[Geysers] Geysers taken for granted

[Lynn Stephens]

THIS INFORMATION 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: Someone posted on the old faithful webcam chat page: "Lynn's recent listserv discussion on Giantess intervals has lead me into 
thinking of geysers in terms of decades and centuries.  Most of the big geysers have extended dormancies.  And I started wondering what geysers we might be taking for granted today." Short answer:  The only "major" geysers that don't seem to have periods of dormancy are Great Fountain, Old Faithful, and Riverside.  Even some of the medium size geysers have had years of dormancy. I'm not going to try to give a complete answer but here are some items from Marler's Inventory about some of the dormancies. Beehive:  In addition to summers in the past 25 years with days and even weeks between eruptions, here's some information about selected years from Marler--although he admitted there may have been additional eruptions he had not learned about, in 1954 he only found 8 eruption; 1961 9; 1962 5; 1963 3 and 1965 5. Castle:  Here's what Marler said:  Unlike
Riverside's and Old
 Faithful's, Castle's function since discovery has been marked with
periods of dormancy and variations in its patterns of play.  If during its early known history there were
any approach in regularity it was not recognized by observers before the 1940's.  Available records indicate that during the
past score of years
 Castle has not only
erupted with greater frequency, but the pattern of its activity makes the
eruptions predictable with reasonable accuracy. Daisy:  Per Marler:  During
Daisy's known history its performance has ranged from great regularity, through
great irregularity, to dormancy.  I believe Marler's actions one year attempting to rejuvenate Daisy were viewed with displeasure by the Park Service. Fan & Mortar:  Marler--"The
scanty record of Fan and Mortar since the 1890s reveals long periods of
dormancy." Fountain (and Morning) --(Maureen--don't cringe when you read this):  Marler--

During part of 1899, and until late in the season Fountain
was dormant due to its eruptive energy having shifted to a nearby spring.

[the nearby spring was probably Morning.]  During
part of 1900's second decade Fountain was seldom observed erupting.       Following
the 1920s I know of no authentic record of an eruption of Fountain until the
1947 season.  From the late 1930s until
1947 I am personally aware that none occurred. 
The cause of dwindling activity and then complete cessation is unknown.     From
1947 to 1954 Fountain's eruptions continued to come as a sequence to eruptions
of Morning and Clepsydra.  None were
known to be independent.      See Rocco Paperiello's article in Transaction IV for more extensive history of Fountain (and Morning).  Giant--See various Transactions articles and charts in The Sput for Giant's history.Giantess--See prior listserv post and there will be an article in the June issue of the Sput (unless I push the article off to a later issue.  Genean has had an article on Beehive's Seasonality that I keep pushing off for various reasons.) Grand--Yes, it has had seasons of long intervals.  Marler:  From
1927 on through the 1930's and most of the 1940's there was a general increase
in the length of Grand's intervals, with seasonal fluctuations.  Between 1930 and 1947 the seasonal average
ranged between about 20 and 44 hours; the extreme intervals being 12 and 120
hours.  I think I've also read something about Marler's intervention with Vent/Turban/Grand. Lion:  For example, Marler wrote:  "Following
the 1951 season the frequency with which Lion went into an active phase began
to decrease.  Seldom more than two active
phases occurred during a week.  By 1955
active phases were occurring not oftener than once a week.  Sometimes eruptions [within the active phase] were over 3 hours
apart.  During the 1958 season eruptions
were seldom observed, but they were frequent the previous winter." Even Sawmill has had years of dormancy or near dormancy.  Marler:  During
1963 it was in a state of near dormancy. 
But few eruptions were observed during that year.  Surprisingly 1964 through 1966 witnessed a
return to near pre-1963 activity. 
However, from mid-June 1967 for the remainder of the season Sawmill was
dormant.  At the beginning of the 1968
season conditions about the crater were indicative that the dormancy of 1967
had persisted through the following winter. 
Some rejuvenation occurred in late July 1968.  However, it was mid-season in 1969 before any
activity was observed.  The frequency of
the eruptions seemed to increase as the season progressed. I'm not even going to go into Big Cub, Excelsior, Lioness, Sapphire, Steamboat, Union, etc. Lynn Stephens  		 	   		  
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