[Geysers] Wildflowers During Giant's Dormancy?

[TSBryan at aol.com]

I am very uncertain as to the use of the term "dormancy" for these groups.  
In the case of the Giant Group, there has essentially always been activity 
among  those geysers, mostly by Bijou but spritzing by Catfish, boiling in 
Mastiff and  even surging (yes, down inside the vent but still present) in 
Giant. Attached is  a photo of Bijou taken in October (yes, October) 1978. I 
think you can see the  colored bacteria on the cone as well as on the 
platform, the result of constant  wetting by the Bijou and other activity. Although 
I have no photo proof of it, I  can certainly remember plants (if not 
flowers) on the platform. But I also know  that annual wildflowers can sprout in 
a minimum of soil and do so...  well... annually. This in the middle of the 
"dormancy."
 
Much the same can be said of the Daisy Group. Comet never quit, there was  
action by Bonita and Radiator, as well as by numerous sputs on the 
"platform"  near Splendid. 
 
I guess maybe this business of group dormancy can be said of the other  
places cited but, overall, I think Jeff's proposed paper might be doomed from  
the start.

Scott Bryan
-------------------
 
 
In a message dated 8/2/2011 7:32:35 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time,  
jeff.cross at utah.edu writes:

I recall  overhearing once that during the period of Giant Geyser's 
dormancy from 1959  through the gradual reactivation in the mid-1980s, wildflowers 
and grasses  grew on the Giant platform.  Is this indeed true?

How many other  groups of geysers have gone dormant all at once, as the 
Giant Group did during  this period?  I can think of three:

Orion Group, Shoshone Geyser  Basin, late 1970s and ongoing
Lower Group, Heart Lake Geyser Basin, between  2008 and 2010 and ongoing
Daisy Group, Upper Geyser Basin, during the 1960s  and recovered in the 
1970s
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