[Geysers] Oscillating pairs of springs/geysers

[David Schwarz]

   Periodic oscillation of water levels in geysers and hot springs is quite
common, as are reciprocal relationships between connected
features--sometimes whole groups of them.  Some examples:

   The entire Daisy Group operates this way.  Between eruptions of the two
major geysers, water levels rise.  When either Daisy and/or Splendid
erupts, Brilliant Pool, Bonita Pool, and the other large geyser (Splendid
or Daisy) drop.  There have been documented periods when either Brilliant
Pool or Bonita Pool went into overflow with corresponding ebb and dormancy
of the other features.

   Water levels in the Sawmill complex cycle over the course of hours from
low to high water levels and back.  When Sawmill erupts, it immediately
begins to drain the system, and if it erupts for a long time (3+ hours), it
results in an exceptionally deep drain of the associated feature--Churn,
Spasmodic, Penta, Oval Spring, and "Twilight" Geyser.

   Grand and Turban show a similar relationship once they have recovered
from an eruption of Grand.  When Turban is due (every 20 minutes, give or
take), unless Grand is erupting or about to erupt, Grand drops.  After
Turban is done, Grand refills until around the time Turban is due.

   When Giantess Geyser starts erupting, Vault Geyser immediately begins to
drop.  At some point later, an eruption of Vault is triggered, beginning
with a rapid refill of its pool.

   The Purple Pools, across the Firehole River from Giant Geyser, drop when
Giant erupts.

   When Sunset Lake at Black Sand Basin was active as a geyser in the
mid-1990s, Rainbow Pool began to ebb, and continued to do so over the
course of many months until it finally erupted, ending Sunset Lake's
activity.

   Spiteful Geyser often ebbs below overflow during an eruption of Fan and
Mortar.  Also, when Norris Pool was active in 1998 and 1999, Spiteful
showed a strong sympathy with it, dropping during strong eruptions of
Norris Pool, then refilling rapidly afterwards, sometimes triggering an
eruption.

   North Goggles Geyser and Goggles Spring rise and fall in lock-step until
North Goggles erupts.  As soon as North Goggles starts, Goggles Spring
drops out sight.  The relationship between Mastiff and Giant is
similar--Mastiff will only start when water levels in the Giant Group are
high, but as soon as it does, water levels drop rapidly throughout the
system, apparently triggering an eruption of Giant.

David Schwarz

On Tue, Mar 13, 2012 at 8:40 AM, Davis, Brian L. <brdavis at iusb.edu> wrote:

> Reading through "Geyser of Yellowstone" yet again, the description of Bead
> Geyser & "Terracette Spring" caught my eye. Evidently when water levels in
> Bead fall, "Terracette Spring" rises a few inches. Do these oscillate
> periodically, or chaotically? In a similar fashion when Steamboat erupts
> Cistern Spring can drop very deeply. What are some other common examples of
> this synchronicity between two or more features? Are many of these periodic
> pairs? At one point I developed a model that showed some of these
> behaviors, (in an attempt to understand Cistern Spring), but it confused me
> and I moved on... now I'm curious again?
>
> So... favorite periodic pairs, with oscillation periods if known?
>
> --
> Brian Davis
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> Geysers at lists.wallawalla.edu
> 
>
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