[Geysers] Geyser Report 8/19

[Ben Hoppe]

All times, unless otherwise noted, are from Wednesday, August 19.

Today was a gorgeous day. Certainly the nicest day we've had in days,
possibly weeks. The temperatures got well above 60, probably close to
70. When there was no wind to cool you down, the sun beat on you, but
it was a welcome change for me after seeing my breath every morning
for the past week.

The thing that made today the most gorgeous was Fan and Mortar! The
eruption was initiated by Upper Mortar at 1851. First pause was at
1910 and last water came at 1924. Here are my notes:
1730 River on
1734 Main Vent Huff
1738 Main Vent Splashing (continued until about 1820)
1738 River Vent Pause
1753 - 1801 Bottom Vent eruption, it then paused for a few seconds
before continuing its eruption
1756 Large Lower Mortar fuzzball that got a little water on the top of the chair
1802 - 1804 Bottom Vent eruption
1804 - 1809 Bottom Vent eruption
1814 - 1826 Bottom Vent eruption (with 2 pauses at 1820 and 1825)
1823 Main Vent very silent, no roaring, just steam
1829 River on (duration of pause = 51m)
1833 Gold on
1837 Angle on
1839 No water in River or Gold for about 30 seconds
1840 Good water levels
1842 Water levels dropped
1843 Water levels back up
1843 - 1846 Water level in Gold dropped but High stayed up and was
constantly drooling
1848 High 3-5 feet constantly
1849 At this point we were hoping, wishing, and waiting for it to turn
to lock, but it just couldn't quite get there.  The water level
dropped down again to drooling for a few seconds. Almost
simultaneously, Upper Mortar pushed heavy steam out of the cone mixed
with water. I looked back at High to find it again constantly 3-5
feet.
1851 High Vent went into lock with Gold joining it
1851 Upper Mortar began erupting to 10-15 feet
1852 Fan began erupting
1858 Weak and only water activity from Lower Mortar, never reached
more than 10 feet.

Fan's eruption was weak for the first few minutes, but it built up and
was reaching across the gravel path about 5 minutes into the eruption.
It was wonderfully backlit for anyone brave enough to try to snap a
quick picture before covering up the camera lens. Water lasted for 33
minutes. I did not count how many there were for the eruption, but we
had quite a large crowd. There were many new gazers there for the
eruption, and none were disappointed.

Other notes from today:
Castle 1830ie (major)
Daisy 0618, 0826, 1034, 1241, 1454, 1656ie
Fountain 1015vr
Grand 1117, 2008 (two bursts for the 2008 eruption)
Riverside 0954ie, 1543
Beehive 0921 (0908) and 2218 with no Indicator. This was the first no
Indicator eruption I have witnessed. At first it sounded and vaguely
looked (no moon so it was hard to tell) like a Herb Warren splash,
except after the splash ended, it came back with a bigger one that
turned into an eruption. The three of us there for the eruption were
all pleasantly surprised. There was no wind, and I could tell that it
was very tall despite the lack of light.
Plume 0611, 0714ns, 0807, 0900, 0954, 1622, 2026, 2130, 2224
Aurum 0723
Oblong 0535ie, 0949ie, 1603
Grotto 1641 (off sometime before 1930)
Lion 1354, 1531, 2123
Uncertain 0603ie
West Triplet 1932ie

Two other notes from today:
Dick Powell told me that he has been placing markers on Black Diamond,
and it seems that eruptions may be happening every 3 - 6 days, but
many presumably at night. A data logger was placed on it and recorded
an eruption at 0014 MST on August 16.

Also, today they began putting windows on the OFVEC. More of the
roofing got done as well, it's very nice to see a lot of the exterior
progress day by day.

-Ben Hoppe


-- 
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ
lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son
of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. - Galatians 2:20