[Geysers] Geyser Report 6/2 (Stephens)

[Lynn Stephens]

THIS REPORT IS FOR THE PERSONAL USE OF THE READERS OF THIS LISTSERV AND IS NOT TO BE REPRODUCED FOR ANY OTHER PURPOSE, INCLUDING PUBLICATION IN THE SPUT OR THE TRANSACTIONS. I started this morning by visiting Chinese Spring to see the what was left of the aftermath of the eruption.  I returned later to take some pictures. Other geyser news: I had a closed interval for Till (major to major) geyser today--9h53m, the first major to major interval under 10 hours that I've recorded this season. On my trip to and from Atomizer, I realized I had forgotten to write that although Mercury has plenty of water, the water level does fluctuate.  For example, this morning when I went past on my way to Atomizer, the front pool (southeast pool, or closer to the trail) was full and overflowing into the back pool (northwest pool, or farther from the trail).  On my return trip about 1 hour 20 minutes later, the front pool had dropped about an inch or so and was not quite overflowing into the back pool. Atomizer--I had another "quick comeback major" for a major to major interval of about 18 hours.  Gone, at least so far this season, are the days when "quick comeback majors" resulted in 12 1/2 to 13 1/2 hour major to major intervals! Sometimes it seems as soon as I write something, it becomes obsolete.  In my 6/1 report I said I hadn't seen Lemon Spring below overflow.  This afternoon when I drove through Firehole Lake Drive, it was down about 6-8 inches.  The water did not appear to be very murky, if at all. Two items about the Fountain Complex: 1.  When I first started seriously watching Fountain a long time ago, I heard a lot of "Fountain can't erupt while XXXX is doing YYYY."  One of the things that has been said recently is that no one had observed Fountain start during a Jet eruption.  That changed Thursday, May 31, when Spasm started at 1710, Jet started, still at 1710, and then Fountain started. 2.  Someone commented on the fact that it seemed like Twig started longer before the end of Fountain today than it usually does.  I hadn't crunched the numbers yet, but my impression had been that Twig was starting about the same time after the start of Fountain and the longer Fountain continued erupting, the longer the time between the start of Twig and the end of Fountain.  So, I crunched some numbers (about half the data was observed by me; thanks to Maureen for most of the numbers during the first few weeks the park was open, Craig Sweeny, Steve Eide, Bob Lieb, and anyone else I might have forgotten for putting Fountain start, duration, and Twig start times in geysertimes) First, some descriptive statistics for April 21 through June 2.


 
  
   
  
  
  Minutes after Fountain Start Before Twig Started
  
  
  Minutes Before Fountain End that Twig Started
  
  
  Total Fountain Duration
  
 
 
  
   
  
  
   
  
  
   
  
  
   
  
 
 
  
  Count
  
  
  34
  
  
  33
  
  
  34
  
 
 
  
  Minimum
  
  
  24
  
  
  -4
  
  
  31
  
 
 
  
  Maximum
  
  
  49
  
  
  18
  
  
  49
  
 
 
  
  Mean
  
  
  35
  
  
  6
  
  
  40
  
 
 
  
  Median
  
  
  33
  
  
  5
  
  
  41
  
 


Some distributions and percentages for the "lag times."  First, the number of minutes after Fountain starts that Twig starts: 


 
  
   
  
  
   
  
  
   
  
  
   
  
 
 
  
  Distributions:
  
  
   
  
  
  Cumulative Percent
  
  
   
  
 
 
  
  <=30m
  
  
  2 (6%)
  
  
  6%
  
  
   
  
 
 
  
  31, 32 min
  
  
  7 (21%)
  
  
  27%
  
  
   
  
 
 
  
  33, 34 min
  
  
  14 (38%)
  
  
  65%
  
  
   
  
 
 
  
  35, 36 min
  
  
  3 (9%)
  
  
  74%
  
  
   
  
 
 
  
  37, 38 min
  
  
  4 (12%)
  
  
  86%
  
  
   
  
 
 
  
  39, 40 min
  
  
  2 (6%)
  
  
  92%
  
  
   
  
 
 
  
  >40 min
  
  
  3 (9%) 
  
  
  101%
  
  
   
  
 


As I suspected, almost 60% of the Twig starts are 31-34 minutes after the start of Fountain. Next, number of minutes before Fountain ends that Twig starts (negative numbers, for example -4, indicate that Twig started after Fountain stopped) 


 
  
  Number of Minutes
  Before Fountain Stopped that Twig Started
  
 
 
  
   
  
  
   
  
  
   
  
  
   
  
 
 
  
   
  
  
   
  
  
   
  
  
  Cumulative Percent
  
 
 
  
  -4 to 0 min
  
  
   
  
  
  9 (27%)
  
  
  27%
  
 
 
  
  1 to 3 min
  
  
   
  
  
  5 (15%)
  
  
  42%
  
 
 
  
  4 to 6 min
  
  
   
  
  
  5 (12%)
  
  
  54%
  
 
 
  
  7 to 9 min
  
  
   
  
  
  6 (18%)
  
  
  72%
  
 
 
  
  10 to 12 min
  
  
   
  
  
  2 (6%)
  
  
  78%
  
 
 
  
  13 to 15 min
  
  
   
  
  
  5 (15%)
  
  
  93%
  
 
 
  
  >15 min
  
  
   
  
  
  2 (6%)
  
  
  99%
  
 


The distribution is much flatter than the distribution of the number of minutes after Fountain start that Twig started.  As a general statement (naturally there are a few cases that are outliers), the longer lag time between the start of Twig and the end of Fountain increases as Fountain's duration increases. Weather--Two thunderstorms this morning.  I came back to West Yellowstone late this afternoon.  As I'm sitting here typing this, the thunder is booming here in West Yellowstone.  Otherwise, the weather wasn't bad because temperatures were quite moderate and there wasn't much wind. A probable cause of frequent sandhill crane "chatter" heard on Firehole Lake Drive, not just morning and evening, but throughout the day is a nest in Whiskey Flat "marsh." A snowshoe rabbit tried to commit suicide this morning about a mile north of Biscuit Basin by running across the road in front of the pickup, and a grouse hen tried to do the same thing on Firehole Lake Drive today. Lynn Stephens 		 	   		  
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