great topic!

************************ New Zealand activity ************************ ---------- Geysering in Rotorua ---------- On 7,8,12 April, geysering took place from Spring 653 at Rotorua, very close to homes on Tarewa Road. Similar activity at this spring in Nov 1999 and Jan 2000. This information comes from the New Zealand Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences at: http://www.gns.cri.nz/. The full text is below. April 7 "Intermittent minor eruptions are continuing at White Island, with a steam and gas plume rising to an altitude of 1500 metres. The eruptions are coming from a ridge vent that has enlarged since activity began on 7 March. Only minor amounts of ash are being emitted and there is little seismic activity, so White Island remains at Alert Level 1 (minor signs of volcano unrest). Seismic activity is low and there is little sign of volcanic activity." April 14 "A small amount of ash has erupted from White Island this week between 11 and 14 April, with the ash cloud rising to 1,500 metres. The eruption has been accompanied by seismic activity. White Island remains at Alert Level 1 (minor signs of volcano unrest). Mount Ruapehu had a period of moderate volcanic tremor on Monday 10 April, with some weaker tremors since then. This follows several months of very low seismic activity. There is little sign of surface activity, so Mt Ruapehu remains at Alert Level 1. All other New Zealand volcanoes are at Alert Level 0 (dormant or quiescent). Geothermal Activity On 7, 8 and 12 April, geysers erupted from Spring 653 in Rotorua. The spring is in a Maori thermal reserve, but very close to homes on Tarewa Road. Boiling water erupted for up to an hour to heights of about 10 metres. This spring also had geyser activity in November 1999 and January 2000"

Wolfie! Welcome *grin* You beat me to the punch for the first posting. Mahalo plenty.

(you ok?)

Yeah...(it's been a rough day) Thanks for asking. I've been to Calistoga in California - my first real geyser. The Island of Hawaii gets a good percentage of its electric power from geothermal wells just southeast of Hilo.

well, hope tomorrow is better! i've never been to a geyser.

Gotta check up on Yellowstone and places like that for pics...and David for the Calistoga ones - he's the one who took me there! Oooh, that's right...he has Yellowstone, as well. Happy Mom!

(bound to be, Sweetie!)

good! i gotta run, am watching qvc *grin*

Get lotsa good stuff! and share your loot with us cyberly...

not able to get anything, every last piece is selling out. it's stuff called kirk's folly. really whimsical pieces but well done and detailed. relatively affordable as well.

Jewelry, I gather...

yes, pins, earrings, necklaces and bracelets. lemme find something to show you...

here's a taste (wrong topic i know)

Ooooooo! Real stuff? Where is Lance when we need him...! John says 10% max electric power supplied on this island by geothermal. Most of our power usage could be met by such sources on Island, but the housing subdivision near it pickets any attempts to put more power online. Of course, the houses came AFTER the wells were drilled...

(This has not been my best day...) http://www.oldfaithfulgeyser.com/ Ths Calistoga Geyser in Central California's Napa Valley

How to make your own geyser: (I'd put it on the Geosites for Kids but they need adult supervision for this one. Lots of other good stuff there, too. http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/geyser/ World Geyser Links: This is the ultimate site for geyser information and links to pictures and all things geyserly in the entire world. http://www.web-net.com/jonesy/worldgeyserlinks.htm

I've only seen geysers on films and TV. Great topic. HUG

picture on 17 is great! (no, the gems aren't real but they're sure pretty and i didn't buy anything, couldn't stay up long enough)

STEAMBOAT, WORLD'S TALLEST GEYSER, ERUPTS AFTER NINE YEAR HIATUS - May 2, 2000 Early this morning, around 5 a.m., the world's tallest active geyser, Steamboat, gave early morning visitors a rare opportunity to view it in major eruption. Eruptions of Steamboat Geyser (located at the Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park) are entirely unpredictable, with the last eruption on October 2, 1991. At around 7 a.m., a National Park Service employee traveling to work spotted a very tall vapor column as he neared the geyser basin and-suspecting a possible eruption-stopped to investigate. Two park visitors, sleeping in their pickup camper truck at the Norris parking area, stated that they were abruptly awakened about 5 a.m. by what they thought was an earthquake. Frightened, they drove south toward Madison, but upon looking back noted the huge vapor plume and returned to the geyser basin. By the time the park employee arrived, a very heavy, wet mist enveloped most of the area to the geyser, and Steamboat-emitting a tremendous roar-was in the full steam phase with a huge vapor plume approximately 500 feet tall (we have no estimate of the height of the water plume). Steamboat Geyser rarely erupts in major phase. More commonly, Steamboat ejects water in frequent bursts of 10-40 feet. During a major eruption, Steamboat can reach heights of over 300 feet, showering viewers with mineral-rich waters. For hours following its rare 3-40 minute major eruptions (water phase), Steamboat thunders with powerful jets of steam; this steam phase can continue as long as 12 hours after the water cessation. Steamboat's unpredictability makes today's observance even more rare. Intervals vary from three days to fifty years (Steamboat was dormant from 1911-1961). In recent years, Steamboat has erupted in 1989 (3 times), 1990 (1 time), and 1991 (1 time). -NPS- Pictures of today's eruption of Steamboat Geyser (steam phase) are available on the internet at the following address: http://www.nps.gov/yell/press/images/steamboatpics/index.htm.

Yellowstone Geyser Awakens Steamboat's First Major Eruption Since 1991 It Once Lay Dormant For Fifty Years Burst Of Hot Water Awoke Campers At 5 A.M. YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo.(CBS) Yellowstone National Park's Steamboat Geyser, the world's largest, had its first major eruption Tuesday since Oct. 2, 1991, according to park officials. Two people sleeping in a camper said they were awakened around 5 a.m. by what they thought was an earthquake, park spokeswoman Marsha Karle said. Frightened, they drove south toward Madison, but looked back and saw Steamboat Geyser emitting a vapor plume about 500 feet high. A heavy mist meanwhile settled over the Norris Geyser Basin about 30 miles north of Old Faithful. The unpredictable geyser can spout water more than 300 feet, although there was no estimate of the water plume height Tuesday, park officials said. Steamboat Geyser's intervals between major eruptions can vary from three days to 50 years, including a dormant period from 1911-1961. Bursts of 10-14 feet are more common. In recent years, the geyser had three major eruptions in 1989, one in 1990 and one in 1991. Major eruptions are typically followed by steam bursts that can last up to 12 hours after the water stops spouting. A geyser is a hot spring encased in volcanic rock. Water trickles down through the rock until it touches lower rock layers heated by volcanic magma. The contact with the hot rocks heats the water, turning it into water vapor, and sending the steam upward through cracks and fissures in the rock. Major eruptions occur when the steam cannot escape through the surface, and pressure builds up underground. Geysers are very rare�some scientists say there are only 700 on earth�but Yellowstone claims at least 400 in seven major geyser basins. Yellowstone Park, the first national park established anywhere in the world, welcomed 3 million visitors in 1998.

Where was the first geothermal electricity generated? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- In 1904, the world's first geothermal electric generator went into operation at Italy's Larderello Hot Springs. Using pressurized steam from underground, the original plant was able to generate about 250 kilowatts, barely enough to run one modern home. Electricity was not the first use of the hot springs at Larderello. Hot water was used in 1777,and starting in 1790 brine from the springs was processed to extract boric acid and other compounds of boron. Today, Larderello has 300 wells as deep as 700 meters (2300 feet), which yield ultra-hot water at 235 degrees Celsius (455 F) and a pressure of 30 atmospheres. The site now produces 300-400 megawatts of power. More about geothermal energy and how it is used: http://geothermal.marin.org/pwrheat.html http://wwwphys.murdoch.edu.au/acre/refiles/geo/text.html Another place where geothermal energy is important: http://features.LearningKingdom.com/fact/archive/1997/05/02.html Why do we use alternating current (AC) electricity? http://features.LearningKingdom.com/fact/archive/1999/10/14.html

Three Mistakenly Jump Into Yellowstone Thermal Pool, One Killed YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (AP) - Three young park concession employees on a late-evening outing jumped into a 178-degree hot spring, thinking it was an ordinary coldwater pond, a doctor said. One died and two were in critical condition Wednesday. The three were burned late Monday in the Cavern Spring, a 10-foot-deep pool in the Lower Geyser Basin, seven miles north of Old Faithful in the middle of Yellowstone National Park. They were returning from a swim in the Firehole River when friends heard their cries, park spokeswoman Cheryl Matthews said. "These three teen-agers jumped into the pool thinking it was cold water and got quite a shock," Dr. Jeff Saffle, treating the survivors at a Salt Lake City hospital, said Wednesday. Yellowstone's thermal pools are often surrounded by thin, fragile crusts. Numerous warning signs are posted. Visitors to the Lower Geyser Basin are urged to stay on a half-mile boardwalk over the treacherous terrain. "I would not venture off this boardwalk. You couldn't pay me enough to set foot off this," said Carla Wilson, a visitor from Denver. Sara Hulphers, 20, of Oroville, Wash., was burned over her entire body and died a few hours later at the University of Utah's Intermountain Burn and Trauma Center in Salt Lake City. Tyler Montague, 18, of Salt Lake City and Lance Buchi, 18, of Sandy, Utah, were in critical condition. Saffle said Montague and Buchi were in shock and barely coherent after being rescued but told doctors that they dove into the pool on purpose. He estimated their changes of survival at 30 percent to 40 percent. "It is way too early for us to be optimistic," Saffle said. Rangers don't think alcohol was a factor, park officials said. Matthews said such accidents are infrequent. In 1998, a man fell into a thermal pool and suffered second-degree burns. In Oroville, in north-central Washington, high school teacher George Thornton remembered Hulphers as "very outgoing, friendly, very accepting of others." "She's one of the good kids, really neat, just a treasure of a kid," he said, his voice choking. "You work very hard as a teacher, and every once in a while you get a great kid, one you know will be a great person and a great parent. This is just tragic. She was a great person." The three teens worked in the Old Faithful area, Hulphers and Buchi in the Old Faithful Inn and Montague at the Old Faithful Lodge.

Calistoga Geyser...Man Made?! Old Faithful "Geyser" of California (also known as Calistoga "Geyser", Little Old Faithful, or Mt. Saint Helena "Geyser") is a popular tourist attraction found at the head of the Napa Valley near Calistoga California. Contrary to the belief of many this "geyser" is man-made. The photos above show the "geyser" at the turn of the century erupting from the casing of the a well drilled in the late 1800's. Old faithful of California is one of several artificial "geysers" found around the world. It may be best classified, not as a geyser, but as an erupting geothermal well. There were at least two such wells drilled at the site of Old Faithful of California as documented in old photographs. Dr. John Rinehart in his book, A GUIDE TO GEYSER GAZING,1976 p.49 concedes that the feature called Old Faithful is a drilled well even though he starts by saying "There has always been some question as to whether the geyser is in reality a natural one or a drilled well." He continues "In any event according to to accounts, an early settler was nearly blown to bits when it began erupting while he was drilling" (probably for water). Rinehart, then speculates that the settler may have "simply opened up a dead geyser". Certainly legends and rumors of geysers in this part of California have existed since the early settlers and the opening of a dead geyser is a possibility. However all indications are that no geyser was reported until after the well was drilled sometime around the turn of the century. Reinhart also confirms that there was casing in the 70 meter deep well. Fran Rache and his wife Grace observed this geyser starting in 1906 and according to Rinehart kept it alive. Rinehart reports "the geyser, because it sits in a sedimentary basin" (I read pool here), "fills up with debris every few years, closing off the well casing at about the 13 meter level". Fran would clean it out by reaming it. Reinhart continues "However in 1970, he (Fran) did a major overhaul after some boys stopped the geysers action entirely by jamming the opening with broken pop bottles". What exactly Fran did is not clear in Reinhart's book but he apparently fixed the sediment problem and restored the "geyser" eruptions. Current photographs show a cone sitting in the runoff pool. In 1974 The Rashes sold their ranch and geyser to Howard and Olga Cream, two avid geyser gazers, who converted it in to the tourist attraction it is today. The Cream's successful development of the site was not the first attempt to draw tourists. Old postcards, such as the one shown below, document an earlier attempt by E. T. Plummer to commercialize the erupting well . However, even though the "geyser" vent is artificial, it tapped into a natural hydrothermal system. Recent reports indicate that behavior of this geyser may change prior to earthquakes. Further studies are underway to see if geyser behavior may be an indicator of impending earthquakes. This very significant theory is based on detailed observations of the "geyser" made by the Olga (Cream) Kolbeck and other gazers starting in 1974. Old Faithful of California though not of natural birth is an important thermal feature.

More on th4 Calistoga Geyser and pictures http://www.web-net.com/jonesy/of_califonia.htm Thanks, David!

I've seen this one first hand, at least driven by it on the way to Harbin Hot Springs in Lake County, a famous Northern California spa and retreat.

I have, as well. In fact, Calistoga is about the only geyser I have seen with the exception of one tiny one in a hot river near Mammoth Lakes. It is one of the first short trips David took me on when I visited him in California - just after he took his non-driking mom through Napa Valley. It is beautiful all around there.

************************************ White Island and Pohuto Geyser, NZ *********************************** For the week ending 24 November, White Island continued to fume and degas and Ruapehu had low levels of volcanic tremor. And, in Rotorua, the Pohutu Geyser has now been in continuous eruption for 251 days, a new and ongoing record for New Zealand. From: http://www.gns.cri.nz/hazardwatch/latest/gweekvo.htm 24/11/2000 White Island and Ruapehu White Island continues to emit minor amounts of steam and gases. At Ruapehu low background levels of volcanic tremor continue to be recorded. Both White Island and Ruapehu remain at Alert Level 1 (signs of volcano unrest). Other volcanoes All other New Zealand volcanoes are at Alert Level 0 (dormant or quiescent). Geothermal activity Pohutu Geyser at Whakarewarewa in Rotorua continues its record-breaking display. The geyser has now been in continuous eruption for 251 days.