[Geysers] Geyserite at Smithsonian

[Lee_Whittlesey at nps.gov]

Yes, I remember the note below that Scott forwards from the Smithsonian.

At 1 1/2 feet high, I am certain that I have never seen this cone. The one
I saw on display at the Museum of Natural History back in 1978 was much
larger---at least four feet tall and it had many ornate and beautiful
rosette-like ventholes in it. IT is the geyser cone that I have always
associated with Vixen Geyser and not this one.

This cone is a mystery to me. An 1881 accession date would mean that the
park superintendent of the day was P.W. Norris. I've never heard of "Major
Stevenson." Norris had no such person on his staff and the U.S. Army was
not yet in the park. As well, 1881 was ten years after James Stevenson
explored Yellowstone with the Hayden surveys. So I have no idea who this
Major Stevenson was. I

f the cone was truly from Mammoth, then it would have to be travertine and
not geyserite.

This is one of those mysteries that someone in the Washington, D.C. area
needs to look into. Looking at the Smithsonian's Yellowstone items is one
of many things I've "had on my list" for years, but who knows whether I'll
ever get around to it.

Lee Whittlesey
Park Historian




                                                                                                                                     
                      TSBryan at aol.com                                                                                                
                      Sent by:                 To:       geysers at wwc.edu                                                             
                      geysers-bounces at w        cc:       (bcc: Lee Whittlesey/YELL/NPS)                                              
                      wc.edu                   Subject:  [Geysers] Geyserite at Smithsonian                                          
                                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                     
                      01/20/2005 01:52                                                                                               
                      PM EST                                                                                                         
                      Please respond to                                                                                              
                      geyser                                                                                                         
                      observation                                                                                                    
                      reports                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                     




I'm pretty sure I sent the following to Lee Whittlesey about 10 years ago,
but perhaps the entire group would be interested. The bears on the
hypothesis that Vixen Geyser used of have a cone. I wrote a query to the
Smithsonian Institution and received the following, dated February 23,
1995:
--------
I received your request for information concerning geyserite from
Yellowstone here in the Department of Mineral Sciences. The earliest
documented occurrence of geyserite from Yellowstone in our catalog is
specimen #10809. It is listed as "vent of geyser" and was catalogued in the
spring of 1881. There is no mention of the 1876 Centennial Exposition, so I
cannot say whether it was collected for exhibition there. The speciment is
from the Mammoth Hot Springs area, and the listed donor is a Major
Stevenson. This speciment stands approximately 1 1/2 feet tall, with a 1
foot diameter at its base. No chemical analysis has been done. There is
another, larger sinter cone from Yellowstone which I recently accessioned
as "found in the collection". This means there are no detailed records
associated with the specimen. Records for many of the older specimens were
lost to fire at the turn of the century. I hope this information is useful
to you and I'm sorry it could not be more complete.

Sincerely yours,
Leslie J. Hale
Museum Specialist
Rock and Ore Collection
---------
Readers will have noted that geyserite does not occur at Mammoth Hot
Springs, so the questions remain:

1. Is the cone identified as #10809 geyserite, or travertine?
2. Where is the other cone from?

Scott Bryan_______________________________________________
Geysers mailing list
Geysers at wwc.edu
https://mailman.wwc.edu/mailman/listinfo/geysers