[Geysers] Terra Cotta

[Mike Keller]

Been away from email for a while-hence the delay in answering this.

There are 7 independent geysers in the Terra Cotta complex.  They are "A",
"B", "C", "D", "E", "F", and "J" (as Scott noted, these letters were applied
by me towards the naming of the vents).  In addition, there are another 9
vents that erupt with "A", "D", "E", and "J", depending on what is happening
at the time.  These vents are lettered up to "P".  There are another 2
vents, "Q" and "R" that overflow, but I have never seen erupt nor have I
found any evidence of them having erupted.

"A" is the one that looks like Anemone, and erupts every 70-300 minutes.
Eruptions last 5-9 minutes and reach up to 15 feet.  Every so often it will
pause around the 6-7 minute mark and then have a 2nd "burst" (much like
Grand) a few seconds later that lasts about 40 seconds or so.
 
"B" erupts in a series, gradually getting larger and larger, and reaches up
to 10 feet.  The eruptive series lasts about 30 minutes, and they come every
4-8 hours.

"C" is the largest vent I have seen in the group.  It is dormant most of the
time, but when active it erupts every 8-20 minutes and can reach up to 25
feet.

"D" is very rare (I have only seen 2 active cycles over the years), but when
active erupts every few minutes up to about 5 feet.

"E" varies from a cyclic fumarole to a geyser, depending on how recently "A"
has erupted.  Intervals are 12-20 minutes.  For the first 30-45 minutes
after "A" has erupted, all "E" does is pulse steam.  Gradually the eruptions
will start to include spray, then finally they will have true droplets of
water to a few feet.

"F" is more of an intermittent overflowing vent than a geyser, but sometimes
it can splash to a foot or so.  "F" is only active when both "A" and "B"
have not erupted for at least an hour.

"J" is located in the grass a few feet to the south of the main group.  When
"C" is active, "J" is very active, but I have also seen "J" erupt when "C"
is dormant.  Intervals vary from a few minutes to a few hours, and the
eruptions reach about 4 feet.

Someday I will find the time to sum this up in greater detail in a
Transactions Article.

MK

-----Original Message-----
From: geysers-bounces at lists.wallawalla.edu
[mailto:geysers-bounces at lists.wallawalla.edu] On Behalf Of Jeff Cross
Sent: Sunday, November 30, 2008 2:35 PM
To: geysers at lists.wallawalla.edu
Subject: [Geysers] Terra Cotta

How many separate geysers are found in the Terra Cotta complex?

Jeff Cross
crossj at whitman.edu_______________________________________________
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