Geyser Watch

“What are you scribbling?” I know it’s odd to see someone out on the boardwalks taking notes. What I think they really mean to ask is: What type of observations do you record?

Some people write down the geysers they see erupt with the times – as well as any calls they hear on the radio. It’s all about what draws you in, I suppose. Much of my record is with photos. I don’t rely on my memory of what a thermal feature was doing, but rather check my notes and my records. Then, when I have more time, I pull that together to create a journal page.

Bronze is one of the first thermal hot springs you see when walking around the lower part of Geyser Hill. It has surging ‘eruptions’ where the water heaves up or boils up, but doesn’t really shoot jets into the air like others. I still have yet to see it do its thing, but I take notes and photos when walking by.

Bronze Spring showed quite a bit of change while I was there last June. Here’s what I saw on 8 June 2010 at 1251:

Bronze Spring was in overflow with orange microbes pretty much all the way to the vent. Little Squirt was not in eruption and Silver Spring was drained. I knew to look at these other springs because there’s a likely connection between them.  Park Geologist, George Marler saw a definite relationship after the 1959 Hebgen Lake Earthquake with both springs not only behaving in a similar manner – boiling at the same time, temperatures dropping at the same time, water levels rising or falling in unison, etc. [see USGS GD 73-018 by George Marler, p. 133 - available in the GOSA store for full details]. T. Scott Bryan suggests a relationship with the theory of the Geyser Hill Wave – where all three are active – Bronze Spring full, Silver Spring Full, and if Little Squirt starts to erupt, that the water in Silver may drop and it will start erupting from a much lower water level in its crater. [see his book, The Geysers of Yellowstone available in many stores in and around the Park for further info as well as the GOSA Transactions #IV, 1993 for  the paper written on this theory – both available at the GOSA store).

The next photo I have of Bronze from this trip was taken in the morning of 15 June 2010 (at 0653):

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The angle of the sun was much lower, making it more difficult to observe, but my notes still said brown/orange microbes all the way to the vent, and it was still in overflow. Silver Spring was below overflow, but I could see the water from the boardwalk and it boiled and bubbled extra at times. Little Squirt was not erupting, though the electronic sensor recorded it starting an eruption at 2037 (8:37 PM) that evening.

The last time I saw it on this trip was 23 June 2010 at 1126 and a change was happening:

Definitely fewer microbes near the vent, indicating a rise in temperature – and it was below overflow – AND had steady bubbles rising from the vent. Silver Spring was empty, and Little Squirt was not in eruption.

The next time I got to Geyser Hill was the 18 Sept 2010 at 1222.

On that day, Little Squirt was in eruption (starting that morning at o440 according to the electronic monitor) and Silver Spring was boiling – at times to above the surface, so an eruption? I’m still not fully clear if the boiling up to within visual range is considered an eruption or just boiling. Bronze was hot, clear, blue green with no microbes, overflowing and sending up a steady stream of bubbles.

This is one of the reasons it’s so important to take notes – when I took the last photo in June, I was pretty certain it had microbes all the way to the vent before, but I wanted to verify with the photo taken and my notes. I know not everyone wants to have a huge catalog of photos of thermal features, but for me, it’s just a part of my Yellowstone Nature Journal.