YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — This week’s Caldera Chronicles from Yellowstone Volcano Observatory’s (YVO) Research Hydrologist Shaul Hurwitz honors the story of Ranger George D. Marler, a man responsible for the documentation of important changes in geyser activity Yellowstone National Park (YNP) for more than three decades in the mid-20th century.
According to Hurwitz, Marler (1898–1978) was a YNP ranger naturalist for more than four decades starting in 1931. His observations and interpretations of hydrothermal activity in the Park that were published in peer-reviewed journal papers have made what Hurwitz calls “long-lasting contributions” to the understanding of how hot springs in the geyser basins respond to earthquakes and climate, among other elements.
Some of his papers include documenting geyser eruptions over more than 50 months of observations, demonstrating that many geysers that have irregular eruption patterns, concluding there are insignificant differences in the eruption patterns of geysers between winter and summer and suggesting small temperature variation in groundwater flowing towards geysers could have a significant effect on the eruption patterns.
Hurwitz writes that Marler’s most notable work was likely in partnership with U.S. Geological Survey Scientist Donald E. White, describing the changes in hot spring discharge and geyser eruption patterns to the M7.3 earthquake that rocked Hebgen Lake, Montana, on August 17, 1959. In a 1975 paper, Hurwitz confirms Marler and White documented at least 289 springs in the geyser basins along the Firehole River that erupted as geysers the day after the earthquake, 160 of which were springs with no previous record of eruption.
“George Marler’s meticulous observations and documentation of hydrothermal activity in YNP have provided future generations of researchers and geyser enthusiasts with invaluable information that has significantly improved the understanding of hydrothermal activity, and particularly the dynamics of geyser eruptions,” Hurwitz writes.
Marler’s contributions were acknowledged in 1962 by Brigham Young University when they awarded him an Honorary Doctorate in science, and in 1967 by the U.S. Department of Interior distinguished service award for contributions in the field of hydrothermal geology at YNP.
