Geysers

Term Paper Title	Geysers
# of Words	757
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	3.03

Geysers

A geyser is a hot spring that erupts from time to time throwing water into the air. It seems quite common, but in fact, geysers are extremely rare. All around the world, there are only seven hundred known geysers. The word geyser comes from the Icelandic word meaning "to gush." Geysers are springs that discharge hot water with an explosive force. The water shoots up from geysers in great columns and cloudy with steam.

How the geyser works:
The Geyser is a hot spring that explodes in a column of steam or hot water. They are made when rain water soaks into the ground and runs deep into the cracks of the earth. The water may come together with heated rocks and this would warm the water until well over the boiling point. The hot water projects upward through the cracks and materializes as either steam or water. Geysers erupt occasionally or regularly, depending on the conditions of the underground passageways. The eruptions may occur from one minute to the next or over several years and last anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. The height of a geyser may vary from 3 feet to 328 feet. Geysers are special hot springs and are seen due to the superheated, belowground water becoming trapped in channels leading to the surface. The hottest temperatures are at the bottom of these channels (nearer the molten rock). The steam does not vaporize because the weight of the water above. On the other hand, the steam is sent upwards in bubbles, collecting in the channel's tight spots. These tight spots will basically clog causing the confined bubbles to lift the water above ground causing the geyser to overflow. Once the waterhas been discharged, the pressure decreases and the boiling will occur throughout much of the column, creating an enormous amount of steam. The steam forces the water out of the vent in a heated mass, known as an eruption. As the eruption continues, the heat and pressure gradually decrease. The eruption stops when the water reservoir is consumed or the gas bubbles decline enough to be able to rise to the surface. There are two types of geysers, the fountain geysers (which shoots water out in various directions, usually from a pool) and a cone geysers (whi...

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