[Geysers] Geyser Report: Fan & Mortar, August 2 @ 1557

[Tara Cross]

Fan & Mortar erupted at 1557 on August 2 for an interval of 4d8h30m.

There were several promising event cycles during the interval, including one 
where the water levels stayed high for about 25 minutes and Main Vent even 
splashed--but shortly after that the water levels died.  Since the 
unexpected eruption with no warning on July 26, Main Vent has been seen 
having a splash or two at unusual/inappropriate times.  I guess all that 
means is that if a splash is seen in Main Vent but at the "wrong" time, it 
probably doesn't mean much.

Prior to the eruption, the last event cycle had been a weak 10-minute period 
of Main Vent splashing around 0500.  For about 3 hours before the eruption 
cycle, the minor vents were basically in garbage mode, seldom off for longer 
than 10 minutes.  Then, at 1449, everything shut off and Main Vent began to 
roar.  Events progressed as follows:

1458 Main Vent splash
1511 Main Vent has very large splash ("white stuff")
1512 River Vent on
1516 Main Vent has its last splash, but continues to roar
1525 River Vent off (River pause)
1532 River Vent on
1533 Gold Vent on
1535 Angle Vent on

I was pretty skeptical at first because Main Vent only managed to create one 
short River pause and only splashed for about 18 minutes.  In fact, at 
around the 10-minute mark the water levels dropped and Gold looked like it 
was going into steam.  However, the minor vents rebounded very quickly and 
suddenly started to look very promising.  High Vent built into a lock only 
13 minutes after River started.  The lock persisted until Gold joined in and 
Angle went into steam.  Around 22 minutes after River, the lock died down 
into almost nothing, though High was still overflowing.  Then it came back, 
and finally splashes were seen in East Vent, which erupted by itself for 26 
seconds at the start of the eruption before everything else joined in.

The eruption was Fan-dominated and with a typical wind direction proved to 
be a great "soaker."  The duration as timed by Lynn was 31 1/2 minutes.

--Tara Cross
fanandmortar at hotmail.com