Heat and Mass Exchange in Geyser Systems

Merzhanov, A. G.; Shteĭnberg, A. S.; Shteinberg, G.S.

doi:10.1615/ihtc9.2140

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Lengthening of geyser IBE, as a result of decreases in the air temperature, has been reported in pool geysers (Merzhanov et al, 1990;Hurwitz et al, 2014). This lengthening occurs because the large surface area of pool geysers 5.…”

Section: Modulation Of the Ibementioning

confidence: 82%

Dynamics within geyser conduits, and sensitivity to environmental perturbations: Insights from a periodic geyser in the El Tatio geyser field, Atacama Desert, Chile

Muñoz-Sáez

Manga

Hurwitz

et al. 2015

Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research

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Despite more than 200 years of scientific study, the internal dynamics of geyser systems remain poorly characterized. As a consequence, there remain fundamental questions about what processes initiate and terminate eruptions, and where eruptions begin. Over a one-week period in October 2012, we collected down-hole measurements of pressure and temperature in the conduit of an exceptionally regular geyser (132 s/cycle) located in the Chilean desert. We identified four stages in the geyser cycle: (1) recharge of water into the conduit after an eruption, driven by the pressure difference between water in the conduit and in a deeper reservoir; (2) a pre-eruptive stage that follows the recharge and is dominated by addition of steam from below; (3) the eruption, which occurs by rapid boiling of a large mass of water at the top of the water column, and decompression that propagates boiling conditions downward; and (4) a relaxation stage during which pressure and temperature decrease until conditions preceding the recharge stage are restored. Eruptions are triggered by the episodic addition of steam coming from depth, suggesting that the dynamics of the eruptions are dominated by geometrical and thermodynamic complexities in the conduit and reservoir. Further evidence favoring the dominance of internal processes in controlling periodicity is also provided by the absence of responses of the geyser to environmental perturbations (air pressure, temperature and probably also Earth tides).

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Section: Modulation Of the Ibementioning

confidence: 82%

Dynamics within geyser conduits, and sensitivity to environmental perturbations: Insights from a periodic geyser in the El Tatio geyser field, Atacama Desert, Chile

Muñoz-Sáez

Manga

Hurwitz

et al. 2015

Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research

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“…VRG in 2012 and CL in 2014 have bimodal distributions of the IBE (Figures a and a). Changes in the IBE have been attributed to changes in the air temperature [ Hurwitz et al , , ; Merzhanov et al , ] and stresses induced by barometric pressure changes (3 × 10 2 Pa) and solid Earth tides (10 3 Pa) [ Hutchinson et al , ; Vandemeulebrouck et al , ], which occur in daily cycles. In VRG and CL, long and short eruption cycles occur independent of the time of the day (Figures a and c), indicating that the bimodality of those geysers is not the consequence of environmental perturbations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geyser eruption intervals and interactions: Examples from El Tatio, Atacama, Chile

2015

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We compare and contrast data collected in 2012 and 2014 from the El Tatio geyser field, Chile. We identify geyser systems that evolve over time, including changes in the interval between eruptions, development of new thermal features, and interactions between geysers. We study three different cases: (a) an isolated geyser, which is periodic and has nearly identical eruptions every cycle; (b) a geyser and coupled noneruptive pool, where the geyser has nonregular cycles and several preplay eruptions before the main eruption; and (c) two geysers and a mud volcano, which have nonregular cycles and are all interacting. Though geysers erupt with different styles, we recognize some common features: the conduit recharges with liquid during the quiescent period, bubbles enter the conduit before eruptions, and eruptions occur when water boils in the upper part of the conduit. The episodic addition of heat may govern the periodicity, while the depth where heat is added dictates the eruption style: conduits with deeper heat input are more likely to show preplay or minor eruptions. The interactions between thermal features can be explained by pressure transmission in subsurface permeable layers between geyser conduits.

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“…This is apparent from the form of the evaporation equation: energy losses are linear in the wind speed (which varies by factors of several) but scales with the cube root of the temperature difference, and the virtual temperature difference varies by less than a few tens of percent. These observations of Daisy's IBE lengthening are consistent with a controlled experiment at Velikan geyser, Kamchatka, where increased surface area of the water exposed to the atmosphere, resulted in IBE lengthening, implying that cooling to the atmosphere lengthens the time required to initiate an eruption [ Merzhanov et al ., ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Triggering and modulation of geyser eruptions in Yellowstone National Park by earthquakes, earth tides, and weather

et al. 2014

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We analyze intervals between eruptions (IBEs) data acquired between 2001 and 2011 at Daisy and Old Faithful geysers in Yellowstone National Park. We focus our statistical analysis on the response of these geysers to stress perturbations from within the solid earth (earthquakes and earth tides) and from weather (air pressure and temperature, precipitation, and wind). We conclude that (1) the IBEs of these geysers are insensitive to periodic stresses induced by solid earth tides and barometric pressure variations; (2) Daisy (pool geyser) IBEs lengthen by evaporation and heat loss in response to large wind storms and cold air; and (3) Old Faithful (cone geyser) IBEs are not modulated by air temperature and pressure variations, wind, and precipitation, suggesting that the subsurface water column is decoupled from the atmosphere. Dynamic stress changes of 0.1À0.2 MPa resulting from the 2002 M-7.9 Denali, Alaska, earthquake surface waves caused a statistically significant shortening of Daisy geyser's IBEs. Stresses induced by other large global earthquakes during the study period were at least an order of magnitude smaller. In contrast, dynamic stresses of >0.5 MPa from three large regional earthquakes in 1959, 1975, and 1983 caused lengthening of Old Faithful's IBEs. We infer that most subannual geyser IBE variability is dominated by internal processes and interaction with other geysers. The results of this study provide quantitative bounds on the sensitivity of hydrothermal systems to external stress perturbations and have implications for studying the triggering and modulation of volcanic eruptions by external forces.

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Heat and Mass Exchange in Geyser Systems

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Dynamics within geyser conduits, and sensitivity to environmental perturbations: Insights from a periodic geyser in the El Tatio geyser field, Atacama Desert, Chile

Dynamics within geyser conduits, and sensitivity to environmental perturbations: Insights from a periodic geyser in the El Tatio geyser field, Atacama Desert, Chile

Geyser eruption intervals and interactions: Examples from El Tatio, Atacama, Chile

Triggering and modulation of geyser eruptions in Yellowstone National Park by earthquakes, earth tides, and weather

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