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<font face="Comic Sans MS">This is apparently one of the odds and
ends I was inquiring about after our July trip (the other being a
vent to the extreme right of Kaleidoscope's pool; having caught
the "Twins" on this trip, I don't think it was the more easterly
of the two)<br>
<br>
Anyway, this would be a difficult distinction to make without the
binocs (or maybe younger eyeballs---step in here any time, Will
and Micah...), but the vent I've now heard called Small or Little
Crack is actually a small complex. With the perspective you get
from the overlook or main boardwalk on or near the stairs of the
Fountain Paintpots, the two craters that are erupting in a very
similar fashion are lined up nearly one behind the other and from
said perspective seem very close together (the one to the back is
slightly to the right of the one in front). I would have called
the eruptions virtually identical and realize now I should have
tried clocking both to see if I could get interval/duration info
(blame this on my presence and state of heightened but narrowed
awareness because we were there to try to catch Morning). Also
complicating this is that there is a cone geyser to the extreme
left of this small, compact group (sorry, I believe Cracks A and B
are cones despite their pools in the fashion of, say, Grotto
Fountain) that is more after the fashion of OF; no pool seems to
be generated, but the eruption is very similar to that of the
other two.<br>
<br>
The one thing I did notice is that the forward vent fills (often
has some water left in a little residual basin to its left) and
that once it starts, it reaches its maximum height pretty quickly.
When the back vent goes, its pool fills, and there seem to be two
vents, each acting as a small sput until one (mainly I saw the
right-hand vent) takes over the eruption and surges suddenly to
full height. Between them and off to the left (so it's to the
right of the "cone") lies a still pool that in two trips of
watching it while trying to catch Morning did absolutely nothing
except stay fairly full and not erupt. There is a little bitty
sput right in front of this still pool that appeared to be a tiny
perpetual spouter (likewise, there is a weathered formation to the
right of this complex that seemed comprised of nothing *but* itty
bitty sputs (I counted as many as 6).<br>
<br>
Here's an attempt to represent graphically what I'm seeing from a
bird's eye view:<br>
<br>
C<br>
A B<br>
x<br>
D<br>
<br>
where A=small round hole that behaves as a cone geyser<br>
B= quiet pool<br>
C= "back vent" (cone with pool?)<br>
D= "front vent" (cone with pool?)<br>
x= tiny perpetual spouter<br>
<br>
C and D erupted often enough that if some enterprising soul wanted
to clock them to get a sense of their behavior it might make a
nice article for Sput or even Transactions (understanding that
Sprinkler/Kaleidoscope has a history of frequent changes). Is it a
group around which the energy circulates or are A, C, and D
functioning independently of one another so it would be possible
that one day they would have their own Trifecta?<br>
<br>
One other thing I noticed the afternoon of the 16th was that Deep
Blue's pool was quite low (you could see as many as 5 little sputs
going off at once) and that Kaleidoscope's pool, though up, filled
ages before we got the Twins eruption. I believe other observers
onsite before we were indicated that Kaleidoscope had not gone, so
that pool was full for quite some time before the Twins started.
Is Deep Blue known to do an exchange of function with the other
pools out there?<br>
Karen Webb<br>
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