YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — Welcome back, Echinus Geyser!
According to the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory’s (YVO) weekly Caldera Chronicles newsletter, a previously quiet feature in Norris Geyser Basin has returned to regular activity after going quiet in 2020. YVO Scientist in Charge Michael Poland writes that the Echinus Geyser was named by mineralogist Albert Charles Pealse on an 1878 visit; Peale reportedly thought the rocks surrounding the geyser resembled sea urchins, or echinoderms.”
Poland noted that it is the largest acidic geyser in the world.
“Acid geysers are rare because acidic water can break down the rock that makes up a geyser’s plumbing system,” the newsletter reads. “At Echinus Geyser, however, the composition is due to mixing between acidic gases and neutral waters, and the acidity is not sufficient to eat away at the rock. The somewhat unique water chemistry results in interesting formations and compositions, including the red color (from iron, aluminum, and arsenic) that rims the geyser pool and the silica-covered spiny rocks that give the geyser its name.”
According to YVO, Echinus appeared to be mostly dormant prior to 1948, and was erupting regularly at 40 to 80-minute intervals in the 1970s. Eruptions started to wane by the early 2000s, becoming more sporadic by 2010 before another resurgence in 2017. Records indicate a single eruption in 2018, another in 2019 and two in 2020, followed by five years of dormancy.
Then, on Feb. 7, the geyser came back online, with additional eruptions recorded on Feb. 9, Feb. 12 and Feb. 15.
“Starting on Feb. 16, eruptions began occurring every 2 to 5 hours,” the newsletter reads. “These eruptions last 2–3 minutes and reach about 6–10 meters (20–30 feet) in height. After eruption, the water level decreases significantly and doesn’t return to normal for about an hour.”
Check out eruption records kept by citizen scientists (affectionately known as “geyser gazers”) on GeyserTimes.Org.
