[Geysers] Question re "muddy" Steamboat

[David Schwarz]

   Conventional wisdom holds that Steamboat hasn't really started to erupt
until it turns a bilious yellow-brown color.  Even really powerful
"superburst" minors stay silvery-white.  I've heard some people say the
color change is due to debris washing downhill into the rising
water columns, and others contend it indicates that the eruption has
started to tap an alternate, deeper water source than usual.

David Schwarz