Many visitors to Yellowstone flip a coin into a geyser – but a recent record breaking eruption has revealed the other bizarre objects that have been thrown in.
After Ear Spring, a hot spring in the park, erupted on September 15, park employees found a strange mix of objects nearby, ranging from several cans to a 1930s pacifier.
The eruption was the largest recorded since 1957, and some of the objects are ‘clearly historic’ officials say, and will be placed in Yellowstone’s archives.
A children’s pacifier dating from the 1930s was among the items recovered by park rangers
Ear Spring on Yellowstone’s Geyser Hill went from being dormant on September 20th to spewing steam and water between 20 and 30 feet (6 and 9 meters) high, a height not recorded since 1957, said park spokesman Neal Herbert.
It has since continued to erupt at a near-constant height of about 2 feet (0.6 meters), he said.
The officials also pointed out visitors are not supposed to throw items into the hot springs and geysers.
The park service added on its Facebook page: ‘Foreign objects can damage hot springs and geysers.
A piece if cloth, possibly from a bag or t-shirt, found by rangers, along wiht dozens of coind thrown in by visitors
‘The next time Ear Spring erupts we hope it’s nothing but natural rocks and water. You can help by never throwing anything into Yellowstone’s thermal features!’
Ear Spring is one of the hottest pools on Geyser Hill, containing permanently seething water at or even above boiling point.
YELLOWSTONE’S EAR SPRING
Ear Spring, named for its resemblance to the shape of a human ear, is one of dozens of geysers, pools and hot springs in Yellowstone’s Upper Geyser Basin – among the park’s top attractions that feature the popular Old Faithful.
Ear Spring is one of the hottest pools on Geyser Hill, containing permanently seething water at or even above boiling point.
The ear-shaped pool is enclosed by a slightly raised rim, and the clear water constantly overflows, running southwards along colorful channels lined by orange cyanobacteria.
Ear Spring is one of the hottest pools on Geyser Hill, containing permanently seething water at or even above boiling point.
The ear-shaped pool is enclosed by a slightly raised rim, and the clear water constantly overflows, running southwards along colorful channels lined by orange cyanobacteria.
The thermal spring near Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park recently erupted for the fourth time in the last 60 years.
Ear Spring, named for its resemblance to the shape of a human ear, is one of dozens of geysers, pools and hot springs in Yellowstone’s Upper Geyser Basin – among the park’s top attractions that feature the popular Old Faithful.
Some of the other opbjects recovered from the area, including what appears to be part of a large concrete block, and part of a t shirt
Cans and a mystery ‘ear shaped piece of plastics’ were also among the items
It last erupted in 2004.
The eruption is among the new thermal activity seen over the last several days on Geyser Hill, just across the Firehole River from Old Faithful.
The activity includes new erupting vents and surface fractures, and it has led park officials to close a boardwalk in the popular Upper Geyser Basin to prevent people from being injured by scalding water splashing on the popular boardwalk trail.
Yellowstone’s thermal basins sometimes undergo significant changes in short amounts of time, but the new eruptions are not a sign of impending volcanic activity, Herbert said.
The changes are continuing and could lead to new or different closures in the basin, he said.
Pictured, the Steamboat Geyser emits a small jet of steam in Yellowstone National Park. A thermal spring near Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park has erupted for the fourth time in the last 60 years, a park official said Thursday
The eruption is among the new thermal activity seen over the last several days on Geyser Hill, just across the Firehole River from Old Faithful. Above, tourists photograph Old Faithful erupting on schedule late in the afternoon
WHAT’S BENEATH OLD FAITHFUL?
Researchers from the University of Utah used data from a network of seismographs to survey the area and beneath the geyser.
The team placed 30 permanent seismometers around the park, revealing data on ground shaking that could help warn of earthquakes and volcanic events.
They also used 133 portable seismometers in the Old Faithful and Geyser Hill areas over the course of a two-week study.
In the study, the researchers discovered a massive underground feature to the west of Old Faithful that causes its seismic waves to slow down and scatter.
Researchers from the University of Utah used data from a network of seismographs to survey the area and beneath the geyser to see what’s going on underground
The seismometers suggest there is a reservoir, which carries the water through cracks and fractures, measuring around 200 meters wide.
It can likely hold about 300,000 cubic meters of water – or, more than 79 million gallons.
Each eruption, however, releases about 30 cubic meters of water, or nearly 8,000 gallons.
‘It’s still in flux,’ Herbert said. ‘There is still water flowing in new places and some of the springs that had been dormant have been erupting nearly constantly.’
Ear Spring isn’t the first dormant geyser to come to life this year.
In March, the world’s largest active geyser began the first in a series of eruptions for the first time since 2014.
Steamboat geyser’s eruptions can reach heights of 300 to 400 feet (91 meters to 122 meters), compared to Old Faithful’s 130-foot (40-meter) average.