News – When Steamboat Geyser, the tallest in the world, started exploding again in 2018 in Yellowstone National Park after decades of relative silence, it raised a few interesting scientific questions. Why is it so high? Why is it exploding again now? And what can we learn about it before it goes silent again?
The University of Utah has been studying the geology and seismology of Yellowstone and its unique features for decades, so U scientists were ready to jump at the chance to get a unique view of the work of Steamboat Geyser. Their findings provide a picture of the depth of the geyser as well as a redefinition of an accepted relationship between the geyser and a nearby spring. The results are published in the Journal of Geophysical Research – Solid Earth.
“We don’t know for sure what controls a geyser from exploding regularly, like Old Faithful, against irregularly, like Steamboat,” says Fan-Chi Lin, a fellow professor. related to the Department of Geology and Geophysics. “The plumbing structure of the subset appears to control the explosion-proof characteristics of a geyser. This is the first time we have been able to image a geyser plumbing structure down to over 325 feet (100 m) in depth. ”
Meet Geyser Steamboat
If you are asked to name a Yellowstone geyser and “Old Faithful” is the only one that comes to mind, then you are over for an introduction to Steamboat. Recorded explosion heights reach up to 360 feet (110 m), high enough to spray the top of the Statue of Liberty.
“Watching a huge explosion of Steamboat Geyser is amazing,” says Jamie Farrell, research assistant professor with the University of Utah Seismograph Stations. “It’s the thing I remember most. You can feel the rumble and it looks like a jet engine. I already knew that a steamer was the tallest active geyser in the world, but seeing it in a huge explosion blew me away. “
Unlike its famous cousin, Steamboat Geyser is anything but loyal. There have only been three periods of sustained activity in recorded history – one in the 1960s, one in the 1980s and one that began in 2018 and continues today. But the current level of geyser activity has seen more explosions than any of the previous levels.
Near Steamboat Geyser is a pool called Cistern Spring. Since Cistern Spring drains when a steamer explodes, it is assumed that there is a direct connection between the two features.
“With our ability to deploy seismic instruments quickly in an unobtrusive manner, this current era provides an opportunity to better understand the dynamics of Steamboat Geyser and Cistern Spring that go a long way in helping us to understands explosive behavior, ”says Farrell.
Giving the gheyser a CT scan
For several years now, U scientists have been studying the features of Yellowstone National Park, including Old Faithful, using small portable seismometers. The football-sized instruments can be used by the dozens wherever the researchers need up to a month for each use to get a picture of what is happening underground. Every little movement on the ground, even the occasional crowds on Yellowstone’s boardwalks, is felt and recorded.
And just as doctors can use multiple X-rays to create a CT scan of the interior of a human body, seismologists can use multiple seismometers recording multiple seismic events (in this case, compression inside a column of water too hot the geyser) to sort of image of the subscript.
In the summer of 2018 and 2019, Farrell and colleagues collaborated with the National Park Service and installed 50 portable seismometers in a field around the Geyser Steamboat. The 2019 deployment recorded seven major explosions, with a range of explosion times of three to eight days apart, each providing a wealth of data.
Plumbing the depth
The results showed that the underground channels and the cracks in which the Steamboat Geyser extends are at least 450 feet (140 m). That’s a lot deeper than the Old Faithful plumbing, which is about 260 feet (80 m).
The results it was not showing a direct link between Steamboat Geyser and Cistern Spring, however.
“This finding reinforces the notion that both features are connected to something like an open pipe, at least in the 140 meters above,” said Sin-Mei Wu, a recent doctoral student at work with Lin and Farrell. That’s not to say the two features are completely separate, though. The fact that the tank drains when a steamer explodes suggests that they are still connected in some way, but perhaps through small fractures or pores in the rock that cannot be identified using the signals. seismic recorded by the researchers. “Understanding the true relationship between Steamboat and Cistern will help us model how Cistern could affect steamship explosion cycles,” Wu said.
Will scientists finally be able to predict when the geyser will explode? Perhaps, Wu says, with a better understanding of hydrothermal vibration and a long-term monitoring system. But, in the meantime, Wu says, this review is really just the beginning of an understanding of how Steamboat Geyser works.
“We now have a baseline of explosive activity for a steamer,” said Lin. “When it is less active in the future, we can reuse our seismic sensors and get a baseline of inactive times. We can then continuously analyze data coming from real-time seismic stations with Steamboat and evaluate whether it is similar to one or the other and get a more real-time analysis of when it appears to be changing to a more active level. ”
Find the full review here.
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