[Geysers] Brief report on Fountain and Morning, June 18-22, 2012

[Tara Cross]

As of this afternoon’s Fountain at 1359, we have reason to
believe that Morning has not erupted since 1040 on June 21.  I will post as many details as I have time
for.


Fountain had a very long interval on June 18.  I think it was in excess of 16 hours but I
don’t have the time of the previous eruption. 
During our 7 ½ hour wait for Fountain that day, we did not see anything
in Morning’s Thief.  Based on reports
from the previous few days, Morning’s Thief was continuing to erupt before
Fountain much of the time so we were surprised that it wasn’t doing anything.  Fountain finally erupted at 1931 with a “normal”
duration of 32 minutes.

Because I had already spent so much time at Fountain, I did
not try to see it again on June 19.  Bill
and Carol Beverly reported an eruption at 1804, duration 36 minutes.


Fountain erupted before 0700 on June 20.  As Maureen reported, she happened to be
driving by at a time when normally no one would have been in the area, and got
to see Morning at 1231ie.  (Thanks
Maureen for letting us know!)  I got out
to the Fountain Group at about 1450. 
Water appeared in Morning’s Thief around 1707.  Morning’s Thief erupted at 1808, then at
least twice more with Fountain, which started at 1812 for an inferred interval
of about 12 hours.  Fountain’s eruption
threw quite a few rocks, though not as many as Maureen saw earlier this season.  The duration was 43 minutes.

Fountain was seen ie at 0448 by Jim Scheirer on June
21.  Going with the idea that Morning
might erupt mid-cycle between Fountains again, I and a number of other gazers
went to Fountain.  The first number I
have in my book is Super Frying Pan at 0901ie. 
The Fountain eruption had turned Jet off, and it restarted at 0932 and
proceeded to have 8-11 minute intervals. 
The water level rose in Morning, and it began to boil.  The boiling continued to get stronger.  Polly Panos and I were both staring at the
pool through binoculars when we saw a doming boil to about 2 feet.  Then there was a much larger doming boil and
Morning started to erupt at 1040.  I
decided to take video so I don’t have a record of the Jet eruptions during
Morning but the intervals did not shorten to 1-3 minutes like they do when
Fountain erupts.  They stayed in the same
range as before.


As to the height estimate. 
We didn’t have measuring devices so no one can say for sure how tall it
was.  I personally agreed with the 200
foot height estimate based on my experience with Giant and Great Fountain
superbursts.  It was certainly taller
than any of the superbursts I have seen.


After Morning’s eruption on June 21, its water level dropped
out of sight.  Its pool was visible a few
hours after, and the water crept higher to near the water level it was at when
the eruption started.  But we also saw
water in Morning’s Thief, and it erupted at 1507, 1541, and 1546 before
Fountain erupted at 1551 and then had 3 more eruptions.  Most left the Fountain area at that point,
but there was someone in the Lower Basin while Morning was unattended and it
did not erupt while people were away.  I
returned to Fountain at about 1900.  The
water level in Morning was out of sight. 
It gradually rose, but we eventually couldn’t see due to darkness.  We couldn’t see if there had been water in
Morning’s Thief but it erupted at 2349, leading us to believe that the next
event would be Fountain, so we left.

 

The evidence in the area of Fountain and Morning this
morning, June 22, suggested that Fountain had erupted sometime in the wee hours,
perhaps 0100-0300.  Starting around 0900,
Morning’s pool rose and it boiled cyclically. 
We were hopeful until we saw water in Morning’s Thief, which was also
cycling along with Morning.  Finally,
after about an hour of visible boils, Morning’s Thief erupted at 1127.  The boiling in Morning’s pool began to
subside and we had additional Morning’s Thief eruptions at 1151, 1211, 1241,
1335, and 1346 before Fountain erupted at 1359. 
Morning’s Thief also had 3 eruptions during Fountain.

I’m headed back to Fountain this evening to see what
happens.

 		 	   		  
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