<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:garamond, new york, times, serif;font-size:14pt"><div><span>Thanks, Carlton - this is great, and it would be more accurate to say that potential energy in the form of heat is increased up to the point where the water temperature exceeds boiling point at the pressure found at depth...after which boiling can occur, pressure can drop, and etc.</span></div><div><span></span> </div><div>Bruce Jensen,<br>California, USA<br>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br><br></div><div>"[Yellowstone] is a fabulous country, the only fabulous country; it is the one place where miracles not only happen, but where they happen all the time." ~ Thomas Wolfe<br> <div style="font-family: garamond, new york, times, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> <div style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <div dir="ltr"> <div class="hr" style="margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(204,
204, 204); height: 0px; line-height: 0; font-size: 0px;" contenteditable="false" readonly="true"></div> <font face="Arial" size="2"> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span></b> Carlton Cross <cross@bmi.net><br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> Geyser Observation Reports <geysers@lists.wallawalla.edu> <br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Monday, July 22, 2013 12:11 PM<br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> Re: [Geysers] Lone Star Study<br> </font> </div> <div class="y_msg_container"><br>This article perpetuates a major fallacy about geysers. Eruptions <br>are not caused by a buildup of pressure; they're caused by increasing <br>temperature and the formation of steam bubbles that reduce the pressure.<br><br>There are two major concepts that explain geyser eruptions: 1) The <br>static pressure is determined by the depth below the water surface, <br>and 2) The
boiling point increases as the pressure increases. Most <br>of us have dived into a swimming pool and felt the pressure of the <br>water as we go deeper. We also know that a pressure cooker will cook <br>faster because the water is hotter when it boils under pressure.<br><br>So, in quiet water, the pressure will be the static pressure <br>determined by the depth, and, once the geyser reaches overflow, that <br>pressure will remain constant at all depths. Now, consider a column <br>of water. The deeper water can be hotter without boiling because the <br>pressure at depth is higher. As a glob of water rises because of the <br>overflow of the geyser, the pressure on that glob will <br>decrease. Once the water column has heated sufficiently, the water <br>reaching a particular depth will be hotter than the boiling point for <br>that depth. When it boils and forms steam bubbles, the bubbles will <br>expand and rise
which then reduces the pressure caused by the weight <br>of the overlying water. The pressure drop allows more water to boil <br>and the process becomes self-sustaining.<br><br>Constrictions are often involved in geyser plumbing. What happens in <br>a constriction is that the pressure drops as the fluid moves <br>faster. Think about a hose that has a leak. The faster the water <br>flows through the hose, the less the water will squirt out of the <br>leak. In a constriction, the smaller the passage is, the faster the <br>water will flow and the lower the pressure will be. Again, once the <br>steam bubbles start to form, the weight of the overlying water will <br>decrease and the pressure will drop. Thus, at a constriction, there <br>are two reasons why boiling will occur. It's likely that most <br>geysers have significant constrictions, but a constriction is not <br>necessary for an eruption to
occur.<br><br>Carlton Cross<br><br><br>At 01:45 PM 7/21/2013, you wrote:<br>>Here is short synopsis of a longer article about a study done <br>>recently at Lone Star Geyser. It quotes the longer study: The <br>>Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, June 19 edition.<br>><br>><a href="http://www.livescience.com/38299-yellowstone-lone-star-geyser.html" target="_blank">http://www.livescience.com/38299-yellowstone-lone-star-geyser.html</a><br>><br>>Pat Snyder<br>>_______________________________________________<br>>Geysers mailing list<br>><a href="mailto:Geysers@lists.wallawalla.edu" ymailto="mailto:Geysers@lists.wallawalla.edu">Geysers@lists.wallawalla.edu</a><br>><a href="https://lists.wallawalla.edu/mailman/listinfo/geysers" target="_blank">https://lists.wallawalla.edu/mailman/listinfo/geysers</a><br><br>_______________________________________________<br>Geysers mailing list<br><a
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