All about natural geyser, a spectacular geographical wonder
At shopping malls and carnivals, you might have seen water fountains. They look fascinating, right? But have you ever seen the Earth erupting and shooting steam and hot water into the skies? If yes, then you already know what we are talking about. Yes, natural geysers. But do you know where these are found? Well, most geysers are located in the United States, Russia, Chile, New Zealand and Iceland. These areas are all linked with recent volcanic activities and a source of hot rock in the earth’s crust! Of all the 1000 geysers that exist worldwide, most are at Yellowstone National Park in the United States.
What is a natural geyser?
A geyser is a vent on the surface of the Earth surface, from which hot water and steam eject occasionally. To put it simply, a geyser is a tube-like hole on the surface of the earth. These holes run deep into the Earth’s crust, reaching the magma (molten rock). You must be wondering at this point why geysers erupt. Some may say that it is probably the pressure of the steam that causes them to burst. You are correct! Even a small geyser is a remarkable sight, but some geysers have eruptions that shoot thousands of gallons of steaming hot water, hundreds of feet into the air.
How do the geysers erupt?
As already mentioned, geysers are formed at places where there is a long, tube-like hole on the Earth’s surface. For a geyser to work, the tube should be full of water. Such geyser tubes end deep inside the earth’s surface, where magma or molten rock boils the water. And you already know that once water reaches its boiling point, it converts to vapour. Water expands as it turns into steam. So, what would eventually happen if water started to boil beneath the surface? A ‘steam explosion’ will occur when boiling-hot water suddenly expands into steam.
It is this strong, pressurised steam that pushes the water in the geyser tube to the surface. As a result, the water shoots out into the air with quite some force. But how long does this eruption continue? The eruption of water continues until all the water in the tube is out or the geyser’s temperature drops below boiling temperature (100 degrees Celsius at sea level). After the eruption, water slowly seeps back into the tube, and the process starts all over again! Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park, United States, is the most well-known geyser all over the world. It erupts every 60 to 90 minutes!
Steamboat geyser in Yellowstone National Park
Steamboat Geyser in Yellowstone National Park is the tallest active geyser in the world. Can you imagine how high the steam of water may rise? Water is thrown 400 feet into the air by some of its eruptions! Since 2018, Steamboat Geyser has been very active, with only days passing between outbursts (rather than years). So, if you wish to visit the biggest geyser in the world in action, you must visit Yellowstone National Park!
Bonus fact: The second-largest hub of geysers in the world is the ‘Valley of Geysers’, which is in the Kamchatka Peninsula in far eastern Russia. It has approximately 90 geysers and many hot springs!