YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory’s recent Caldera Chronicles column answers the question many have been asking: How much water actually erupts from the Old Faithful Geyser? Until recently, there has been “no documentation of how the current estimate of erupted water volume provided by the National Park Service … was obtained.”
According to the writers of the article — Shaul Hurwitz and Blaine McCleskey, research hydrologists with the U.S. Geological Survey — that number has finally been documented and quantified. The new measurements were taken during 45 Old Faithful Geyser eruptions.
To measure the water output in eruptions, a portable flume was placed in one of the geyser’s outflow channels. On average, the volume of water released by the geyser was measured at 27.9 cubic meters, which is 7,370 gallons. Output varied based on eruption length, with shorter eruptions releasing less and longer eruptions releasing more.
“This means that an average Old Faithful eruption is equivalent to 4 to 5 concrete mixer trucks or about 140 standard household bathtubs!” the article reads. “It would take about 90 average Old Faithful eruptions to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool, which typically holds approximately 2,500 cubic meters (660,000 gallons).”
Knowing water baselines for Old Faithful will serve as a way to better detect changes in the ecosystem as a result of earthquakes, climate variability and infrastructure development, which in turn can inform tourism management in Yellowstone National Park and better protect “one of the most iconic natural wonders in the US National Park system.”
