[Geysers] Fan & Mortar 10/7 11:09

[Lynn Stephens]

THIS REPORT IS FOR THE PERSONAL READING USE BY THE SUBSCRIBERS TO THIS LISTSERV AND IS NOT TO BE REPRODUCED, FORWARDED, OR PUBLISHED, INCLUDING PUBLICATION IN THE SPUT.  (This applies to any other doggerel and/or stories that I've sent out this summer even if I forgot to put the disclaimer on them.)

 

Since I have only a week left in the Park, I haven't been, and won't be sending out any more of the daily reports.  But here's a report on this (10/7) morning's eruption of Fan & Mortar.

 

I arrived at 0650 to discover the markers were still in place and all the vents were off.

I'm going to give a rundown on all the cycles I saw because Upper Mortar and Main Vent did plenty of huffing throughout the morning although there were no pauses and there was no Main Vent splashing.  Also, I never saw even any spits from Bottom Vent, no water in Lower Mortar, and there was no water in Bottom Vent's runoff channel when I arrived.

 

0658 River Vent (RV)/Gold (G)/Angle (A) all turned on almost simultaneously.  

       0712 Upper Mortar (UM) puffed.

       0736 Gold turned to steam 0736; UM, Bottom Vent (BV) and Main Vent (MV) all huffing

       0748 RV turns off

0816 RV/G/Angle Never Quit (ANQ) dribble on, quit 0818

0819 RV/G/ANQ dribble on, quit 0821--Angle off for two minutes

0824 RV/G/A turn on

       0835 MV puffs; RV off 0837

0841 RV/A/G turn on; UM huff 0846; RV off 0854, A off 0859

0901 RV/A/G; RV off 0931, A off

09:53 RV/A/G, off 1004, A off

1020 RV/G/A, off 1031

Eruption Cycle:

1039/A/G

       1049 UM/BV huffs; Gold erupting infrequently with no pool; High splashing intermittently with no drooling

       1052 MV puffs--Fan's vents picking up slightly, but still only "fair"--High not drooling; Gold not pooling; no steady activity, only intermittent splashing but occasionally all three vents are erupting together

       1054 Weak MV puffs that continue through 1058 when the puffs are stronger and "whiter"

       1058  At this point Fan's vents start picking up.  High is splashing steadily 6-8 inches and Gold is erupting more frequently, but still no pool.  Angle has turned to steam

       1101  High is now erupting steadily to one foot and I move the pack and the  bike to safety.  I didn't see any splashing in Main Vent, but there could have been some while my back was turned as I moved items and put on my poncho.

      Over the next three minutes the activity in High and Gold just keeps climbing in height and gain in intensity as measured by the constant eruptive activity.  I am putting on my raincoat and warning visitors going between Morning Glory and Riverside, especially those waiting on the bridge for Riverside (prediction was between 10:45 and 11:45) that there was no guarantee but it was possible F&M would erupt and they would get WET.

      At 11:04 High was steady at 8-10 feet and Gold was steady at 4-5 feet.  (Angle was in steam.)  One visitor asked what the preliminary signs of an eruption were and I just pointed and said, "That!"

      The lock seemed to take forever, with the activity in High and Gold waning once or twice.  Frying Pan started to steam at 11:07.  East Vent took off at 11:09, 30 minutes after the start of River Vent with Main Vent following closely thereafter.

      Byron Taylor (from Louisiana, works at the Branding Iron in West) had been at F&M for awhile this morning, but decided to go to Artemisia to stretch his legs.  He was on his way back when he saw the steam cloud start to rise.  He raced down the hill to watch his first eruption of F&M.  The eruption was not photogenic since the sky was gray/white and there were tiny snowflakes flying through air.  The water did clear the boardwalk, but only by about 8-10 feet.  The wind blew water over the bridge, but most of the boardwalk stayed dry.  Duration was 35 minutes.

     I've now seen five F&M starts this summer without any preliminary pauses or Main Vent splashing.  This one had characteristics of the last two "non-traditional" starts that I saw.  It was quite similar to the last one with UM huffing, this time 10 minutes after the start of River Vent instead of 12, and Main Vent steam puffs starting not long after the UM huffing.  It took longer for the activity in Fan's Vents to build last time than it did this time.  High went from almost nothing to steady eruptive activity in just a few minutes and from 1 foot to 8-10 feet in three minutes.  If Gold ever had a pool (and Gold 2 and 3 were erupting), I didn't see it, but High was putting out a lot of steam once it started steadily erupting.

     There weren't any gazer radios in the basin (other than mine) so I didn't have to worry about not being able to give warning.  Could I have given warning?  I'd seen Main Vent huffing and puffing after RV/G/A turned on during two earlier cycles, so if that becomes a warning sign, then there would have been repeated fruitless rides to F&M.  When High Vent picked up after the stronger Main Vent huffing at 10:58, I did make an announcement on the radio, even though there were no other radios in the basin, which would have given 11 minutes of warning.  

      While I was waiting through the earlier cycles, it was too cold to sew, and the sky was threatening so I didn't want to take out a library book.  With nothing else to do, my quirkish sense of humor kicked in and I was making up Fan & Mortar doggerel to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell":

 

The vents are in a lock,

The vents are in a lock,

Hi Ho, up high they go,

The vents are in a lock.

 

Now East Vent erupts too

Though the steam blocks the view

Hi Ho, away it goes

Now East Vent erupts too.

 

Hey Main Vent does its part,

What a beautiful start,

Hi Ho, up high they go,

Now Main Vent does its part

 

F&M in the sun,

Yes, it was a lot of fun

Hi Ho, away they go

Yes, it was a lot of fun

 

(OK, so there wasn't any sun, this is just for fun anyway.)

 

Mortars two now join in

We wondered where you'd been

Hi Ho, up high they go

Morning treat just for Lynn.

 

(And the few visitors I managed to gather as they were walking from Morning Glory to Riverside, and a few who heard the noise and came over, plus Byron on his way down the hill from Artemisia, but who said doggerel had to be accurate.)

 

Lynn Stephens

 

 
 		 	   		  
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