Geyser Animation

A cartoon animation of a geyser, showing how it erupts, as well as what happens out of sight, underground. Not much is known about the details of the plumbing systems, so this is only a symbolic representation. But it does address some of the common misconceptions (including the fact that the geyser is not heated directly by "lava", but by hot deep groundwater), and shows a little of what goes on in detail (rising steam bubbles and convection warming the entire water column until it is near boiling throughout). Yes, I need to do a much better, detailed one, with a running clock, a moving P-T diagram & temperature profile, etc. Maybe someday, but for now, here's a rough approximation.

For more information (including one way to build a working model), visit my university webpage:

http://mypage.iusb.edu/~brdavis/

Special thanks to the men & women of GOSA, who observe geysers as a passion of the heart, and share both that passion and understanding with the world. Credit for the entire idea is due to my 8-year-old daughter Ellie, who wanted Daddy to build her a working geyser. Thank you, Ellie - we did it!

--
Brian Davis

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• geyser
• GOSA
• animation
• yellowstone
• geology

[LittleBritGamer]

thx - thats my school research

[brdavis5]

@LittleBritGamer You mean you're doing research on this right now?

[yamba01]

So if it really empties, it'd be interesting to stick a mini camera in there real quick to see what it looks inside. Or throw a ferret in there

[brdavis5]

@yamba01 It is illegal (seriously!) to throw *anything* into a geyser in Yellowstone (and yes, they are very serious about it). So I think a ferret is right out :). As far as lowering a camera in... believe it or not, it's been done, more than a decade ago. Google "camera in old faithful kieffer" and take a look at the links. This is the only time the inside of a functioning geyser has been seen to my knowledge. It was informative.

[LittleBritGamer]

@brdavis5 i mean that this is all i learned :D

[brdavis5]

@supercj8899 Well... sort of. Kinda. It's more like a pressure cooker, but instead of a lid bolted on, you have a long column of water keeping the pressure high. For a boiling pot of water, you really don't care that the top surface of the water is higher than the bottom (it's not significant). For a geyser, that difference in pressure between the top and bottom of the water column is critical. But, essentially... it really is (conceptually!) this simple.

[supercj8899]

@brdavis5 So let me get this strait? A geyser is almost like a pot of boiling water, only you cut some small small holes in the top?

[brdavis5]

@TonyN737 Thank you so much for giving me that feedback. I never thought this video would be referenced nearly as often as it has been, and I'm humbled and very, VERY happy that I've been able to help out a number of people (old and young!) to get a little bit better understanding of the world around them. Thank you for letting me know.

I just wish I could do these things justice... real geysers are amazing, interesting, and complex systems, and this animation just barely begins to show them.

[TonyN737]

Like so many other Commenters, my kid (4 y/o girl) asked how a geyser works. I said "Well, when hot water ... uh ... boils up from ... uh ... " I know how it works but how do I explain it to a 4 y/o? ... Hey, I know, I'll look it up on YouTube! Haha! Thanks for giving her a visual! Great job on the vid.

[brdavis5]

@JSKaufeld You are very welcome. I really need to re-do this with some added material (and a better animation), but it seems to help a fair number of people just like this. I'm glad it helped. And if they get really interested, note that you can build a working (and fairly safe!) model in your kitchen with a cheap hotplate as the heat source (see my other geyser video, "CPVC Model Geyser" for some examples).