[Geysers] 8/15/10 Quadruple River Pause

[postcard73 at gmail.com]

I guess maybe I'm going through withdrawal, so I thought I would post the  
details of an event cycle we had at Fan and Mortar Sunday 8/15/10. I  
apologize if people aren't interested in this. I don't know how common  
quadruple pauses are, but I thought it was at least somewhat novel. When  
the event started I think most of us thought it was going to lead to an  
eruption (little did we know...). Somewhere around the third pause we began  
to realize it wasn't going to be our night.

1722 River Vent off (pause #1)
1739 First splash in Main Vent (frequent vigorous splashing was observed  
until 1827, with several splashes big enough to reach East Vent)
1747 River Vent on
1749 River Vent off (pause #2)
1752 River Vent on
1802 River Vent off (pause #3)
1809 River Vent on
1815 River Vent off (pause #4)
1834 River Vent on
1834 Gold Vent on
1838 Angle on
1852 Water levels mostly steam

Up until 1802 I felt like I was watching a replay of 7/27/10. The event on  
the 27th only had one pause, but the entire day seemed identical: Angle was  
in control until Main Vent started splashing and shut it off.  
Unfortunately, unlike the 27th once Main Vent came on, it wouldn't give up  
control. I commented at one point that I had been waiting all day to see  
Main Vent splash and now it wouldn't stop. Each time River Vent tried to  
take over and complete what might have been a classic event cycle, Main  
Vent shut it back down. Even after all four pauses water levels looked  
pretty good for several minutes once Gold came on. In the end, the best  
thing about this event cycle was that it was strong enough that I felt  
comfortable going back to my tent and getting a good night's sleep. In  
retrospect, I could have slept for two whole days!

Scott Grisso
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