Prepare to turn up the heat, and the pressure, with one of nature’s most dynamic and exhilarating phenomena: geysers. Imagine the anticipation of a pot of boiling water just about to reach a rolling boil, or the sudden burst of steam from a pressure cooker releasing its pent-up energy. Geysers are nature’s pressure cookers, where underground water and steam build up incredible pressure until they erupt in a spectacular display. In the process they actually bake the rock around them like an underground oven. Follow this step-by-step “recipe” to learn the secret to creating these powerful and mesmerizing fountains, where the heat of the Earth’s core and the pressure of trapped steam combine to create awe-inspiring eruptions. Get ready to explore the geological wonders of geysers and discover the remarkable process that turns underground water into sky-high jets of steam and water!
Geysers
Temperature
100-150°C
Pressure
600 -6000 hPa
Size
5,000-10,000ft
1500-3000m
Time
Minutes-Months
Directions
Step 1
Inject water into the middle layer of Earth’s crust to make groundwater
Step 2
Then Inject a magma chamber into a lower layer of the crust
Step 3
Wait for heat & fluids to rise from the magma chamber until water in the middle crust reaches boiling temperature
-100°C for pure water, salts and gases from the crust or magma may alter the exact boiling temperature
Step 4
Do not let the water boil! Keep the pressure high enough to prevent premature boiling. A film of water vapour should begin forming just above the groundwater, creating vapour pressure.
Step 5
Allow the vapour to rise, cool, then condense inside holes and fractures in the crust until a pressurized tube is created
-the condensed vapor will remain hot enough to bake any minerals in the crust that it lands on, transforming them into clays that plug up any holes where the water could escape
Step 6
Once the tube is complete allow the water vapor and the heated water to rise up toward lower pressures at the surface
Step 7
Once the water reaches sufficiently low pressure it will now begin to boil, jetting out steam above the surface of the crust. A geyser is born.
Step 8
Wait for new heated water to enter the bottom of the tube to repeat steps 6 and 7
Materials
- Earth’s crust
- Water
- Optional-brine (salts)
- Optional-gases ex. H2S, CO2
Tools
- Heat Source: magma chamber
