[Geysers] Geyser report: Fountain, July 14-30

[Tara Cross]

I am writing up a separate report on Fountain because I caught 17 eruptions in 16 days and I have a lot of information to share.  I'll start with a list of known eruptions and intervals, and then discuss the activity I observed.

7/14 @ 1733vr
7/15 @ 0658ie near end, ~13h double interval
7/15 @ 1301, ~6h30m interval
7/15 @ 1925, 6h24m interval
7/16 @ 1411, 18h46m triple interval
7/17 @ 1342, 23h31m quadruple interval
7/17 @ 1931, 5h49m interval
7/18 @ 0840, 13h09m double interval
7/18 @ 1548, 7h08m interval
7/18 @ 2150, 6h02m interval
7/19 @ 0431ie, ~6h41m interval
7/19 @ 1734, ~13h03m double interval
7/20 @ 1204ns, ~18h30m triple interval
7/20 @ 1825, ~6h21m interval
7/21 @ 1336ie (end 1359), ~18h05m triple interval
7/22 no eruptions reported
7/23 @ 1000vr
7/23 @ 1702, ~7h02m interval
7/24 @ 1136, 18h34m triple interval
7/24 @ 1747, 6h11m interval
7/25 @ 1130, 17h43m triple interval
7/25 @ 1740, 6h10m interval
7/26 @ 0520ie, ~11h40m double interval
7/26 @ 1216ie, ~6h56m interval
7/27 @ 1419ie, ~26h04m quadruple interval
7/27 @ 2024, ~6h05m interval
7/28 @ 0825, 12h01m double interval
7/28 @ 1436ns, ~6h11m interval
7/28 @ 2036, ~6h00m
7/29 no eruptions reported
7/30 @ 1102, 38h26m, probably six intervals


Throughout my visit, Fountain's intervals remained consistent with the 5 1/2 to 7 hour range from prior weeks.  As can be seen, intervals under 6 hours were not plentiful, but they occurred often enough that they had to be taken into consideration when trying to catch Fountain on multiple intervals.  Lynn Stephens pointed out that the shorter intervals were more likely to occur overnight when the wind had less of an effect, but afternoon intervals were not necessarily the longest.  Durations ranged from 29-34 minutes, with most falling between 30 and 32 minutes.  I did not detect any obvious connection between duration and interval.

My observations reflect what was seen in the time immediately prior to Fountain's eruptions; I never waited more than 90 minutes for an eruption.  As before, the water stayed low in Fountain until just before the eruptions started.  I'm pretty short, so I could never see the water level without at least standing on tip-toes; usually, I had to jump in order to see it.  The water level could fluctuate up and down by an inch or two, but the eruptions were preceded by an obvious rise with convection waves about 30 seconds before the start.  Eruptions usually started with a sudden burst; these could sometimes be up to 20 feet tall.  The initial bursts in the first minute of the eruption were often some of the tallest, reaching 50 feet easily.

As soon as Fountain had started, I would move into position to view Morning's Thief.  In June I observed one eruption of Morning's Thief that preceded Fountain, but in July all eruptions came after Fountain, starting from 20 seconds to 6 minutes after Fountain's start.  Eruptions of Morning's Thief consisted of one, two, or three series of bursts.  I saw 17 eruptions, 11 with two series, 4 with three series, and 2 with one series.  Each series consisted of several bursts.  I did not count the bursts carefully but each series usually had 2-8 bursts.  The strength of the bursts varied from doming surges reaching only 5 feet to huge bursts that were up to 40 feet tall and maybe 20 feet wide.  I found Morning's Thief to be an impressive geyser in its own right; I enjoyed watching its water dome up and flow over the edge of Morning's crater, and some of the bursts were easily as tall and wide as Fountain.

When multiple series occurred, they were usually separated by an interval of 3-5 minutes.  If Morning's Thief was to have 3 series, the interval was usually 3 minutes between the first and second series, giving it time to have a third series before the 10-minute mark in Fountain's eruption.  I also noted that in most cases, if Morning's Thief was going to have another series it would not have a lot of splashing from a lower water level; instead its water level would rise quickly and it would start erupting without a lot of preliminary splashing.  It seemed that when there was a lot of splashing, that was usually all that happened and the water level would not subsequently rise.  Morning's Thief was usually finished with its activity by Fountain's 10-minute mark, but I did occasionally see small splashes from it later in Fountain's eruption.

Jet's intervals prior to Fountain ranged from 4-9 minutes, with most falling in the 6-8 minute range.  There was no obvious progression of longer intervals to shorter intervals.  In fact, if Jet had restarted after an eruption of Super Frying Pan, its intervals could begin on the short side (4-5 minutes) and then lengthen (6-9 minutes) as Fountain approached.  I only got one closed interval of Jet when it skipped an eruption during Super Frying Pan; that interval was 14 minutes.  The two geysers could erupt simultaneously during an eruption of Fountain.  Super Frying Pan erupted before or during Fountain about half the time.  I never waited out a full cycle at Fountain, so I did not get any closed intervals on Super Frying Pan.  Spasm would often erupt within the hour prior to Fountain, but not always.  Its eruptions were usually pretty short, so that it was empty when Fountain started.  I never stayed at Fountain to time Clepsydra shut-downs after Fountain had ended, but there were no reports of anything out of the ordinary.
 
With its regular intervals and the possibility for 3 daylight eruptions, Fountain might have been the best geyser in the park to watch in July.  Its eruptions were long and strong, and there was always the possibility for impressive eruptions from Morning's Thief.  I hope that it continues this great activity!

--Tara Cross
fanandmortar at hotmail.com

_________________________________________________________________
Reveal your inner athlete and share it with friends on Windows Live.
http://revealyourinnerathlete.windowslive.com?locale=en-us&ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WLYIA_whichathlete_us
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: </geyser-list/attachments/20080803/7250167b/attachment.html>