[Geysers] Gerlach Nevada

[Alan Glennon]

I was at Gerlach, Nevada on July 17, 2004. All the mud pots and hot springs I photographed 
(see: http://www.uweb.ucsb.edu/~glennon/geysers/lesser/ ) were either on private land or under long-term lease. Of the several locals with whom I spoke, all had concerns about the geothermal plants affecting the hot springs (both Great Boiling and Wards). My impression: some were concerned about general, environmental impact, and others about water scarcity. Everyone seemed to harbor a resentment that the electricity and profits produced would mostly go outside the area.

During my visit, Fly Ranch and the nearby Thumb were spouting. Since they are on private land, I only viewed them from the road. I did manage to gather the appropriate landowner contacts -- so hopefully I'll be able to get a closer look on my next trip. A Gerlach-based biology student called the Great Boiling Springs landowner and I was able to gain access to the site (but unable to question the owner about eruptive activity). According to the student, a young woman studying birds of prey, the largest spring complex exhibits an exchange of function between pools. She also noted periods when lots of changes would occur all at once (different boiling locations, more mud pot activity, more steam clouds). Overall, however, she said she rarely visits the springs or pays them any notice. She had lived about three hundred meters from the springs for a few months.

Anyway, none of the springs erupted while I was at Great Boiling Springs. During my visit, only one or two springs looked hot and violent enough to possibly erupt. At one spring, I noticed dead algal mats and a border of killed grass. A few mud pots were active, including one that formed recently (its mud buried clumps of grass). I vaguely recall a short mud volcano or two, but the activity must have been minor (and/or non-photogenic). No recent geothermal exploration activity was apparent at Great Boiling Springs.

~Alan

J. Alan Glennon, Ph.D. Student
NCGIA/Department of Geography
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
glennon at umail.ucsb.edu
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: </geyser-list/attachments/20050131/ae41a98e/attachment.html>