instead of water.

Etymology

The word "geyser" started being used in English in the late 1700s. It comes from the name of a famous geyser in Iceland called Geysir, which means "Gusher" in the Icelandic language.

Geology

Geysers are special natural features that change shape over time. They are usually found in areas with recent volcanic activity, where there is magma close to the Earth's surface. When water boils deep underground, it creates pressure that pushes superheated steam and water up through the geyser's "plumbing" system.

For a geyser to form, three things are needed: heat from magma, water, and a special underground system of cracks and spaces. The heat comes from magma near the surface. The water travels through cracks, pores, and sometimes cavities until it reaches hot rocks. Over time, minerals from the rocks can build up and create a coating around the geyser.

When a geyser erupts, water at the top cools down, but the water below stays very hot. This creates pressure, like in a pressure cooker. Eventually, the hot water boils, turning into steam that forces water to shoot up out of the ground. After the eruption, the water cools down, and the cycle starts again. Some geysers erupt quickly, while others take much longer between eruptions. There are two main types: fountain geysers, which shoot water from pools, and cone geysers, which erupt from mounds of mineral deposits.

Biology

Further information: Thermophile and Hyperthermophile

Some geysers have special colors because tiny living things called bacteria can survive in their hot water. These bacteria are called thermophiles, and they love warm places. They can live in water much hotter than scientists first thought, even hotter than boiling water! These special bacteria help scientists make useful products like medicines and cleaning supplies.

Major geyser fields and their distribution

Geysers are rare, needing water, heat, and special underground paths to form. Only a few places on Earth have these conditions.

Yellowstone National Park

Main articles: Yellowstone National Park, List of Yellowstone geothermal features, and Geothermal areas of Yellowstone

Yellowstone is the biggest place for geysers, with thousands of hot springs and about 300 to 500 geysers. It has half of all the world’s geysers. Most of it is in Wyoming, USA, with parts in Montana and Idaho. Yellowstone is home to the tallest active geyser, Steamboat Geyser, found in Norris Geyser Basin.

Valley of Geysers, Russia

Main article: Valley of Geysers

The Valley of Geysers in the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia is the second-largest group of geysers. It was found by Tatyana Ustinova in 1941. There are about 200 geysers there, along with many hot springs. The area was formed by strong volcanic activity. In June 2007, a big mudflow changed parts of the valley, covering some areas with landslides or a new lake.

El Tatio, Chile

Main article: El Tatio

El Tatio means “oven” in Quechua and is located in the high valleys of the Andes in Chile. It is home to about 80 geysers and is the largest geyser field in the Southern Hemisphere. The geysers here don’t shoot very high, usually only about six metres (20 feet), but their steam can rise over 20 metres (66 feet).

Taupō Volcanic Zone, New Zealand

Main article: Taupō Volcanic Zone

The Taupō Volcanic Zone is on New Zealand’s North Island. Many geysers here were lost due to human activities and a dam. Only one geyser area at Whakarewarewa remains. In the early 1900s, the largest geyser ever known, Waimangu Geyser, erupted here until a landslide changed the water flow.

Iceland

Due to frequent volcanic activity, Iceland has some of the world’s most famous geysers. There are about 20–29 active geysers, and many more that are no longer active. The two most famous are The Great Geysir and Strokkur. Strokkur erupts every 5–8 minutes up to 30 metres (100 feet).

Misnamed geysers

There are different kinds of geysers that are not the same as the usual steam-driven ones. They erupt in different ways and for different reasons.

Artificial geysers

In places with geothermal activity, people have drilled wells that can burst out water like geysers. These are called artificial geysers or erupting geothermal wells, but they are not real geysers. An example is Little Old Faithful Geyser in Calistoga, California, which erupts from a well drilled a long time ago. The Big Mine Run Geyser in Ashland, Pennsylvania gets its heat from an old mine fire called the Centralia mine fire, not from the Earth’s natural heat.

Perpetual spouter

Some hot springs flow water all the time without resting. People sometimes call these geysers, but because they don’t stop, they are not real geysers.

Commercialization

Geysers can be used for different helpful purposes, like making electricity, providing heat, and attracting visitors as a tourist spot called geotourism. Many places around the world have geothermal reserves, which are areas with natural heat from the Earth. Iceland has some of the best geyser fields for business use. Since the 1920s, hot water from geysers in Iceland has been used to warm greenhouses and grow food that wouldn't normally grow there because of the cold climate. Since 1943, steam and hot water from geysers have also been used to heat homes in Iceland. In 1979, the U.S. Department of Energy helped develop geothermal energy near Calistoga, California through research and special programs. The department must check how these projects might affect the environment.

Extraterrestrial geyser-like features

See also: Cryovolcano and Geysers on Mars

Many objects in our Solar System show eruptions that look like geysers on Earth. However, these are very different. They are caused by different processes and can be much larger, ranging from small jets on Mars to huge plumes from moons like Enceladus.

One type is called sublimation plumes. These are jets of gas and dust that come from under icy surfaces. For example, on Mars, carbon dioxide jets are thought to happen when a layer of dry ice, built up over winter, is warmed by the sun in spring. These jets leave dark spots and fan-shaped patterns visible from space. On Neptune's moon Triton, eruptions of nitrogen and dust were seen by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1989, creating tall plumes that were blown far away by winds.

Another type is called cryovolcanic plumes. These are large eruptions of water vapor from icy moons. For example, Saturn's moon Enceladus has plumes of water vapor and tiny ice particles shooting out from its south pole. These plumes help create one of Saturn's rings. Scientists are still learning what causes these eruptions, but they think heating from the movement of the moon may play a role. Similar water vapor plumes might also exist on Jupiter's moon Europa.