[Geysers] Geyser report 17-21 Aug (Durrant)

[Mario Durrant]

>It would be interesting to compare photos of the indicator's
> vent over the last 20 years and see how its growth from an
> impossible-to-see slit to a gaping hole correlates with the increase in
> power. That makes the Indicator the #4 active geyser on Geyser Hill
> currently, behind only Beehive, Lion, and Aurum.

Gordon, thanks for the informative report-- it made me go and dig out some
old pictures.  I have a photo from July 24, 1990 of Beehive in eruption with
Beehive Indicator, also a picture of just Beehive Indicator before Beehive
went into eruption that same day-- in both pictures the Indicator's maximum
height seems to be about a foot above the top of the cone (of course, two
pictures aren't accurate at telling the height of that eruption by any
means).  The hole from which it is erupting in the picture seems to be a
little smaller than the current hole, but fairly similar, the main eruption
is coming from a hole just east of a long crack in the sinter.  I'm sure
there are other old pictures that are much better than mine.  As far as
Beehive's Indicator being the #4 active geyser on the Hill, I suppose you're
speaking of height?  What about Giantess-- still considered active even
though eruptions are infrequent isn't it?  As opposed to Plume which is
considered dormant even now, even though it has erupted since Giantess has.
Just a thought-

MD

----- Original Message -----
From: Gordon Bower <siegmund at mosquitonet.com>
To: <geysers at wwc.edu>
Sent: Saturday, August 21, 2004 10:36 PM
Subject: [Geysers] Geyser report 17-21 Aug (Bower)


>
> Apologies for any information repeated here that others have posted to the
> listserv the past few days. I haven't checked my email since Monday
> evening. I will concentrate mostly on the smaller features less likely to
> already have been covered.
>
> Nice to see several familiar faces and a few new ones. I never did figure
> out who all the new voices on the radio were, but it is great to see our
> hobby alive and well even in the age of electronic monitors on everything.
> Was sorry to miss the violin recital in the Inn Friday night - but that is
> Lion's fault for having a 94-minute interval.
>
> Old Faithful: its usual self. Intervals mostly in the low 90s. The
> shortest I saw was 83, the longest 107. Every duration I timed was just
> over 4 minutes.
>
> Geyser Hill:
>
> Little Squirt was seen Wednesday afternoon/evening. Bronze and Silver
> responded with low water levels Thursday. The water in Silver remained out
> of sight Friday evening. Dome did not erupt.
>
> Plume and South Anemone remain dormant. North Anemone's intervals are 9-10
> minutes instead of the 7 that was standard for many years. The longer
> interval has previously been mentioned on the listserv, but I don't recall
> anyone commenting on how very different the start of the eruption is.
> Standing/pulsating water is visible in North Anemone about 3 minutes
> before an eruption, with many false fills. The actual eruption begins with
> several seconds of sloshing and boiling instead of bursting forth
> enthusiastically the instant water is visible. North Anemone has more or
> less adopted South Anemone's style of erupting.
>
> Beehive was consistent on 14-16 hour intervals all week. The Indicator was
> equally consistently giving 14-16 minutes of warning. I saw nothing from
> any of the second etc. indicators. I was surprised to see a 6m02s duration
> on Wednesday afternoon. All the Beehives I timed in years past, as well as
> the others I saw this week, were just a few seconds one side or the other
> of 5 minutes. I was also surprised at how powerful the Indicator is. My
> memory is that in the 80s it barely reached the height of Beehive's cone,
> and in the 90s was capable of ten feet, maybe fifteen during the first
> minute of Beehive's eruption. It now sends a steady stream of water to 20
> for almost its entire duration, with occasional droplets over 25. (Yes, I
> measured it, and never saw less than 11% at the 200-foot line near
> Depression.) It would be interesting to compare photos of the indicator's
> vent over the last 20 years and see how its growth from an
> impossible-to-see slit to a gaping hole correlates with the increase in
> power. That makes the Indicator the #4 active geyser on Geyser Hill
> currently, behind only Beehive, Lion, and Aurum.
>
> Depression was usually seen once per day. The one day it was seen twice,
> the eruptions were just under 11 hours apart. The other days, the observed
> eruptions were remarkably close to 22 hours apart. It *might* really be
> very regular at the moment (or it might still be wildly erratic): Ralph,
> hopefully, will reveal all in due time.
>
> Lion was more temperamental than I have ever seen it except for the last
> few days before a Giantess eruption. Intervals between series varied
> wildly. Though the intervals within series tended to be around 90
> (initial) and 70(later), these could vary a good ten minutes too. Several
> minors were seen even as early as the second eruption of a series. The
> 'bubblers' on the platform, which sometimes are useful as indicators that
> Lion is ready to begin a new series, lied through their teeth this year
> and continued to bubble between the first and second eruptions of a
> series. Little Cub's daytime intervals were around 50 minutes, and
> eruptions continued until at least 2200 in the evening, but stretches of
> over an hour without an eruption were observed after sunrise. No eruptions
> of North Goggle were reported but I believe it remains active: the runoff
> channel is 100% bleached white, and in years past, the orange and brown
> started to reappear after 2 or 3 weeks with no eruption.
>
> Aurum couldn't decide if it was summer or not. There were closed intervals
> of 4h32m Tuesday and 3h24m Thursday, but several other pairs of eruptions
> 8-10 hours apart at times when an in-between eruption was unlikely to be
> missed by everyone. Plate was regular at 3-4 hours. Sponge, Model (and its
> satellite vents) et al remain active but I didn't record details. (No
> wisecracks, Tara.) Butterfly Spring minors to 10-ish feet were seen a few
> times.
>
> Geyser Hill as a whole is discharging far less water than at any time I've
> seen it in many years. (I had similar impressions of several other areas
> this week. I was reminded of Robert Fournier's comments ten years ago that
> he felt overall activity then was far greater than it had been in the
> sixties. Some wild speculations about decade-long cycles of activity
> crossed my mind...)
>
> Castle was keeping everyone on their toes. Minors every second day, and
> first-major-after-minor intervals anywhere from 13 to 16 hours. If it
> managed two majors in a row it settled down to clockwork 13s for the third
> and fourth - but it usually didn't make it that far.
>
> Sprinkler is chugging along as usual with intervals in the low to mid 20s.
> The small perpetual spouter in Crested Pool's runoff remains active. Tilt
> is still drowned, but functioning as an intermittent spring, alternately
> acting as a drain for two minutes and pulsating and discharging vigorously
> for two minutes.
>
> In the Sawmill group, I saw Sawmill, Sawmill, Sawmill, and more Sawmill,
> despite everyone telling me what a great summer it had been for Churn. A
> few short Bulgers and Tardys. Old Tardy bone dry every time I walked past
> it four days in a row -- I don't recall ever going that long without
> seeing an active phase from it.
>
> Grand was doing a fine imitation of Riverside, having modest sized
> one-burst eruptions promptly every 6 1/2 hours. (OK, I exaggerate
> slightly. I did see one 7h10m interval. I understand I missed both a
> 2-burst eruption and an interval over 7 1/2.) The tourists have once again
> discovered an underground connection between Castle and Grand, thanks to a
> bit of luck and the fact that 6 1/2 x 2 = 13.
>
> Wave Spring is no longer waving. Oblong was seen several times, once on an
> interval as short as 4 hours. I am sure others will give lots of details
> of the many Giant hot periods. Suffice it to say that there were 3 or so
> per day with live commentary. The post-marathon hot period Wednesday
> evening was particularly good radio drama.
>
> Daisy is making the naturalists earn their pay, bouncing around between
> 2h15m and 3h15m -- and one outlier 3h50m Thursday evening. Grotto
> successfully avoided allowing me to see even one start all week, first
> with a 24+ hour marathon and then with intervals down around 5 hours. (The
> lack of a bicycle this trip hurt my odds too.)
>
> I am sure there are already scads of F&M posts in your inboxes. Suffice it
> to say that I was surprised by a steam cloud in the wrong place at the
> wrong time after a 2-day interval, and more surprised to hear of an even
> shorter interval just before I left the park this morning.
>
> Artemisia was very cooperative, displaying five consecutive steam clouds
> at intervals of 11 1/2 to 14 hours. Saw an Atomizer major 1021IE, water
> phase, today (Saturday) from Biscuit Basin. (Note, this was after my last
> visit to the VC, so someone please check and put this in the logbook if no
> better time is in there already.) Three Jewel cycles were all 7 3/4 to 8
> minutes. Two Mustard Spring intervals were around 11 minutes, one duration
> 3 minutes. Elsewhere at Biscuit, the Silver Globes and the unnamed geysers
> north of Mustard appeared fresh and wet but neither did anything in half
> an hour of watching. (Nor did Baby Daisy do anything in that half hour.)
>
>
> At Black Sand, Cliff, Ragged, and Spouter are all about the same as they
> were last time I saw them. One eruption of Green Spring is listed in the
> logbook - but the only evidence of activity there that I saw was four or
> five bodies parked on the boardwalk. The trail junction spouter remains
> active, and has expanded the edge of its crater a little more in the last
> two years.
>
> In the Lower Basin, Great Fountain had several double intervals over 22
> hours, then threw in a 20 to keep us on our toes today. A-0 intervals
> 26-30 minutes, durations 35-42 seconds. Botryoidal intervals 3m50s-4m50s,
> durations 27-32 seconds. The UNNG on Tangled Creek behind White Dome was
> seen at least 3 of the last 5 days. Saw eruptions of White Dome, Pink,
> Labial, and Narcissus, but have no closed intervals on any of them. At
> Firehole Lake, Steady remains weak, Grey Bulger and Young Hopeful are
> their usual steady 1- or 2-foot selves, and Artesia appears to be
> completely dormant. Many geysers in the Kaleidoscope group are active but
> I don't presume to know which is which.
>
> At West Thumb, my parents saw one eruption of Occasional (but did not see
> a second; the interval is not the same 25-30 minutes that it was before
> the dormancy), and one visitor report of Hillside appeared in the OFVC
> logbook.
>
>
> GRB
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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