[Geysers] Geyser Report (10/6/05) Stephens

[Janet Chapple]

Thanks Lynn and Tara for your Fan and Mortar observations. Let's all 
hope we don't have to wait another year and a half for their 
reactivation!

Janet Chapple
--------
On Oct 8, 2005, at 3:36 AM, Tara Cross wrote:

>
>> Could anyone fill us in with information about the last two or three 
>> eruptions of Fan and Mortar this summer? Was there anything unusual 
>> about them that might have given a hint that they would enter this 
>> dormancy?
>
> This answer is based on the obvservations that I have made myself and 
> collected from others since Fan & Mortar reactivated from their 
> previous dormancy (May 1998-January 2000).  Also, this is off the top 
> of my head--I don't have my logbooks with me at the moment.
>
> While there were a few "weird" things that occurred in the two weeks 
> before August 8, there was nothing that pointed towards a long-term 
> dormancy in any concrete way.  The oddest thing that happened was the 
> July 26 eruption that was not preceded by any events or Main Vent 
> splashing.  The only other time I saw eruptions occur without events 
> or Main Vent splashing was in the spring of 2002.
>
> However, to say that this observation, or any other observations of 
> "weird" behavior, would give a clue of impending dormancy would be a 
> huge stretch.  The usual sign of impending dormancy is lengthened 
> intervals.  This did not occur, as Fan & Mortar chugged along at 
> fairly regular 2-4 1/2 day intervals from June 22 through August 8.
>
> On August 5, we observed a "fake lock" of High Vent, where High went 
> into lock-like behavior by itself (not joined by Gold or Angle) and 
> then stopped with no resulting eruption.  While this was only observed 
> to happen once in 2005, it was seen at least 3 times in 2004 and never 
> in association with a distinct change in behavior.
>
> Historically, the best sign of impending dormancy has always been the 
> onset of the annual "spring slowdown" in April, May, and/or June.  
> Even in years when Fan & Mortar remain active, it will often lengthen 
> its intervals for 1-3 months in the spring.  So, this dormancy was 
> unexpected even based on this very limited indicator.
>
> --Tara Cross
> fanandmortar at hotmail.com
>
>
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