[Geysers] No Norris disturbance?

[TSBryan at aol.com]

In a message dated 11/30/2005 5:15:13 PM Pacific Standard Time,  
riozafiro at comcast.net writes:

Scott,  or anyone...just how rare is a "no significant disturbance  year"?
Thanks,
Pat S.



This isn't all that easy to answer, but the following is known:
 
1. The first record of a (probable) disturbance was in 1878.
2. Disturbances have been recorded in not fewer than 77 years since 1878  (so 
in 78 years, total). Apparently, though, it was not until the disturbance of  
1926 that details were recorded (by Phillips). Records that cite any Norris  
activity were extremely sparse during the first 50+ years of Yellowstone  
history.
3. USGS/NPS (most specifically in USGS Professional Paper 1456) notes the  
disturbances as "almost with annual frequency."
4. There have been some years in which disturbances repeated several times  
in a single season.
5. Some disturbances have affected ALL of Norris (Porcelain, Back, 100  
Springs, and even Elk Park) -- including that of 1974 which PP1456 (read,  
Hutchinson [sorry, but true] ) stated "details not recorded." See Transactions  VII.
 
Well, anyway -- it seems that a year without a disturbance is indeed  unusual.
 
I should note, too, I suppose, that the official term for this (I guess  it's 
official, since it is used in PP1456) is "Widespread Contemporaneous  
Changes." Yuk.
 
Scott Bryan
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