[Geysers] Strokkur and Geysir Video and Blue Bubble Questions

[Alan Glennon]

In the video, the shots of the pool are Strokkur. The one Geysir eruption I saw simply looked like a slightly larger and longer version of a Strokkur eruption. The distant shot probably is Geysir. The eruption position looks more like Geysir, but there is a camera angle or two that you could get a similar view of Strokkur.

As for Strokkur, eruptions commonly start from a full pool of water. The entire contents of the pool rise suddenly and then jets of water explode from it. Since the pool's near-surface water is heaved upward in its entirety (I might describe it as a laminar flow-type behavior, rather than the turbulence seen in a typical geyser start), the effect is that of a big blue bubble.

In June 2003, the vast majority of eruptions of Strokkur I saw included the blue bubble.

I would expect blue bubble eruptions to be more prevalent in deep, comparatively narrow pool vents. Expanding steam comes from deeper plumbing into the bottom of the pool --- this lifts the contents of the pool, while the weight of the overlying water momentarily keeps the steam at bay.

Anyway, that's what I think-
Alan


J. Alan Glennon
UCSB Department of Geography
Santa Barbara, CA 93106 
glennon at umail.ucsb.edu

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Pat Snyder 
  To: geyser observation reports 
  Sent: Saturday, December 11, 2004 10:10 AM
  Subject: [Geysers] Strokkur and Geysir Video and Blue Bubble Questions


  On one of my Google searches, I found this link to a video of Strokkur and Geysir erupting. I suspect the close up at the beginning is Strokkur (it looks like photos I have seen of it) and then the distance shot is Geysir. Is that correct?
  http://www.geysircenter.com/english/video2.html

  Also, I have a book called "Volcanoes" that has an excellent photo series on Strokkur. In both the book photos and in this video, Strokkur makes a gorgeous blue bubble before it erupts. My question is (which could not be answered by my friend who recently went to this geyser field), does Strokkur make this blue bubble most of the time? And, because I am a novice Gazer, could someone please explain what they dynamics are that create blue bubbles? Why do some geysers make them and others do not? And are they more common to certain types of geysers?

  I would sure like to visit Iceland someday, along with Rotorua, Kamchatka and El Tatio, so I keep buying that lottery ticket every weekend!
  Thanks much!
  Pat Snyder



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