Geysers are periodically gushing hot springs common in areas of recent or recent volcanic activity. With an explosion and a crash, a huge column of boiling water, enveloped in thick clouds of steam, soars up, sometimes reaching 80 m. The fountain beats for a while, then disappears, the clouds of steam dissipate, and peace ensues.
The scheme of the geyser. The water under hydrostatic pressure in underground cavities gradually heats up above 100 °. When the critical temperature is reached, it boils. The resulting steam is noisily thrown out of the geyser, carrying boiling water with it.Some geysers throw water very low or just spray it. There are hot springs, similar to puddles, in which water boils with bubbles. Usually around the geyser there is a pool or shallow crater several meters across. The edges of such a pool and the area adjacent to it are covered with deposits of silica contained in boiling water. These. deposits are called geyserite. Near some geysers, cones of geyserite up to several meters high are formed. Before the eruption, the water rises, slowly, fills the pool, boils, splashes, then a fountain of boiling water rises high with an explosion. Immediately after the eruption of the geyser, the pool is freed from water, and at the bottom of it you can see a channel filled with water - a vent that goes deep into the ground. Geysers are found in areas of modern or recent volcanism. With one eruption of a geyser, more than 1000 liters of water can be thrown up to a height of 60 m. |
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Geysers are a very rare and beautiful natural phenomenon. They are found in Kamchatka, in one of the regions of Tibet at an altitude of 4700 m, in Iceland, New Zealand and North America. Small solitary geysers are found in several other volcanic areas of the globe. In the eastern part of Kamchatka, south of Lake Kronotskoye, the Geysernaya River flows. This river begins on the lifeless slopes of the extinct volcano Kikhpinych and in the lower reaches it forms a valley up to 3 km wide. There are many hot springs, hot and warm lakes, etc. in this valley.
About 20 large geysers are known here, not counting the small ones that spill water up just a few centimeters. The soil around them is warm and sometimes hot. Many geysers are surrounded by accumulations of multi-colored geyserite, which sometimes cover large areas. So, for example, near the largest Kamchatka geyser Velikan, emitting a fountain several tens of meters high, a geyserite area of about a hectare was formed. It is all covered with incrustations in the form of small stone roses of a grayish-yellow color. Nearby is the Pearl Geyser, named after the shape and color of geyserite deposits. Sugar Geyser is surrounded by beautiful deposits of pale pink geyserite. It is a pulsating source. Water splashes out of it in uniform jolts. The Pervenets Geyser is located on a rocky hot platform almost on the very bank of the Shumnaya River, not far from the mouth of the Geysernaya. The Pervenets basin with a diameter and depth of about one and a half meters is surrounded by large blocks of stones. If you look into it immediately after the eruption, you can see that there is absolutely no water in it, and at the bottom you can see an opening, or a channel obliquely extending into the depths. A few minutes later, a hum similar to the noise of a motor comes from the ground: water begins to rise along the channel, gradually filling the pool. It boils, reaches the edges of the pool, rises higher and higher, splashes out, and, finally, an obliquely directed column of boiling water, enveloped in thick clouds of steam, bursts out with an explosion, a fountain 15-20 m high beats for 2-3 minutes, then disappears, the steam dissipates ...
Iceland has long been famous for its hot springs, boiling rivers and geysers. In the valleys of most of its rivers, rising clouds of vapor from boiling springs and geysers are visible. They are especially abundant in the southwestern part of the island. The famous Big Geyser with a pool diameter of about 18 m is of interest. The smooth bottom of the pool in the center turns into a round vent about 3 m in diameter, similar in shape to the bell of a pioneer hearth. The eruptions of the Great Geyser are very beautiful. They are repeated every 20-30 hours and last about 3 hours. The height of the fountain reaches 30 m. Inhabitants of the harsh Iceland use hot springs to grow vegetables and fruits in greenhouses. Iceland's capital Reykjavik and most cities and towns are fully heated by hot springs.
Until 1904, the Waimangu geyser operated on the North Island in the New Zealand archipelago. It was the largest geyser in the world. During a strong eruption, its jet was thrown out to a height of 450 m. But now this geyser has completely disappeared, which is associated with a decrease in water level by 11 m in the nearby Lake Tarawera. The eruption of another New Zealand geyser, Crow's Nest (Crow's Nest) on the shores of Lake Waikato, also depends on the water level in the lake. If the water is high, the geyser erupts every 40 minutes; if the water level is low, the eruption occurs after 2 hours.
The origin of geysers
Geysers arise in areas where, at a depth of several hundred meters, the water temperature rapidly rises to the boiling point. The outlet channel of the geyser has bends that prevent steam from escaping to the surface and cooling water by convection. If, as a result of the formation of vapor bubbles at a depth, the level of the liquid in the channel rises so much that its outpouring onto the surface occurs, then the pressure drop can lead to boiling up of the rest of the liquid, the formation of a large volume of superheated steam, and the ejection of a jet of water to a great height. It is believed that most of the erupted water enters the geyser channel through cracks from the surface of the earth. However, the high temperatures of the rocks indicate the presence of recently solidified or solidified magma at a shallow depth; therefore, some of the water may also be of magmatic origin. Alkaline geyser waters contain dissolved silica. At the opening of the outlet channel, sediments of siliceous tuff (geyserite) form a cone several meters high.
A geyser is a fairly rare natural phenomenon that is an echo of volcanic activity. The first mention of such a phenomenon can be found in the annals of 1294. It was then that a boiling spring was discovered in Iceland. And the sources of Kamchatka were formed about 40 thousand years ago.
general description
A geyser is a hot spring that practically bursts out of the ground as too much water accumulates in the bowl. Sometimes the temperature exceeds +100 degrees. The fountain beats for some time and stops, the steam disappears, and nothing reminds of the former activity. Activity begins with a slow rise in water, gradually increases. The water is constantly boiling. The name of the neiser is translated as "break through", and came to the languages of the world from Iceland, where a similar phenomenon was first discovered. By the way, unlike the thermal spring, which is constantly bubbling, the geyser spews water periodically.
How it goes
Large fountains are observed only in those places where there are active volcanoes or those that have ceased to operate quite recently. There are hot springs that do not throw out water as a fountain, but simply seethe in the bowl, even bubble up. There are usually silica deposits around the edges of a bowl or pool, which are found in boiling water. The deposits are also called geyserites. They can grow along the banks up to several meters high.
After the end of the activity of the source, you can see how the water gradually goes into the depths of the earth along the vent. How is a geyser formed? This is, in fact, a consequence of a volcanic eruption, provided that magma remained in the upper layers of the soil. It remains constantly hot, giving off steam and gases through all kinds of holes and cracks. Then gases and water mix, dissolving minerals and other substances in the mixture. Then the lower layer of water becomes less dense and gradually begins to rise upward.
If the passage to the outside is narrow, then the water is heated unevenly and cannot turn into steam, therefore bubbles appear on the surface. A little later, small fountains are formed, which are only precursors of the beginning of a large eruption. At the end of the eruption, underground caves and grottoes are completely freed from water. The next time there will be a new phenomenon only on condition when the whole bowl and grottoes are again filled with groundwater.
Dangers and benefits
The assertion that everything that nature has created is only beneficial for man is incorrect in this case. The geyser is a real danger. With careless movements and as close as possible to the bowl, you can fall and cook. This sometimes happens to careless animals, because the water temperature is about +100 degrees.
In addition, it contains a huge amount of mercury and arsenic, other chemical compounds that do not bring any benefit to the human body, but only harm.
On the other hand, in Iceland, hot springs have been adapted to generate electrical energy, which is used to heat water and greenhouses, and other household needs.
Natural hot water fountains in Russia
In Russia, there is the Valley of Geysers, the sources of which are the only ones in all of Eurasia and one of the largest in the world. They are located on the territory of the Kronotsky State Biosphere Reserve in Kamchatka.
This is a deep canyon on the Geysernaya river. The total occupied area under the geysers of Kamchatka is 6 square kilometers. It looks something like this: along the banks of the river there are multiple outlets of hot springs, geysers, and there are even thermal grounds.
The ecosystem of this zone is very vulnerable to anthropogenic impact; the state of the complex is constantly monitored on the territory of the reserve. The very access to the geysers is difficult. Since 1992, you can see the geysers of Kamchatka exclusively from the helicopter window.
In 2007, after heavy torrential rains, a dam appeared in these places, but in 2013 the dam was destroyed by new rains, and partially geysers again clogged.
Iceland
It is on this island of volcanic origin that there is the largest number of geysers. In Iceland, earthquakes occur almost every day, and a volcanic eruption occurs every 4-5 years. It is for this reason that the island has a huge number of hot springs. As the locals say, this place is a large natural "stoker".
The most famous, along with the geysers in Russia, Iceland's geyser is located in the southwestern part of the island - in the Heikadalur valley. Here, all the sources are located almost on top of each other, they are all different in size, shape and even color. Some geysers are interconnected by small spouts. In the valley there is always warm ground, over which there is always steam.
Almost all tourists are entertained with a trick with eggs, which are placed in a saucepan and lowered into a small geyser, where they become completely ready for use in 10 minutes.
It was here that the Big Geyser was located, discovered in the 13th century, which gushed up to the 20th century to a height of 60 meters. But after the next earthquake, he began to gradually calm down and completely ceased to be active.
United States of America
There are three areas with thermal activity in the country.
An opal geyser with an exceptionally episodic activity. Located at an altitude of 2,210 thousand meters above sea level in the territory of Yellowstone Park. The first activity was recorded in 1947, then 2 years later, in 1952 and 1953. Since 1979, the fountain has been rising above the ground almost every year, but the height of the water column does not exceed 9 meters. When the geyser is inactive, it is an ordinary lake with a water temperature of + 56 degrees.
Old Faithful is in the same park, but more popular, as the height of the fountain is from 32 to 56 meters. In this case, the eruption occurs regularly, approximately every 35-120 minutes. That is, it is very easy to predict the event.
Fly is actually a thermal spring, which became a geyser due to human activities. In 1916, they tried to dig a well in this place and, by pure chance, punched a geothermal pocket.
Located in the state of Nevada, high above sea level - 12,300 meters. The height of the geyser is 1.5 meters. The walls of the geyser are constantly growing.
This unique permanent fountain is located on a private territory, and in order to see it, you need to ask permission from the owners of the land, they flatly refuse to sell the land to the state.
The Waimangu Valley of Geysers is the most famous hydrothermal system in the world, the date of the appearance of which scientists and local residents know for sure - 06/10/1886. It was on this day that an earthquake began, which destroyed the top of Mount Tarawera. There were hot springs in these places, but they were not buried under volcanic lava.
Already in 1900, a huge fountain with boiling water rose in Waimangu, the largest in height in the whole world at that time. This went on for 4 years, it was not possible to guess when the new eruption would begin. In 1908, the geyser died down completely. However, in the valley there are still smaller fountains, for example, Pouhutu, with a height of up to 30 meters, showing activity every 20 minutes.
Chile
The El Tatio Valley ranks third in the ranking of the hottest geysers in the world, after the United States and Russia. It is located at an altitude of 4.3 meters above sea level. There are several hundred fountains of different heights and different periods of activity.
There are thermal wells near the geysers where you can swim. It is recommended to come to the valley at dawn, when the most active geysers are observed, and the water shimmers in the rays of the rising sun in different colors.
Debunking myths
It is believed that the geyser can become a volcano over time. Indeed, this is a fountain of volcanic origin, but in this case magma plays only the role of heating, and for the eruption of water to begin, there must be cracks, groundwater and reservoirs.
There is a strong opinion that life near geysers is impossible and even dangerous, because the minimum water temperature is +98 degrees. However, in the thermal valleys, blue-green algae thrive, which prefer to grow exactly where the temperature is above +45 degrees. In addition, rare flowers often grow in the valleys, for example, the Chinese curl. Larvae of some species of flies live in such places. Even when they get into boiling water, they do not die, but, on the contrary, develop faster. And the wagtail builds nests and lays eggs in them precisely in the geyser valleys, that is, it uses the land as a natural incubator.
Do not think that the water in geysers is good for humans; on the contrary, you can find about half of the elements in the periodic table in it. For example, the concentration of arsenic exceeds the permissible norm for humans by 10 times, and antimony - 3 times.
Geysers are located near active or relatively recently dormant volcanoes. The heat spreading from the magma chamber heats the groundwater almost to boiling point, which fills cracks and faults near the surface. Geyser eruptions have nothing to do with volcanic eruptions. However, for the eruption of geysers, the heat coming from the volcano is needed. Therefore, the geysers ...
- Introduction
- 1. General information about geysers
- 2.
Geysers as objects of tourism
- 2. 1.
Valley of Geysers, Kamchatka, Russia
- 2. 1. 1. general information
- 2. 1. 2. Geyser Giant
- 2. 1. 3. Triple Geyser
- 2. 1. 4. Tourism opportunities
- 2. 2.
Yellowstone National Park, USA
- 2. 2. 1. General information
- 2. 2. 2. Geysers and thermal springs
- 2. 2. 3. Tourism opportunities
- 2. 1.
Valley of Geysers, Kamchatka, Russia
Geysers as objects of tourism (essay, term paper, diploma, control)
1. GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT GEYSERS The word "geyser" is of Icelandic origin; it comes from gaze, which means to pour out. A geyser is a source, periodically throwing out fountains of hot water and steam up to a height of 20-40 m and more. They are hot steam-water springs, periodically gushing; they got their name from the Geyser region in Iceland, where they were first observed. The geyser is one of the manifestations of volcanism, therefore, they are found in areas of manifestation of modern and recent volcanic activity: in Iceland, Italy, on about. Java, in New Zealand (northern island), in the Yellowstone National Park of America, geysers are also noted in Tibet at an altitude of 4700 m above sea level. In the Geysernaya valley in Kamchatka, 12 large geysers and several dozen small ones have been described. The water temperature at the outlet of the enclosing channels is close to the boiling point and, depending on the terrain, ranges from 80 to 100 °. The height of the gushing is different, sometimes it reaches 50 m and more. One of the largest geysers in Yellowstone Park "Giant" throws out a column of water and steam up to 40 m high with a temperature of 94.8 °.
The well-known Great Geyser in Iceland gushes at a height of about 30 liters for 10 minutes every 2430 hours. The channel from which the steam-water fountains are emitted has a diameter of 3 m and is surrounded in the form of a cone by siliceous deposits of a geyser. In the upper part of the cone, there is a pool with a diameter of 18 m and a depth of 2 m, periodically filled with hot water. The water temperature on the surface of the pool is about 8082 °, and in the channel, at the depth of the bottom of the pool, it reaches 120 °.
In 1941, TI Ustinova discovered numerous geysers in Kamchatka, in the valley of the river. Noisy, in the vicinity of the Kikhpinych hill. There were found at least 22 large and about a hundred small geysers. Another river in Kamchatka is called Geysernaya. There are about 20 large geysers in its valley, among them the largest geyser in Kamchatka called Giant. It throws out a fountain of water up to 40 m high, while the column of steam rises up to several hundred meters.
The eruption of the geyser is a very beautiful sight. Enveloped in steam, a powerful jet of boiling water rushes up with a roar, scattering at a high altitude in myriads of splashes. The fountain beats for a while, and then the jet suddenly disappears, the steam dissipates and everything calms down. And after a certain time, everything is repeated again. As a rule, there is a small natural pool around the geyser up to several meters in diameter. The ground near the geyser is usually very warm, even hot.
The main thing that distinguishes geysers from other warm and hot springs is the frequency of action. The time intervals between eruptions are different for different geysers. Some geysers spew a stream of boiling water every 10-20 minutes, others only once or twice a month. So, the eruptions of the Old Faithful geyser, located on the territory of Yellowstone National Park in the US state of Wyoming, are repeated after 50-70 minutes. Almost all geysers erupt only a few minutes.
There is no water in the geyser basin immediately after the next eruption stopped. In the center of the pool there is a hole - a geyser tube extending into the depths of the channel. For example, at the Big Geyser in Iceland, the pipe has a diameter of 3 m and goes 23 m deep. Before the eruption begins, water rises through the pipe and gradually fills the basin. At the same time, it boils, then a fountain of boiling water rushes up. At the end of the eruption, the water from the pool goes into the tube.
Geysers are located near active or relatively recently dormant volcanoes. The heat spreading from the magma chamber heats the groundwater almost to boiling point, which fills cracks and faults near the surface. Geyser eruptions have nothing to do with volcanic eruptions. However, for the eruption of geysers, the heat coming from the volcano is needed.
The mechanism of operation of the geyser, in the scheme, is as follows: in the thickness of the Earth there is a channel that bends in a zigzag manner and is filled with superheated water, i.e., water at a temperature close to the boiling point at the pressures that exist in the channel. When the steam pressure reaches a certain force, water from the channel is pushed out; this leads to a decrease in pressure, and thus to the immediate conversion of significant amounts of superheated water into steam. Then steam and water are thrown out of the canal in a strong stream, forming a fountain, gushing to a height of several meters.
Hot waters of geysers contain a large amount of minerals, especially silicon oxide. When geysers flow out, these minerals are deposited around the outlet channel, sometimes forming large cones. Such mineral formations are called geyserites.
Where geysers meet, there are necessarily a large number of hot springs and steam jets. They are classified as ordinary thermal springs; they function almost stably. Geysers can be called unusual thermal springs: they are characterized by a periodic explosive nature of their functioning, a violent eruption occurs at regular intervals.
From the point of view of physics, there is a fundamental difference between geysers and ordinary thermal springs, which predetermines the significantly different nature of their functioning. In both cases, the processes of heat supply, which comes from the magma chamber, and the processes of heat removal, which in one way or another are transferred to the environment, operate. In the case of thermal springs, there is a constant balance between heat input and heat removal: how much heat a source receives per unit time, it loses the same amount of heat per unit time. In the case of a geyser, there is no such balance. At all stages of the geyser's activity, with the exception of the eruption stage, the heat supply is greater than the heat removal, and therefore the water in the geyser tube is gradually heated. Sooner or later, this leads to an explosion: the process of heat removal suddenly changes qualitatively, the water in the tube boils, the geyser erupts. At the stage of a geyser eruption, the heat removal is significantly greater than the heat supply.
It has been established that a geyser is always preceded by a thermal spring (hot or boiling), in which the processes of heat supply and heat removal are balanced. Under some conditions, the balance is upset, and the source goes over to the geyser regime, i.e., turns into a geyser. The analysis of the conditions for such a transition is rather complicated. We only note that an important role is also played in this case by the change in convection processes occurring in the water mass of the source, as well as the occurrence of conditions that prevent the free escape of steam from the system. Sometimes the transition and geyser regime occurs as a result of a slight decrease in the cross-sectional area of the tube.
Conclusions Geysers are a complex geological and natural phenomenon. The confinement to certain geological structures determines their low prevalence. It has been established that the geysers were originally thermal springs, which, under certain conditions, turned into geysers.
Bibliography
- Vlodavets V.I. Volcanoes of the Soviet Union... - M .: Nauka, 1949.
- Gorshkov G.P. Earthquake in the Soviet Union- M .: Nedra, 1949.
- Ustinova T.I. Geyser in the valley of the Shumnaya river// Bull. volcanologist, Art. in Kamchatka (Academy of Sciences of the USSR). - 1946. - No. 12a.
- Ustinova T.I. Geysers in Kamchatka// Izv. VGO. - 1946. - no. 46.
- Ustinova T.I. Kamchatka geysers... Moscow: Nedra, 1949.
- Holmes A. Fundamentals of Physical Geology Moscow: Nauka, 1949.
- Silkin B.I. Hydrothermal Activity in Yellowstone Lake// Nature. 2002. - No. 2. p. 62−66.
- V.E. Prikhodko The world's first national park// Chemistry and Life. 2004. - No. 6. pp. 58-60.
- http://www.travel.ru
- http://www.kamchatka.org.ru
In areas of modern volcanic activity or, conversely, late stages of volcanism, hot springs can form, periodically ejecting vapors and hot water. Such springs are called geysers, after the Geyser region in Iceland, where they were first discovered. A gushing hot spring appears due to the fact that a channel in the thickness of the earth is filled with superheated water, and when the vapor pressure reaches a certain value, a column of boiling water is thrown out.
There are not so many places on the planet where you can personally observe this unique natural phenomenon. Our guide will tell you about the places with untouched nature, in the midst of which the most incredible fountains of water erupt from the depths of the earth.
Big Geyser, Iceland
The geyser is located in the valley with the intricate name of Høykadalur. Geysir rarely erupts, and can be dormant for several years. During the period of activity, it throws hot water to a height of 60 meters.
Old Faithful Geyser, Yellowstone, USA
With a frequency of about 63 minutes, the cone geyser throws out a stream of water from 30 to 60 meters high, containing from 14 to 32 thousand liters of water. Old Faithful became the first geyser of Yellowstone National Park to receive a name. It happened back in 1870. Now the power of the geyser is gradually decreasing and the intervals between emissions are increasing.
Andernach, Germany
It is the world's largest cold geyser. He is at rest for only 1.5 hours, after which he throws a stream of water 50-60 meters. This lasts approximately 8 minutes.
Suwako, Nagano, Japan
In Nagano, you can see more than just snow monkeys basking in hot springs. One of the world's largest geysers is located here. With an interval of about one hour, a stream of water 40-50 meters high erupts from the geyser.
Bufadora, Mexico
The world's largest sea geyser is located 40 minutes' drive from the center of Ensenada. The jet of water is forced out by the air, which enters the sea caves. The height of the jet can reach 44 meters, and the phenomenon itself occurs every minute and is accompanied by a rumbling sound.
Giant, Kamchatka, Russia
From the largest geyser in the Valley of Geysers, a fountain of hot water up to 35 meters high erupts. The steam from the geyser can rise to a height of 300 meters. The eruption lasts about two minutes. During this time, the geyser is thrown into the air about 25,000 liters of water.
El Tatio, Chile
The Valley of Geysers is located in the Andes, at an altitude of 4320 meters. The place is recognized as the world's highest plateau with geothermal activity of geysers. There are about 80 active springs in the park. The maximum height of the eruptions is about 30 meters.
Pohutu, New Zealand
This geyser of the Rotorua Valley is considered the most powerful of all its geothermal springs. He throws up a jet 30 meters high. Hot water and steam erupt approximately once an hour.
Geyser Castle, Yellowstone, USA
The geyser got its name due to the bizarre shapes in which the researchers spotted turrets and jagged edges, reminiscent of the outline of a castle. The geyser erupts every 10-12 hours, throwing a 27-meter column of boiling water into the air for 20 minutes.
Strokkur, Iceland
The geyser is located in a geothermal area near the Khvitau River. It erupts every 4-8 minutes. The height of the jets ranges from 15-20 meters. Sometimes the geyser puts on a real show of nature, throwing out water and steam three times in a row.
Fly, USA
In 1916, a geothermal pocket was accidentally punctured while drilling a well in northwestern Nevada. Almost 50 years later, water from the bowels began to seep to the surface, forming a bizarre landscape. The geyser releases its jets to a height of only 1.5 meters, but due to its unusual shape and color, the event is mesmerizing with its natural beauty.
Geysers - they are periodically gushing hot springs common in areas of recent or recently stopped volcanic activity. With an explosion and a crash, a huge column of boiling water, enveloped in thick clouds of steam, soars up, sometimes reaching 80 m. The fountain beats for a while, then disappears, the clouds of steam dissipate, and peace ensues.
Some geysers throw water very low or just spray it. There are hot springs, similar to puddles, in which water boils with bubbles. Usually around the geyser there is a pool or shallow crater several meters across. The edges of such a pool and the area adjacent to it are covered with deposits of silica contained in boiling water. These deposits are called geyserite. Near some geysers, geyserite cones up to several meters high are formed.
Before the eruption begins, the water rises, slowly fills the pool, boils, splashes out, then a fountain of boiling water rises high with an explosion. Immediately after the eruption of the geyser, the pool is freed from water, and at the bottom of it you can see a channel filled with water - a vent that goes deep into the ground.
Geysers are a very rare and beautiful natural phenomenon. They are found in Kamchatka, in one of the regions of Tibet at an altitude of 4700 m, in Iceland, New Zealand and North America. Small solitary geysers are found in several other volcanic areas of the globe.
In the eastern part of Kamchatka, south of Lake Kronotskoye, the Geysernaya River flows. This river begins on the lifeless slopes of the extinct volcano Kikhpinych and in the lower reaches it forms a valley up to 3 km wide. There are many hot springs, hot and warm lakes, etc. in this valley.
Valley of Geysers in Kamchatka.
About 20 large geysers are known here, not counting the small ones that splash water upward. just a few centimeters. The soil around them is warm and sometimes hot. Many geysers are surrounded by accumulations of multi-colored geyserite, which sometimes cover large areas. So, for example, near the largest Kamchatka geyser Velikan, emitting a fountain several tens of meters high, a geyserite area of about a hectare was formed. It is all covered with incrustations in the form of small stone roses of a grayish-yellow color. Nearby is the Pearl Geyser, named after the shape and color of geyserite deposits. Sugar Geyser is surrounded by beautiful deposits of pale pink geyserite. It is a pulsating source. Water splashes out of it in uniform jolts. The Pervenets Geyser is located on a rocky hot platform almost on the very bank of the Shumnaya River, not far from the mouth of the Geysernaya. The Pervenets basin with a diameter and depth of about one and a half meters is surrounded by large blocks of stones. If you look into it immediately after the eruption, you can see that there is absolutely no water in it, and at the bottom you can see an opening, or a channel obliquely extending into the depths. A few minutes later, a hum similar to the noise of a motor comes from the ground: water begins to rise along the channel, gradually filling the pool. It boils, reaches the edges of the pool, rises higher and higher, splashes out, and, finally, an obliquely directed column of boiling water, enveloped in thick clouds of steam, bursts out with an explosion. A fountain 15-20 m high beats for 2-3 minutes, then disappears, the vapor dissipates.
The mouth of the geyser. Usually it is a cone-shaped accumulation of light siliceous tuff - geyserite.
Iceland has long been famous for its hot springs, boiling rivers and geysers. In the valleys of most of its rivers, rising clouds of vapor from boiling springs and geysers are visible. They are especially abundant in the southwestern part of the island. The famous Big Geyser with a pool diameter of about 18 m is of interest. The smooth bottom of the pool in the center turns into a round vent about 3 m in diameter, similar in shape to the bell of a pioneer hearth. The eruptions of the Great Geyser are very beautiful. They are repeated every 20-30 hours and last about 3 hours. The height of the fountain reaches 30 m. Residents of harsh Iceland use hot springs to grow vegetables and fruits in greenhouses. Iceland's capital Reykjavik and most cities and towns are fully heated by hot springs.
The largest geyser in Kamchatka is Giant. He throws out a fountain of hot water several tens of meters away.
Until 1904, the Waimangu geyser operated on the North Island in the New Zealand archipelago. It was the largest geyser in the world. During a strong eruption, its jet was thrown out to a height of 450 m. But now this geyser has completely disappeared, which is associated with a decrease in water level by 11 m in the nearby Lake Tarawera. The eruption of another New Zealand geyser, Crow's Nest (Crow's Nest) on the shores of Lake Waikato, also depends on the water level in the lake. If the water is high, the geyser erupts every 40 minutes; if the water level is low, the eruption occurs after 2 hours.
Geysers - periodically gushing hot springs, common in the area of modern or recent
Numerous hot springs and 200 operating geysers are found in North America in Yellowstone National Park. It is a plateau, indented by deep river valleys and lake depressions, surrounded by high snowy ridges of the Rocky Mountains. Several million years ago, very strong volcanic eruptions took place here, as a result of which this amazing corner of nature arose. The most famous geyser in Yellowstone Park is Old Faithful. For many years it has not stopped its activity.
The scheme of the geyser. The water under hydrostatic pressure in underground cavities gradually heats up above 100 °. When the critical temperature is reached, it boils. The resulting steam is noisily thrown out of the geyser, carrying boiling water with it.
A huge amount of heat is carried by geysers and hot springs to the surface of the earth. Where does this heat come from? Geysers appear in areas where uncooled magma lies close to the earth's surface. The gases and vapors released from it, rising, travel a long way along the cracks. They dissolve in groundwater and heat it up. Such water comes out to the surface of the Earth in the form of seething hot springs, various mineral springs, and geysers. The mechanism of action of geysers, periodically throwing water to the surface, has not yet been fully elucidated. Scientists suggest that the geyser underground consists of caves (chambers) and connecting passages, cracks and channels that are found in frozen lava flows. These caves are filled with circulating hot underground waters, which, under the action of superheated vapors rising from magma chambers, are heated to temperatures above the boiling point of water. The eruptions of geysers depend on the size of the underground chambers and channels, on the location of the cracks through which heat comes from the magma chamber, on the amount and rate of groundwater inflow. It is known from physics that the boiling point of water at a pressure of 1 atm at sea level is 100 °. If the pressure increases, the boiling point rises. The pressure of the water column in the geyser channel increases the boiling point of the water at the bottom of the channel. The heated lower layer of water becomes less dense and rises to the surface, and colder water from the surface goes down, where, warming up, in turn, rises, etc. The overheated water, rising along the channel, reaches the level at which the pressure the column of water is reduced so much that it can boil, and the elasticity of the water vapor can throw it up with tremendous force in the form of a boiling fountain.
The eruption of the Old Faithful geyser (North America).
If the channel of the geyser is wide and more or less regular in shape, the water mixes, boils and periodically splashes onto the surface in the form of a hot fountain. If the channel is tortuous and narrow, the water cannot mix and heat evenly. Due to the pressure from the top of the water column, the lower layers of water are superheated and do not turn into steam. Steam is released only by individual bubbles. Accumulating at the bottom, the compressed vapor tends to expand, presses on the upper layer of water in the channel and raises it so much that it splashes out onto the Earth's surface in small fountains - the harbingers of an eruption. The weight of the column of water in the channel decreases, therefore, the pressure decreases at depth, and the superheated water, being above the boiling point, instantly turns into steam. The vapor pressure from below is so great that it pushes the water out of the channel - and a huge fountain of boiling water and puffs of steam are thrown into the air.
This is what some types of algae look like when they have adapted to life in hot water.
The cooled discharged water partially falls into the bowl of the geyser and enters its channel. Some of the water rises from the depths, but most of it usually seeps into the channel from the side rocks. In the channel, it heats up, overheats in the lower parts of it, steam appears again, and the steam-water mixture is ejected, that is, the geyser begins to erupt with full force.
Volcanic lakes - calderas - are quite common in Kamchatka.
Thus, the frequency of action of geysers depends on the size of the channel (but not on its shape), the time it is filled with water and heated to temperatures somewhat higher than the boiling point of water at the location of the geyser, which depends on the absolute height of this area.
Geyserites are deposits of silica contained in boiling water emitted by a geyser. Near some geysers, geyserite cones form from several centimeters to several meters. They are very diverse in shape and color.
