[Geysers] Moats Report on Azure Spring

[Paul Strasser]

Hi.  I was one of the gazers who went out to Azure the day or so after the
report of eruptions.  Perhaps I was looking at the wrong pool, along with
the Crosses and others, but there was no evidence of the kind Will describes
below.  The vegetation around the pool was undisturbed, no evidence of
ripple marks around the pool, and the channel leading away from the pool was
unscoured, the cyanobacteria undisturbed.

 

Perhaps Will could post a picture or two - this is all rather peculiar, and
I wonder if I've been looking at the wrong Azure Pool all these years.

 

Paul Strasser

 

  _____  

From: geysers-bounces at lists.wallawalla.edu
[mailto:geysers-bounces at lists.wallawalla.edu] On Behalf Of sgryc at comcast.net
Sent: Friday, August 07, 2009 6:27 AM
To: geysers at lists.wallawalla.edu
Subject: [Geysers] Moats Report on Azure Spring

 

 

>From Will Moats:

 

Hello Everyone,

 

Ben Hoppe wrote "A group consisting of nine of us (assuming I can count)
made a trip to the River Group this morning... However, I will say that
contrary to yesterday's report, there was no significant wash or evidence of
increased runoff from Azure Spring. So that's that, and onto the Upper
Geyser Basin...".

 

I completely disagree with the above conclusion.  I was the one that
reported by radio that Azure Spring must have had a significant eruption
based on wash and scoured drainage channels.  I also reported that my son
Steven and I witnessed a small eruption of Azure Spring which achieved a
height of about 2 feet.  I recorded on video part of this small eruption.
After this small eruption occurred, the water level of Azure Spring dropped
about a foot, then recovered about 8 inches by the time we left the area.

 

Eruptions of Azure Spring are rare events.  However, evidence that a
significant eruption of Azure Spring recently occurred is abundantly clear.
I will lay out my case below. I have photographs to back my position, but
posting them to the listserve would be a problem for those with dial-up
access to the web.  If you want to see photos, contact me off the listserve.
Better yet, maybe I'll include them with an article in the Sput.

 

Evidence of a significant eruption:

 

1.  There are concentric ripple marks around the bank surrounding the edge
of the pool of Azure Spring, formed by wave action that I estimate was about
1 foot in height.  When was the last time any gazers saw waves on Azure
Spring a foot high?  Although the small eruption we witnessed caused waves
to form on the water surface, they were only about an inch high.  These
ripple marks, cut into the loose sinter banks, will likely be destroyed by
the first heavy rainfall.  But I have pictures of their existence.

 

2. Plants in low spots surrounding the banks of the pool are dead (brown).
Plants along the edge of the top of the bank are also dead because hot water
infiltrated into the sinter banks and killed their roots.  This suggests
that the largest waves were just able to reach the top of the banks, but
were not high enough to overtop the banks and kill more extensive areas of
vegetation.

 

3. The drainage channel leading from Azure Spring shows ample evidence of
fresh scouring from a voluminous flow of water.  The channel bifurcates
several times as it approaches the river and was cut perhaps 4-6 inches
deeper in places along the old channel floor.  If you examine the channel
closely, you will note 1.) the channel sides are vertical along a
significant portion of the channel length, and in a places, the sides
actually undercut surrounding soil, and 2.) where the water could not cut
through the hard sinter at a depth of about 4-6 inches or so below the old
channel floor, the channel bottoms have been swept absolutely clean of all
loose sediments.  Vertical channel sides, and certainly areas where the
channel sides undercut loose soil are not going to last long in a place that
receives as much rain as Yellowstone.  The banks will erode, and the
undercut areas will soon collapse.  Debris would soon cover the channel
bottoms swept clean of sediments.  All of this evidence of scouring suggests
that Azure Spring had a significant eruption not long ago which released a
substantial surge of water down the drainage channel.

 

I'm amazed that nine people missed ALL of this evidence.  Perhaps others
should go have a look.

 

As an aside, while at Azure Spring, a small geyser (RVG-4?) erupted for us
to see 4 times before it quit, with its water level dropping and starting to
recover at about the same time as Azure Spring.  Perhaps its activity was
related to that of Azure Spring.  The geyser is located about 75 feet west
of the west edge of Azure Spring.  The eruption height was only about 1
foot, and intervals 2-3 minutes.  I have both video and a photograph of this
geyser in action.

 

-- Will Moats

 

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