The jets of hot water and hissing steam, spouting straight from the ground, as high as a high-rise building, amaze travelers and tourists. A magnificent, alien impression is left by the mysterious geysers in Russia and abroad.
For the first time, water gushing out of the ground was described by the Icelandic chronicles of 1294. Iceland is considered the birthplace of geysers because the concept of a geyser was also born here. Geysa translated from Icelandic means "to rush". This country is famous for its many hot water springs.
The nature of geysers
Geysers are located in areas of tectonic faults. In these places, magma comes closer to the surface of the earth, from which the ground and underground waters are heated to a temperature of 100 ° C and more. The vapors generated force the water upward through cracks and wells. Depending on the size and depth of the canal, a mixture of water and steam forms seething lakes, splashing jets or fountains of different heights and diameters. The water from the geyser comes out relatively clean, slightly mineralized, saturated with silica.
The water from the geyser is hazardous to health due to the presence of toxic elements in it - mercury, arsenic, antimony and a number of others.
Geysers in their activity are dormant and active. The latter are divided into regular and irregular. The resting stage of geysers can last from several minutes to several days. In the United States and Japan, there are artificial geysers in geothermal areas.
Around the geysers, stone incrustations are formed from a special type of silica - geyserite. The color of geyserite is determined by thermophilic bacteria and algae living in the spring. Geyserite comes in beautiful emerald, delicate pink, pearl and other colors.
Gushing giants
The largest geysers are located in the US Yellowstone National Park. There are about 200 hot springs in total. The highest geyser is the Steamer, with a jet height of up to 90 meters. This geyser is unpredictable, and it is difficult to predict when it will activate. Old Faithful and Giant are the most popular and largest, 42 and 40 meters high, respectively. Old Faithful spews tens of thousands of liters every 65 minutes. And the Giant is poured out every three days.
The most "working" Fly Geyser is located in Nevada, USA. Since 1964, it has been constantly growing and does not stop its work for a minute.
The famous Valley of Geysers is located in Kamchatka, where there are up to 40 large hot fountains. The largest - the Giant, has a jet height of 40 meters, and the steam - hundreds of meters. The duration of its eruption reaches four and a half hours.
The largest geyser in Iceland is the Great Geysir. Now he is considered asleep, but earlier his height could reach 60 meters. It is artificially launched every year on Iceland's National Day. The famous active geyser nearby is called Strokkur. It erupts up to 30 m in height.
Medium and small geysers are scattered across all continents. They are located in Tanzania, Mexico, Chile, Peru, China, New Zealand, Japan. For example, on the border of Chile and Bolivia, on a mountain plateau in the Andes, the El Tatio Valley stretches, where you can see 80 geysers, ranging in height from a few centimeters to 30 meters.
