[Geysers] acronyms, was Giant again 4/30/06

[Nathan Dutzmann]

> Is there a place where a newbie can get a list of
> the acronyms you folks
> use?


The automatic welcome email for this list includes the
following in sections 6 and 7 (or at any rate, it did
when I signed up years ago).  Whether this seems like
a satisfactory introduction or not, though, I would
still recommend buying Scott's book.

Nathan Dutzmann

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6) Abbreviations commonly used on the Geyser List

Here are some of the abbreviations commonly used on
the Geyser List
and in the Old Faithful logbook.

First it should be noted that geyser times in
Yellowstone are always
recorded based upon a twenty-four-hour clock. Thus, a
3:10 PM eruption
would be noted as 1510 in the logbook.  Notice that
the convention is
to not include the colon. 

Now for the abbreviations: 

YNP - Yellowstone National Park

UGB, LGB, NGB, etc - Upper Geyser Basin, Lower Geyser
Basin, Norris
Geyser Basin....

VC - Visitor center (Usually, the Old Faithful Visitor
Center) 

ie - in eruption (the geyser was already erupting when
first seen.) 

ns - near start (the geyser was already erupting when
first seen but
the observer knew that the eruption had just started.)
 This judgment
call must be used infrequently and is defined
differently for
different geysers- for statistics, these entries are
most often
treated as ie entries. (Daisy is never ns, but Grotto
can be ns when
Grotto Fountain is still erupting) 

d - the duration of the eruption. 

s - seconds 

m - minutes 

of - overflow

p - pause (often recorded on Great Fountain Geyser. It
indicates the
time between the "Official" start of the
eruption, the first
sustained boil over one meter, and the start of the
bursting play.) 

h - height 

~ - approximate 

I - Interval 

IBE - Interval Between Eruption Starts

ini - Initial eruption of a series (usually noted on a
Lion series.) 

Ind - indicator (as in Beehive's Indicator) 

VR - visitor's report (Information reported to the
visitor center by a
person not known to the naturalist on duty.) 

> - greater than 

< - less than 

UNNG (or ung) - (pronounced un-guh) unnamed geyser.

Grand Geyser Legend 

Example - 1434 G3Q D4 - indicates the eruption started
at 2:34 PM.
Grand started the eruption before Turban. There were 3
burst in the
eruption. At the end of the eruption, Vent and Turban
geysers stopped
erupting. And finally, the eruption occurred on the
fourth Turban
eruption after the delay.  Grand brief version:  for
example, Grand
1434 (3B) for the number of bursts.

     D - delay (Turban interval is over 25 minutes. D0
(D zero) is the
notation for the first Turban eruption whose interval
is over 25
minutes from the previous.  Subsequent Turban
eruptions are noted as
D1, D2, etc.)

     N - no Turban delay observed 

     G - Grand started first (G3 - three bursts)

     or 

     T - Turban started first (T2 - two bursts)

     Q - Turban and Vent quit at end of Grand's
eruption 

     C - Turban and Vent continued 



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7) Glossary of Terms commonly used on the Geyser List

GOSA - The Geyser Observation and Study Association, a
nonprofit
corporation dedicated to studying, documenting,
understanding,
preserving, and simply enjoying geysers.  For more
information contact
gosastore at qnet.com.

The Sput - The bi-monthly newsletter of GOSA.

Gazer - A geyser aficionado.

Frog - A FRiend Of the Geysers (a GOSA participant.
"Member"
is not used because it has a specific legal meaning in
the context of
a corporation.)

Tadpoles - Gazer kids.

Afterburst - A burst that occurs after the main part
of Grand's
eruption (not to be confused with the usual after
play) when there has
been a long enough duration.  Noted as a
"+1".

Bathtub - When water in Mastiff rises to near-full and
then drops.

Blue Bubble - A rare phenomenon seen in fountain
geysers when water
domes and bursts, retaining some of its blue color.

Concerted/Dual Eruption - When two geysers erupt
simultaneously (in
concert).  Dual is usually applied to concerted
eruptions of Splendid
and Daisy.

Disturbance - The seasonal change in activity at
Norris Geyser Basin,
characterized by increased activity and muddy water in
many of the
springs.

Diurnal Cycle - A day/night cycle of a geyser's
activity characterized
by varying intervals or other change in behavior from
day to night.
Plume Geyser exhibited marked diurnal variation a few
years ago.

Dormant - When a geyser is not active, it is dormant.

Duration - The period of time from the start of an
eruption to the end
of that eruption.

Exchange of Function - An energy/water shift from one
spring, geyser,
or group to another spring, geyser, or group.

The Flounder - A common pejorative for Great Fountain
Geyser.

Adequate Fountain - A less common pejorative for Great
Fountain
Geyser.

Geyser Hill Wave (GHW) - The cyclic changes in water
levels on Geyser
Hill that are thought to be related to cyclic changes
in geyser
intervals.  Some features, notably Little Squirt and
Dome Geyser,
erupt at the peak of the water levels.

The Hamster - A nickname for the Lower Hamilton Store.

Hot Period - A period of increased minor activity by a
geyser (such as
Giant).

Interval - There are two definitions for Interval in
common usage. The
first, often used in general conversations in
Yellowstone and on the
Geyser List is:  The period of time from the START of
one eruption to
the START of the next eruption.  Some scientific
publications refer to
this as IBE, Interval Between Eruptions.  The second,
often used in
publications and outside Yellowstone (New Zealand for
instance) is:
The period of time from the END of one eruption to the
START of the
next eruption.

Lower Hams - The Hamilton Store nearest the Upper
Geyser Basin.

Major/Minor - For geysers with two types of eruptions
distinguished by
size and/or duration, the larger is called a major and
the smaller is
called a minor (Lion, Castle, North Goggles, Knobby,
etc.)

Marathon - An long Grotto eruption (in excess of 8 to
10 hours up to
20 or more hours, usually accompanied by a Spa
eruption).

Pause - A pausing of activity, usually in the minor
preplay.
Definitions as pertain to various geysers (Great Ftn.,
Bijou, Fan).

Period - A term rarely used meaning the time from the
start of one
eruption to the start of the next.

Series - An active period wherein the geyser erupts
repeatedly.  A
series is over when the geyser takes a long break. 
Lion Geyser is a
good example of a geyser that erupts in series.

SMax, South Maximum - The time in the GHW when water
levels on the
south end of geyser hill, especially in Bronze and
Silver Springs, are
very high and the most likely time for Little Squirt
Geyser to erupt.

Steam Phase - The part of an eruption (typically
occurring after the
water phase) that is mostly steam.

Superburst - An exceptionally large, sustained burst
of Great
Fountain, usually occurring near the beginning of an
eruption.


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