[Geysers] Disturbances

[SCOTT BRYAN]

My responses are embedded below

Scott Bryan
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I have a few questions about the Norris disturbances.  Since I have not been able to witness their progress, I am wondering:

 

1)      Does the disturbance start in a single geographical area and then progress outward?



      I was at Norris for the start of one big, basin-wide plus several smaller, more-localized disturbances. At least by "casual" observation (like "Hey, look. Something's going on!"), the disturbances always visually start at a specific spot but then rapidly propagate outward from there. Also, in a basin-wide disturbance, it probably appears at a number of different places nearly simultaneously.



2)      If so, are some thermal vents skipped initially, only to respond substantially after all of the neighboring vents have been affected?



      Probably -- the plumbing systems of individual springs are likely to undergo individualized responses to a disturbance. I can remember (in general, at least) some springs essentially unaffected throughout a disturbance while nearby features were highly animated.



3)      Do acid springs change to alkaline?  Or do alkaline springs change to acid?  Or some of both?



      Given that a disturbance involves a greater influx of geothermal fluid from a deeper reservoir AND given that research drilling indicated that acid conditions exist only near the surface, I have to think that acid springs tend toward the alkaline -- but perhaps acid simply becomes less acidic. I would not expect alkaline to become acid.



4)      Are the big geysers (Steamboat, Echinus, Ledge, etc) always the first ones affected?  Are they always affected negatively?   Steamboat gets zapped, and I remember a 3-day sit at Ledge in 1994 ending when we saw signs of a disturbance, which apparently rendered Ledge inactive for a while.  What do the other big geysers do?



      Often, at least in a major, basin-wide sort of disturbance, the process first appears along the Echinus-Steamboat-Emerald trend. Certainly, though, most distrubances, which are smaller and more localized, do not affect this trend (at least, not visually). Also, one of the first signs of major disturbances is/used to be the "super" eruption by Echinus (once upon a time known as the "gran mal" before it was decided that that was a poor term to use), in which an extremely long duration eruption showed a change from clear water to muddy water as the action progressed.

 
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