YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — This week’s edition of “Caldera Chronicles” peers at Yellowstone’s Imperial Geyser, which lives along the same path as the Grand Prismatic Spring and Fairy Falls.
According to Yellowstone Volcano Observatory collaborator and geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Michael Poland, Imperial Geyser is “said to be one of the most spectacular geysers in the entire park.”
The first recorded activity of Imperial Geyser was in August 1927. Geologists discovered the crater with the hot pool from which the geyser erupts — about 25 feet of water every few seconds. The geyser began to intensify in July of 1928, with eruptions lasting up to several hours and would often discharge twice the amount of water as an Old Faithful eruption. Eruptions slowed in 1929.
Imperial Geyser is fairly active still, however, with a new vent forming in August 1966. Today, the vent erupts every 10 or so seconds and fluctuates between dormancy and activity for a similar amount of time.
Colors of the pool suggest that the chemical makeup is similar to that of the neutral-to-alkaline Grand Prismatic Spring despite its proximity to the acidic mudpots.
Walking to the Imperial Geyser is “quintessentially Yellowstone,” Poland writes, “with open meadows, forested plateaus, glacial hills, rhyolite cliffs, rivers and streams, a waterfall, colorful hot springs and splashing geysers.”
It’s off the beaten path, but probably worth a visit.
