geyser

The term 'geyser' in English dates back to the late 18th century and comes from Geysir, which is a geyser in Iceland.{{Cite web |url=https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/geyser |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190705210214/https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/geyser |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 July 2019 |title=geyser {{!}} Definition of geyser in English by Lexico Dictionaries |website=Lexico Dictionaries {{!}} English |access-date=5 July 2019}} Its name means "one who gushes".{{Cite web |title=geyser {{!}} Origin and meaning of geyser by Online Etymology Dictionary |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/geyser |access-date=17 July 2020 |website=www.etymonline.com |language=en}}

File:Steamboat Geyser in Yellowstone.jpg in Yellowstone National Park]]

Geysers are nonpermanent geological features. Geysers are generally associated with areas of recent magmatism.{{cite journal |url=https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-earth-063016-015605 |journal=Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences |volume=45 |year=2017 |title=The Fascinating and Complex Dynamics of Geyser Eruptions |first1=Shaul |last1=Hurwitz |first2=Michael |last2=Manga |issue=1 |pages=31–59 |doi=10.1146/annurev-earth-063016-015605 |bibcode=2017AREPS..45...31H}} As the water boils, the resulting pressure forces a superheated column of steam and water to the surface through the geyser's internal plumbing. The formation of geysers specifically requires the combination of three geologic conditions that are usually found in volcanic terrain: heat, water, and a subsurface hydraulic system with the right geometry.

The heat needed for geyser formation comes from magma that needs to be close to the surface of the Earth.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ljXMs4rkv3gC&q=heat+for+geyser+formation+comes+from+near+surface+magma&pg=PA127 |title=Quakes, Eruptions, and Other Geologic Cataclysms: Revealing the Earth's Hazards |last=Erickson |first=Jon |date=14 May 2014 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=9781438109695}} For the heated water to form a geyser, a plumbing system (made of fractures, fissures, porous spaces, and sometimes cavities) is required. This includes a reservoir to hold the water while it is being heated.

Geysers tend to be coated with geyserite, or siliceous sinter. The water in geysers comes in contact with hot silica-containing rocks, such as rhyolite. The heated water dissolves the silica. As it gets closer to the surface, the water cools and the silica drops out of solution, leaving a deposit of amorphous opal. Gradually the opal anneals into quartz, forming geyserite. Geyserite often covers the microbial mats that grow in geysers. As the mats grow and the silica is deposited, the mats can form up to 50% of the volume of the geyserite.{{cite web |title=Geysers—what exactly are they made of? |work=Yellowstone Volcano Observatory |publisher=USGS |url=https://www.usgs.gov/news/geysers-what-exactly-are-they-made |date=23 March 2020}}

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|caption1=Steam rises from heated water

|caption2=Pulses of water swell upward

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|caption4=Ejected water spouts upward and falls back down into the pipe

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Geyser activity, like all hot spring activity, is caused by surface water gradually seeping down through the ground until it meets geothermally heated rock.{{cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/geology/hot-springs.htm |title=Hot Springs/Geothermal Features |publisher=USGS |date=10 February 2020}} In non-eruptive hot springs, the heated water then rises back toward the surface by convection through porous and fractured rocks, while in geysers, the water instead is explosively forced upwards by the high steam pressure created when water boils below. Geysers also differ from non-eruptive hot springs in their subterranean structure: geysers have constrictions in their plumbing that create pressure build-up.{{cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/hydrothermal-features.htm |title=Hydrothermal features |work=Yellowstone |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=27 October 2024}}

As the geyser fills, the water at the top of the column cools off, but because of the narrowness of the channel, convective cooling of the water in the reservoir is impossible. The cooler water above presses down on the hotter water beneath, not unlike the lid of a pressure cooker, allowing the water in the reservoir to become superheated, i.e. to remain liquid at temperatures well above the standard-pressure boiling point.{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316083033/http://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/geysers.htm |archive-date=16 March 2016 |url=http://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/geysers.htm |title=Geysers |work=Yellowstone |publisher=National Park Service}}

Ultimately, the temperatures near the bottom of the geyser rise to a point where boiling begins, forcing steam bubbles to rise to the top of the column. As they burst through the geyser's vent, some water overflows or splashes out, reducing the weight of the column and thus the pressure on the water below. With this release of pressure, the superheated water flashes into steam, boiling violently throughout the column. The resulting froth of expanding steam and hot water then sprays out of the geyser vent.{{cite journal |last=Lewin |first=Sarah |title=Instant Egghead: How do geysers erupt over and over? |journal=Scientific American |year=2015 |volume=312 |issue=5 |page=27 |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0515-27 |pmid=26336706 |url=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/instant-egghead-how-do-geysers-erupt-over-and-over |access-date=17 May 2015}}

Eventually the water remaining in the geyser cools back to below the boiling point and the eruption ends; heated groundwater begins seeping back into the reservoir, and the whole cycle begins again. The duration of eruptions and the time between successive eruptions vary greatly from geyser to geyser; Strokkur in Iceland erupts for a few seconds every few minutes,{{cite journal |last1=Eibl |first1=EPS |last2=Hainzl |first2=S |last3=Vesely |first3=NIK |last4=Walter |first4=TR |last5=Jousset |first5=P |last6=Hersir |first6=GP |last7=Dahm |first7=T |doi=10.1029/2019GL085266 |title=Eruption Interval Monitoring at Strokkur Geyser, Iceland |journal=Geophysical Research Letters |volume=47 |issue=1 |year=2019}} while Grand Geyser in the United States erupts for up to 10 minutes every 8–12 hours.{{Cite web |title=Grand Geyser |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061027103300/https://www.nps.gov/archive/yell/tours/oldfaithful/grandg.htm |archive-date=27 October 2006 |url=https://www.nps.gov/archive/yell/tours/oldfaithful/grandg.htm |work=Yellowstone |publisher=National Park Service}}

There are two types of geysers: fountain geysers which erupt from pools of water, typically in a series of intense, even violent, bursts; and cone geysers which erupt from cones or mounds of siliceous sinter (including geyserite), usually in steady jets that last anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes. Old Faithful, perhaps the best-known geyser at Yellowstone National Park, is an example of a cone geyser. Grand Geyser, the tallest predictable geyser on Earth (although Geysir in Iceland is taller, it is not predictable), also at Yellowstone National Park, is an example of a fountain geyser.{{cite book |last=Bryan |first=T. Scott |title=The Geysers of Yellowstone |edition=Fifth |location=United States |publisher=University Press of Colorado |year=2018}}

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|alt1 = Geyser erupts up and blows sideways from a pool.

|alt2 = High geyser of water erupts out of the sparsely vegetated earth.

|footer = Fountain Geyser erupting from the pool (left) and Old Faithful geyser (cone geyser having mound of siliceous sinter) in Yellowstone National Park erupts approximately every 91 minutes (right).

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There are many volcanic areas in the world that have hot springs, mud pots and fumaroles, but very few have erupting geysers. The main reason for their rarity is that multiple intense transient forces must occur simultaneously for a geyser to exist. For example, even when other necessary conditions exist, if the rock structure is loose, eruptions will erode the channels and rapidly destroy any nascent geysers.{{Cite thesis |last=Brown |first=Sabrina |year=2019 |title=Diatom-inferred records of paleolimnological variability and continental hydrothermal activity in Yellowstone National Park, USA |url=https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/geoscidiss/122 |type=PhD dissertation |publisher=University of Nebraska–Lincoln}}

Geysers are fragile, and if conditions change, they may go dormant or extinct. Many have been destroyed simply by people throwing debris into them, while others have ceased to erupt due to dewatering by geothermal power plants. However, the Geysir in Iceland has had periods of activity and dormancy. During its long dormant periods, eruptions were sometimes artificially induced—often on special occasions—by the addition of surfactant soaps to the water.{{cite journal |title=Geochemical Study of the Geysir Geothermal Field in Haukadalur, S. Iceland |first1=S. |last1=Pasvanoglu |first2=H. |last2=Kristmannsdóttir |first3=S. |last3=Björnsson |first4=H. |last4=Torfason |journal=Proceedings World Geothermal Congress 2000 |year=2000}}

{{Clear}}

{{Further|Thermophile|Hyperthermophile}}

File:Aerial image of Grand Prismatic Spring (view from the south).jpg, Yellowstone National Park]]

Some geysers have specific colours, because despite the harsh conditions, life is often found in them (and also in other hot habitats) in the form of thermophilic prokaryotes. No known eukaryote can survive over {{convert|60|°C|°F|0|lk=on}}.{{cite journal |first1=LE |last1=Morrison |first2=FW |last2=Tanner |title=Studies on Thermophilic Bacteria |journal=Botanical Gazette |volume=77 |number=2 |year=1924 |pages=171–185 |doi=10.1086/333297}}

In the 1960s, when the research of the biology of geysers first appeared, scientists were generally convinced that no life can survive above around {{convert|73|°C|°F|adj=mid|maximum}}—the upper limit for the survival of cyanobacteria, as the structure of key cellular proteins and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) would be destroyed. The optimal temperature for thermophilic bacteria was placed even lower, around {{convert|55|°C|°F|adj=mid|average|0}}.

However, the observations proved that can exist at high temperatures and that some bacteria even prefer temperatures higher than the boiling point of water. Dozens of such bacteria are known.{{cite web |first1=MT |last1=Madigan |first2=BL |last2=Marrs |url=http://atropos.as.arizona.edu/aiz/teaching/a204/extremophile.pdf |title=Extremophiles |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080409071712/http://atropos.as.arizona.edu/aiz/teaching/a204/extremophile.pdf |archive-date=9 April 2008 |publisher=University of Arizona |access-date=1 April 2008}}

Thermophiles prefer temperatures from {{convert|50|to|70|°C|°F|0}}, while hyperthermophiles grow better at temperatures as high as {{convert|80|to|110|°C|°F|0}}. As they have heat-stable enzymes that retain their activity even at high temperatures, they have been used as a source of thermostable tools, which are important in medicine and biotechnology,{{cite journal |last1=Vielle |first1=C |last2=Zeikus |first2=GJ |title=Hyperthermophilic Enzymes: Sources, Uses, and Molecular Mechanisms for Thermostability |journal=Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews |year=2001 |volume=65 |issue=1 |pages=1–34 |doi=10.1128/MMBR.65.1.1-43.2001 |pmid=11238984 |pmc=99017}} for example in manufacturing antibiotics, plastics, detergents (by the use of heat-stable enzymes lipases, pullulanases and proteases), and fermentation products (for example ethanol is produced). Among these, the first discovered and the most important for biotechnology is Thermus aquaticus.{{cite web |url=http://www.udel.edu/chem/bahnson/chem645/websites/Heaton/ |title=Industrial Uses of Thermophilic Cellulase |publisher=University of Delaware |access-date=29 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010114505/http://www.udel.edu/chem/bahnson/chem645/websites/Heaton/ |archive-date=10 October 2007}}

File:World geyser distribution.gif

Geysers are quite rare, requiring a combination of water, heat, and fortuitous plumbing. The combination exists in few places on Earth.{{cite journal |last1=Glennon |first1=JA |author1-link=John Alan Glennon |last2=Pfaff |first2=RM |year=2003 |title=The extraordinary thermal activity of El Tatio Geyser Field, Antofagasta Region, Chile |journal=Geyser Observation and Study Association (GOSA) Transactions |volume=8 |pages=31–78}}{{cite web |last=Glennon |first=J Allan |url=http://www.uweb.ucsb.edu/~glennon/geysers/world.htm |title=World Geyser Fields |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630141427/http://www.uweb.ucsb.edu/~glennon/geysers/world.htm |archive-date=30 June 2007 |access-date=4 April 2008}}

{{Main|Yellowstone National Park|List of Yellowstone geothermal features|Geothermal areas of Yellowstone}}

Yellowstone is the largest geyser locale, containing thousands of hot springs, and approximately 300 to 500 geysers. It is home to half of the world's total number of geysers in its nine geyser basins. It is located mostly in Wyoming, USA, with small portions in Montana and Idaho.{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/geysers.htm |title=Yellowstone geysers |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=20 March 2008}} Yellowstone includes the world's tallest active geyser (Steamboat Geyser in Norris Geyser Basin).{{cite book |title=Atlas of Yellowstone |edition=Second |publisher=University of California Press |editor1-first=James E |editor1-last=Meacham |editor2-first=Alethea Y |editor2-last=Steingisser |editor3-first=W. Andrew |editor3-last=Marcus |editor4-first=Ann W |editor4-last=Rodman |year=2022 |page=152}}

File:Kamchatka Valley of Geysers.webm]]

{{Main|Valley of Geysers}}

The Valley of Geysers ({{langx|ru|Долина гейзеров}}), located in the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia, is the second-largest concentration of geysers in the world. The area was discovered and explored by Tatyana Ustinova in 1941. There are about 200 geysers in the area, along with many hot-water springs and perpetual spouters. The area was formed by vigorous volcanic activity. The peculiar way of eruptions is an important feature of these geysers. Most of the geysers erupt at angles, and only very few have the geyser cones that exist at many other of the world's geyser fields. On 3 June 2007, a massive mudflow influenced two-thirds of the valley.{{cite news |first=Aalok |last=Mehta |title=Photo in the News: Russia's Valley of the Geysers Lost in Landslide |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/06/070605-geyser-valley.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070617203837/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/06/070605-geyser-valley.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 June 2007 |work=National Geographic |date=16 April 2008 |access-date=7 June 2007}} It was then reported that a thermal lake was forming above the valley.{{cite news |first=Luke |last=Harding |title=Mudslide fully changes terrain in Kamchatka's Valley of Geysers |url=https://www.theguardian.com/russia/article/0,,2095579,00.html |work=The Guardian |date=5 June 2007 |access-date=16 April 2008}} Four of the eight thermal areas in the valley were covered by the landslide or by the lake.{{cite report|last=Leonov|first=AV|title=Katalog osnovnykh ob'ektov v Doline Geizerov (Kronotskii zapovednik, Kamchatka)|lang=ru|trans-title=A Catalog of Main Features in the Geyser Valley, Kronotskii Reserve, Kamchatka)|year=2012|url=http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/lggp/cat/catalogue-2012.pdf }} Velikan Geyser, one of the field's largest, was not buried in the slide: the slide shortened its period of eruption from 379 minutes before the slide to 339 minutes after (through 2010).{{cite journal|last1=Kiryukhin|first1=AV|last2=Rychkova|first2=TV|last3=Dubinina|first3=EO|title=An analysis of hydrogeological behavior in the Geyser Valley, Kronotskii nature reserve, Kamchatka after the disaster of June 3, 2007|journal=J. Volcanolog. Seismol.|volume=9|pages=1–16|year=2015|issue=1 |doi=10.1134/S0742046315010030|bibcode=2015JVolS...9....1K }}

File:ElTatioMovie.ogg geyser field]]

{{Main|El Tatio}}

The name "El Tatio" comes from the Quechua word for oven. El Tatio is located in the high valleys of the Andes in Chile, surrounded by many active volcanoes, at around {{convert|4200|m}} above mean sea level. The valley is home to approximately 80 geysers at present. It became the largest geyser field in the Southern Hemisphere after the destruction of many of the New Zealand geysers, and is the third largest geyser field in the world. The salient feature of these geysers is that the height of their eruptions is very low, the tallest being only {{convert|6|m|spell=in}} high, but with steam columns that can be over {{convert|20|m}} high. The average geyser eruption height at El Tatio is about {{convert|750|mm}}.{{cite journal |last1=Glennon |first1=JA |author1-link=John Alan Glennon |last2=Pfaff |first2=RM |year=2003 |title=The extraordinary thermal activity of El Tatio Geyser Field, Antofagasta Region, Chile |journal=Geyser Observation and Study Association (GOSA) Transactions |volume=8 |pages=31–78}}

{{Main|Taupō Volcanic Zone}}

The Taupō Volcanic Zone is located on New Zealand's North Island. It is {{convert|350|km|mi|0}} long by {{convert|50|km|mi|abbr=on|adj=mid|wide|0}} and lies over a subduction zone in the Earth's crust. Mount Ruapehu marks its southwestern end, while the submarine Whakatāne seamount ({{convert|85|km|disp=or|abbr=on}} beyond Whakaari / White Island) is considered its northeastern limit.{{Cite journal |last1=Gamble |first1=J. A. |first2=I. C. |last2=Wright |first3=J. A. |last3=Baker |doi=10.1080/00288306.1993.9514588 |year=1993 |title=Seafloor geology and petrology in the oceanic to continental transition zone of the Kermadec-Havre-Taupo Volcanic Zone arc system, New Zealand |url=http://www.rsnz.org/publish/nzjgg/1993/40.php |journal=New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics |volume=36 |issue=4 |pages=417–435 |bibcode=1993NZJGG..36..417G |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081122075312/http://www.rsnz.org/publish/nzjgg/1993/40.php |archive-date=22 November 2008}} Many geysers in this zone were destroyed due to geothermal developments and a hydroelectric reservoir: only one geyser basin at Whakarewarewa remains.{{cite journal |last=Barrick |first=KA |title=Geyser Decline and Extinction in New Zealand—Energy Development Impacts and Implications for Environmental Management |journal=Environmental Management |volume=39 |pages=783–805 |year=2007 |issue=6 |doi=10.1007/s00267-005-0195-1 |pmid=17453282 |bibcode=2007EnMan..39..783B}}

In the beginning of the 20th century, the largest geyser ever known, the Waimangu Geyser, existed in this zone. It began erupting in 1900 and erupted periodically for four years until a landslide changed the local water table. Eruptions of Waimangu would typically reach {{convert|160|m}} and some superbursts are known to have reached {{convert|500|m}}. Recent scientific work indicates that the Earth's crust below the zone may be as little as {{convert|5|km|mi|0|spell=in}} thick. Beneath this lies a film of magma {{convert|50|km|-1}} wide and {{convert|160|km|-1}} long.{{cite news |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/4202557a11.html |title=Central North Island sitting on magma film |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107010456/http://www.stuff.co.nz/4202557a11.html |archive-date=7 January 2009 |first=Paul |last=Easton |newspaper=The Dominion Post |date=15 September 2007 |access-date=16 April 2008}}

Due to the high rate of volcanic activity in Iceland, it is home to some of the most famous geysers in the world. There are around 20–29 active geysers in the country, as well as numerous formerly active geysers.{{cite web |url=https://www.wondermondo.com/geysers-of-iceland/ |title=Geysers of Iceland |date=5 October 2019 |access-date=8 October 2019}} Icelandic geysers are distributed in the zone stretching from south-west to north-east, along the boundary between the Eurasian Plate and the North American Plate. Most of the Icelandic geysers are comparatively short-lived. It is also characteristic that many geysers here are reactivated or newly created after earthquakes, becoming dormant or extinct after some years or some decades.{{cite web |title=Geysers of Iceland: Names, Facts, and Features |publisher=iceland.org |url=https://www.iceland.org/geography/geyser/ |access-date=27 October 2024}}

Two most prominent geysers of Iceland are located in Haukadalur. The Great Geysir, which first erupted in the 14th century, gave rise to the word geyser. By 1896, Geysir was almost dormant before an earthquake that year caused eruptions to begin again, occurring several times a day; but in 1916, eruptions all but ceased. Throughout much of the 20th century, eruptions did happen from time to time, usually following earthquakes. Some man-made improvements were made to the spring and eruptions were forced with soap on special occasions. Earthquakes in June 2000 subsequently reawakened the giant for a time, but it is not currently erupting regularly. The nearby Strokkur geyser erupts every 5–8 minutes to a height of some {{convert|30|m|-1}}.

There used to be two large geyser fields in Nevada—Beowawe and Steamboat Springs—but they were destroyed by the installation of nearby geothermal power plants. At the plants, geothermal drilling reduced the available heat and lowered the local water table to the point that geyser activity could no longer be sustained.

Many of New Zealand's geysers have been destroyed by humans in the last century. Several New Zealand geysers have also become dormant or extinct by natural means. The main remaining field is Whakarewarewa at Rotorua.{{cite web |url=http://www.whakarewarewa.com |title=Whakarewarewa, The Thermal Village |access-date=4 April 2008}} Two-thirds of the geysers at Orakei Korako were flooded by the construction of the hydroelectric Ohakuri dam in 1961.{{Cite web |url=https://www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/Environment/Natural-resources/Geothermal/Geothermal-systems-map/Orakeikorako/ |title=Orakeikorako |website=waikatoregion.govt.nz |access-date=23 May 2020}} The Wairakei field was lost to a geothermal power plant in 1958.{{Cite web |title=Yellowstone Supervolcano Could Be an Energy Source. But Should It? |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2018/08/news-yellowstone-supervolcano-geothermal-energy-debate-iceland-hawaii/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180808171546/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2018/08/news-yellowstone-supervolcano-geothermal-energy-debate-iceland-hawaii/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 August 2018 |date=8 August 2018 |website=Science |language=en |access-date=23 May 2020}} The Rotomahana field was destroyed by the 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera.{{Cite web |title=1886 Mt Tarawera Eruption |url=https://www.waimangu.co.nz/history/eruption-birth-of-waimangu |website=Waimangu Volcanic Valley |language=en |access-date=23 May 2020 |archive-date=15 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200515214651/https://www.waimangu.co.nz/history/eruption-birth-of-waimangu |url-status=dead}}{{Cite magazine |last=Klemetti |first=Erik |date=10 February 2011 |title=The 1886 Eruption of Mt. Tarawera, New Zealand |language=en-US |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/2011/02/the-1886-eruption-of-mt-tarawera-new-zealand/ |access-date=23 May 2020 |issn=1059-1028}}

There are various other types of geysers which are different in nature compared to the normal steam-driven geysers. These geysers differ not only in their style of eruption but also in the cause that makes them erupt.

In a number of places where there is geothermal activity, wells have been drilled and fitted with impermeable casements that allow them to erupt like geysers. The vents of such geysers are artificial, but are tapped into natural hydrothermal systems. These so-called artificial geysers, technically known as erupting geothermal wells, are not true geysers. Little Old Faithful Geyser, in Calistoga, California, is an example. The geyser erupts from the casing of a well drilled in the late 19th century, which opened up a dead geyser.{{cite book |title=A Guide to Geyser Gazing |first=John |last=Rinehart |year=1976 |publisher=HyperDynamicS |page=49}}

In the case of the Big Mine Run Geyser in Ashland, Pennsylvania, the heat powering the geyser (which erupts from an abandoned mine vent) comes not from geothermal power, but from the long-simmering Centralia mine fire.{{cite web |url=https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/schuylkill-county/getting-to-the-bottom-of-this-gushing-geyser-in-schuylkill-county/523-eede19c1-008d-4987-bfe1-9ee658b41dab |title=Getting to the Bottom of This Gushing Geyser in Schuylkill County |publisher=WNEP-TV |date=17 June 2018 |first=Jessica |last=Albert |access-date=7 December 2021}}

This is a natural hot spring that spouts water constantly without stopping for recharge. Some of these are incorrectly called geysers, but because they are not periodic in nature they are not considered true geysers.{{Cite web |title=Geysers - Old Faithful Virtual Visitor Center |url=https://www.nps.gov/features/yell/ofvec/exhibits/treasures/thermals/geysers/spouter.htm |access-date=21 April 2024 |website=nps.gov}}

File:Strokkur, Iceland.jpg in Iceland – a tourist spot]]

Geysers are used for various activities such as electricity generation, heating and geotourism. Many geothermal reserves are found all around the world. The geyser fields in Iceland are some of the most commercially viable geyser locations in the world. Since the 1920s hot water directed from the geysers has been used to heat greenhouses and to grow food that otherwise could not have been cultivated in Iceland's inhospitable climate. Steam and hot water from the geysers has also been used for heating homes since 1943 in Iceland. In 1979 the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) actively promoted development of geothermal energy in the "Geysers-Calistoga Known Geothermal Resource Area" (KGRA) near Calistoga, California through a variety of research programs and the Geothermal Loan Guarantee Program.{{cite journal |last1=O'Banion |first1=K. |last2=Hall |first2=C. |date=14 July 1980 |title=Geothermal energy and the land resource: conflicts and constraints in The Geysers |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1195594/ |journal=Calistoga KGRA |publisher=DOE–SciTech |doi=10.2172/6817678 |osti=6817678 |s2cid=129626036}} The department is obligated by law to assess the potential environmental impacts of geothermal development.

{{See also|Cryovolcano|Geysers on Mars}}There are many bodies in the Solar System where eruptions which superficially resemble terrestrial geysers have been observed or are believed to occur. Despite being commonly referred to as geysers, they are driven by fundamentally different processes, consist of a wide range of volatiles, and can occur on vastly disparate scales; from the modestly sized Martian carbon dioxide jets to the immense plumes of Enceladus. Generally, there are two broad categories of feature commonly referred to as geysers: sublimation plumes, and cryovolcanic plumes (also referred to as cryogeysers).{{cite book |last1=Fagents |first1=SA |last2=Lopes |first2=RM |last3=Quick |first3=LC |last4=Gregg |first4=TK |year=2022 |chapter=Cryovolcanism |title=Planetary volcanism across the solar system |pages=161–234 |publisher=Elsevier |bibcode=2022pvss.book.....G |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20210026013/downloads/Quick_%20Chapter5_Cryovolcanism_13Jun2021.docx.pdf}}

Sublimation plumes are jets of sublimated volatiles and dust from shallow sources under icy surfaces. Known examples include the CO₂ jets on Mars, and the nitrogen eruptions on Neptune's moon Triton.

On Mars carbon dioxide jets are believed to occur in the southern polar region of Mars during spring, as a layer of dry ice accumulated over winter is warmed by the sun. Although these jets have not yet been directly observed, they leave evidence visible from orbit in the form of dark spots and lighter fans atop the dry ice. These features consist primarily of sand and dust blown out by the outbursts, as well as spider-like patterns of channels created below the ice by the rapid flow of CO₂ gas.{{cite web |last=Burnham |first=Robert |date=16 August 2006 |title=Gas jet plumes unveil mystery of 'spiders' on Mars |url=http://www.asu.edu/news/stories/200608/20060818_marsplumes.htm |access-date=29 August 2009 |work=Arizona State University web site}} There are a plethora of theories to explain the eruptions, including heating from sunlight, chemical reactions, or even biological activity.{{Cite journal |last1=Horváth |first1=A. |last2=Gánti |first2=T. |last3=Gesztesi |first3=A. |last4=Bérczi |first4=Sz. |last5=Szathmáry |first5=E. |date=1 March 2001 |title=Probable Evidences of Recent Biological Activity on Mars: Appearance and Growing of Dark Dune Spots in the South Polar Region |url=https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001LPI....32.1543H |journal=Lunar and Planetary Science |pages=1543 |bibcode=2001LPI....32.1543H}}

Triton was found to have active eruptions of nitrogen and dust by Voyager 2 when it flew past the moon in 1989. These plumes were up to 8{{Spaces}}km high, where winds would blow them up to 150{{Spaces}}km downwind, creating long, dark streaks across the otherwise bright south polar ice cap.{{cite journal |doi=10.1126/science.250.4979.410 |pmid=17793016 |title=Triton's Geyser-Like Plumes: Discovery and Basic Characterization |journal=Science |volume=250 |issue=4979 |pages=410–415 |year=1990 |last1=Soderblom |first1=L. A. |last2=Kieffer |first2=S. W. |last3=Becker |first3=T. L. |last4=Brown |first4=R. H. |last5=Cook |first5=A. F. |last6=Hansen |first6=C. J. |last7=Johnson |first7=T. V. |last8=Kirk |first8=R. L. |last9=Shoemaker |first9=E. M. |bibcode=1990Sci...250..410S |s2cid=1948948}} There are various theories as to what drives the activity on Triton, such as solar heating through transparent ice,{{cite conference |last=Kirk |first=RL |url=http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?db_key=AST&bibcode=1990LPI....21..633K&letter=.&classic=YES&defaultprint=YES&whole_paper=YES&page=633&epage=633&send=Send+PDF&filetype=.pdf |title=Thermal Models of Insolation-driven Nitrogen Geysers on Triton |conference=LPSC 22 |year=1990 |bibcode=1990LPI....21..633K |access-date=8 April 2008}} cryovolcanism, or basal heating of nitrogen ice sheets.{{Cite journal |last1=Hofgartner |first1=Jason D. |last2=Birch |first2=Samuel P. D. |last3=Castillo |first3=Julie |last4=Grundy |first4=Will M. |last5=Hansen |first5=Candice J. |last6=Hayes |first6=Alexander G. |last7=Howett |first7=Carly J. A. |last8=Hurford |first8=Terry A. |last9=Martin |first9=Emily S. |last10=Mitchell |first10=Karl L. |last11=Nordheim |first11=Tom A. |last12=Poston |first12=Michael J. |last13=Prockter |first13=Louise M. |last14=Quick |first14=Lynnae C. |last15=Schenk |first15=Paul |display-authors=4 |date=15 March 2022 |title=Hypotheses for Triton's plumes: New analyses and future remote sensing tests |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0019103521004796 |journal=Icarus |volume=375 |pages=114835 |doi=10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114835 |issn=0019-1035 |arxiv=2112.04627 |bibcode=2022Icar..37514835H}}

Cryovolcanic plumes or cryogeysers generally refer to large-scale eruptions of predominantly water vapour from active cryovolcanic features on certain icy moons. Such plumes occur on Saturn's moon Enceladus and Jupiter's moon Europa.

Plumes of water vapour, together with ice particles and smaller amounts of other components (such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, ammonia, hydrocarbons and silicates), have been observed erupting from vents associated with the "tiger stripes" in the south polar region of Enceladus by the Cassini orbiter. These plumes are the source of the material in Saturn's E ring. The mechanism which causes these eruptions are generated remains uncertain, as well as to what extent they are physically linked to Enceladus' subsurface ocean, but they are believed to be powered at least in part by tidal heating.{{cite journal |last1=Porco |first1=C. C. |author-link1=Carolyn Porco |last2=Helfenstein |first2=P. |last3=Thomas |first3=P. C. |last4=Ingersoll |first4=A. P. |last5=Wisdom |first5=J. |last6=West |first6=R. |last7=Neukum |first7=G. |last8=Denk |first8=T. |last9=Wagner |first9=R. |display-authors=4 |date=10 March 2006 |title=Cassini Observes the Active South Pole of Enceladus |url=https://authors.library.caltech.edu/36593/ |journal=Science |volume=311 |issue=5766 |pages=1393–1401 |bibcode=2006Sci...311.1393P |doi=10.1126/science.1123013 |pmid=16527964 |s2cid=6976648 |ref={{sfnRef|Porco Helfenstein et al. 2006}}}} Cassini flew through these plumes several times, allowing direct analysis of water from inside another solar system body for the first time.{{Cite journal |last1=Waite |first1=J. Hunter |last2=Combi |first2=Michael R. |last3=Ip |first3=Wing-Huen |last4=Cravens |first4=Thomas E. |last5=McNutt |first5=Ralph L. |last6=Kasprzak |first6=Wayne |last7=Yelle |first7=Roger |last8=Luhmann |first8=Janet |last9=Niemann |first9=Hasso |last10=Gell |first10=David |last11=Magee |first11=Brian |last12=Fletcher |first12=Greg |last13=Lunine |first13=Jonathan |last14=Tseng |first14=Wei-Ling |display-authors=4 |date=10 March 2006 |title=Cassini Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer: Enceladus Plume Composition and Structure |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1121290 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=311 |issue=5766 |pages=1419–1422 |doi=10.1126/science.1121290 |pmid=16527970 |bibcode=2006Sci...311.1419W |issn=0036-8075}}

In December 2013, the Hubble Space Telescope detected water vapour plumes potentially 200{{Spaces}}km high above the south polar region of Europa.{{cite web |last1=Cook |first1=Jia-Rui C. |last2=Gutro |first2=Rob |last3=Brown |first3=Dwayne |last4=Harrington |first4=J.D. |last5=Fohn |first5=Joe |date=12 December 2013 |title=Hubble Sees Evidence of Water Vapor at Jupiter Moon |url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-363 |work=NASA}} Re-examination of Galileo data also suggested that it may have flown through a plume during a flyby in 1997.{{Cite journal |last1=Jia |first1=Xianzhe |last2=Kivelson |first2=Margaret G. |last3=Khurana |first3=Krishan K. |last4=Kurth |first4=William S. |date=June 2018 |title=Evidence of a plume on Europa from Galileo magnetic and plasma wave signatures |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-018-0450-z |journal=Nature Astronomy |language=en |volume=2 |issue=6 |pages=459–464 |doi=10.1038/s41550-018-0450-z |bibcode=2018NatAs...2..459J |issn=2397-3366}} Water was also detected by the Keck Observatory in 2016, announced in a 2019 Nature article speculating the cause to be a cryovolcanic eruption.{{Cite journal |last1=Paganini |first1=L. |last2=Villanueva |first2=G. L. |last3=Roth |first3=L. |last4=Mandell |first4=A. M. |last5=Hurford |first5=T. A. |last6=Retherford |first6=K. D. |last7=Mumma |first7=M. J. |date=March 2020 |title=A measurement of water vapour amid a largely quiescent environment on Europa |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-019-0933-6 |journal=Natuceasere Astronomy |language=en |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=266–272 |doi=10.1038/s41550-019-0933-6 |bibcode=2020NatAs...4..266P |issn=2397-3366}} It is thought that Europa's lineae might be venting this water vapour into space in a similar manner to the "tiger stripes" of Enceladus.{{cite journal |last1=Roth |first1=L |last2=Saur |first2=J |last3=Retherford |first3=KD |last4=Strobel |first4=DF |last5=Feldman |first5=PD |last6=McGrath |first6=MA |last7=Nimmo |first7=F |year=2014 |title=Transient water vapor at Europa's south pole |journal=Science |volume=343 |issue=6167 |pages=171–174 |doi=10.1126/science.1247051 |pmid=24336567 |bibcode=2014Sci...343..171R}}

{{multiple image

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| image1 = Voyager 2 Triton 14bg r90ccw colorized.jpg

| image2 = Fountains of Enceladus PIA07758.jpg

| image3 = Geysers on Mars.jpg

| caption1 = Dark streaks deposited by plumes on Triton

| caption2 = Plumes erupting from Enceladus{{'}} subsurface

| caption3 = Artist's impression of the carbon dioxide jets on Mars

}}

{{clear}}

{{Portal|Earth sciences|Geology}}

{{div col}}

• {{annotated link|Cold-water geyser}}
• {{annotated link|Earliest known life forms}}
• {{annotated link|Hot spring}}
• {{annotated link|Hydrothermal explosion}}
• {{annotated link|Ice volcano}}
• {{annotated link|List of geysers}}
• {{annotated link|Mudpot}}
• {{annotated link|Soffioni}}

{{div col end}}

{{Reflist|colwidth=33em}}

• {{cite book |last1=Allen |first1=ET |last2=Day |first2=AL |year=1935 |title=Hot Springs of the Yellowstone National Park |id=Publ. 466 |publisher=Carnegie Institution of Washington |location=Washington, D.C.}}
• {{cite book |last=Barth |first=TFW |year=1950 |title=Volcanic Geology: Hot Springs and Geysers of Iceland |id=Publ. 587. |publisher=Carnegie Institution of Washington |location=Washington, D.C.}}
• {{cite book |last=Brimner |first=LD |title=Geysers |location=New York |publisher=Children's Press |year=2000}}
• {{cite book |last=Downs |first=Sandra |title=Earth's Fiery Fury |location=Brookfield, Connecticut |publisher=Twenty-First Century Books |year=2000}}
• {{cite book |last=Gallant |first=RA |title=Geysers: When Earth Roars |location=New York |publisher=Scholastic Library Publishing |year=1997}}
• {{cite web |last=Glennon |first=JA |author-link=John Alan Glennon |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070902032519/http://www.uweb.ucsb.edu/~glennon/geysers/index.htm |archive-date=2 September 2007 |url=http://www.uweb.ucsb.edu/~glennon/geysers/index.htm |title=About Geysers |publisher=University of California, Santa Barbara |date=4 June 2007 |access-date=8 June 2007}}
• {{cite book |first=HK |last=Gupta |title=Geothermal Resources: An Energy Alternative |location=Amsterdam |publisher=Elsevier Scientific Publishing |year=1980 |page=186}}
• {{cite conference |last1=Kelly |first1=WD |last2=Wood |first2=CL |year=1993 |title=Tidal interaction: A possible explanation for geysers and other fluid phenomena in the Neptune-Triton system |publisher=Lunar and Planetary Inst. |conference=Twenty-Fourth Lunar and Planetary Science Conference |volume=2 |pages=789–790}}
• {{Cite PSM |last=LeConte |first=Joseph |author-link=Joseph LeConte |wstitle=Geysers and How They are Explained |month-and-year=February 1878 |volume=12}}
• {{cite journal |doi=10.1126/science.177.4046.346 |pmid=17813197 |title=18.6-Year Earth Tide Regulates Geyser Activity |journal=Science |volume=177 |issue=4046 |pages=346–347 |year=1972 |last1=Rinehart |first1=J. S. |bibcode=1972Sci...177..346R |s2cid=33025115}}
• {{cite journal |doi=10.1029/JB077i002p00342 |title=Fluctuations in geyser activity caused by variations in Earth tidal forces, barometric pressure, and tectonic stresses |journal=Journal of Geophysical Research |volume=77 |issue=2 |pages=342–350 |year=1972 |last1=Rinehart |first1=John S. |bibcode=1972JGR....77..342R}}
• {{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-1-4612-6084-4 |title=Geysers and Geothermal Energy |year=1980 |last1=Rinehart |first1=John S. |isbn=978-1-4612-6086-8}}
• {{cite book |editor1-last=Ryback |editor2-first=LJP |editor2-last=Muffler |title=Geothermal Systems: Principles and Case Histories |location=New York |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=1981 |page=26}}
• {{cite journal |doi=10.1016/S0167-7799(02)02073-5 |pmid=12443873 |title=The production of biocatalysts and biomolecules from extremophiles |journal=Trends in Biotechnology |volume=20 |issue=12 |pages=515–521 |year=2002 |last1=Schiraldi |first1=Chiara |last2=De Rosa |first2=Mario}}
• {{cite book |last1=Schreier |first1=Carl |year=2003 |title=Yellowstone's geysers, hot springs and fumaroles (Field guide) |edition=2nd |publisher=Homestead Pub. |isbn=0-943972-09-4}}
• {{cite journal |doi=10.1126/science.257.5075.1363 |pmid=17738277 |title=Detection of Hydrothermal Precursors to Large Northern California Earthquakes |journal=Science |volume=257 |issue=5075 |pages=1363–1368 |year=1992 |last1=Silver |first1=P. G. |last2=Valette-Silver |first2=N. J. |bibcode=1992Sci...257.1363S |s2cid=3718672}}
• {{cite journal |doi=10.2475/ajs.265.8.641 |title=Some principles of geyser activity, mainly from Steamboat Springs, Nevada |journal=American Journal of Science |volume=265 |issue=8 |pages=641–684 |year=1967 |last1=White |first1=D. E. |bibcode=1967AmJS..265..641W |doi-access=free}}

{{sister project links|auto=1|s=The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Geysers}}

• [http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/geysers.htm Geysers and How They Work by Yellowstone National Park]
• [http://www.geyserstudy.org/ Geyser Observation and Study Association (GOSA)]
• [http://www.geysertimes.org GeyserTimes.org]
• [http://www.yellowstone.net/geysers/ Geysers of Yellowstone: Online Videos and Descriptions]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20040207004906/http://www.uweb.ucsb.edu/~glennon/geysers/ About Geysers by Alan Glennon]
• [http://www.unmuseum.org/geysers.htm Geysers, The UnMuseum]
• [http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/geysers/index.html Johnston's Archive Geyser Resources]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070416140350/http://geysircenter.com/english/geology.html The Geology of the Icelandic geysers by Dr. Helgi Torfason, geologist]
• [http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/geysers.html Geysers and the Earth's Plumbing Systems by Meg Streepey]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20121027113631/http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/geyser/?ar_a=1 National Geographic]
• {{Cite EB9|wstitle=Geysers|volume=10|pages=556–558 |short=x}}

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