Free Republic

Steamboat Geyser, the tallest active geyser in the world, erupted more times in 2019 than in any other year, baffling scientists who are trying to understand what triggered this unusual streak of activity. The geyser can shoot water more than 300 feet into the air, and this year it has erupted more than 45 times, surpassing the 32 eruptions recorded in 2018. In the three years before that, however, the geyser didn't erupt at all. Unlike Old Faithful, which is famous for its highly predictable eruptions, Steamboat is an erratic giant. "In the 1960s, there was another period where there...

Steamboat has erupted 34 times as of Tuesday, according to the US Geological Survey. That breaks last year's record of 32 eruptions -- the largest number ever recorded in a year. The record before that was 29 eruptions in 1964. June's outbursts smashed the record for the shortest interval between eruptions -- just over three days. Scientists aren't sure what's behind the recent increase in activity, but the short answer is that this is just how geysers work. It's a popular misconception that geyser eruptions are related to earthquake activity, but Poland said visitors to the national park have nothing...

Ear Spring went from being dormant on Saturday to spewing steam and water between 20 and 30 feet high, a height not recorded since 1957, said park spokesman Neal Herbert. On Saturday tourists and surveillance cameras captured the rare eruption around 4:50 p.m. Ear Spring contains permanently seething water at or above boiling point. The ear-shaped pool has been known to erupt to a height of around 2 feet, but officials say that only happens one or two times each decade. Geyser Hill lies across the Firehole River from Old Faithful and features dozens of hot springs, geysers and fumaroles...

Reuters picked up a quirky science story this weekend which caught my attention and it has to do with Yellowstone National Park. Steamboat Geyser, the largest “active” geyser in the world, erupted on Friday. The typical response should be along the lines of so what? It’s Yellowstone. The place is full of geysers. All true, except Steamboat also erupted on April 19th. And it erupted on March 15th. Still doesn’t sound unusual to you? Before that, the last time it erupted was in 2014. It’s a very inactive geyser. 2003 was the last time that it had three eruptions over...