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<DIV><<And Echinus was overflowing. (P.S. The word is now out that
Echinus has not erupted _at all_ since December 2005.)>></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I have been thinking about Echinus and there are a couple of questions I
have to throw out-- seems like this geyser currently has plenty of water but
(?) has gradually lost its heat source-- Or is it possible that it has damaged
itself like Excelsior and Monarch are speculated to have done to
themselves?... I wondered this since Norris is the hottest basin in the Park
and is likely to still have plenty of heat. I remember Echinus 20 years
ago and have looked through several pictures I have from 1986 and 1989 and it
seems like it used to erupt from a lower pool and had (of course memory
is fickle) longer and more frequent eruptions than I had seen over
the past 6 years until this current dormancy. I do remember it used to
drain completely, but eruptions I watched in 2002, 2003 and 2004 seemed
to have very little drain comparatively-- the water would drop
maybe 1/3 or so from overflow and then start gradually filling to the
next eruption... so anyway, my big question I guess is whether it's
possible that an i<STRONG><EM>ncrease</EM></STRONG> in the water supply
to Echinus would affect eruptions negatively-- or as mentioned above whether
it could have damaged itself at depth. Echinus has always been a
favorite, I hate to have it dormant! </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Thanks for letting me babble-- </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Mario Durrant</DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>