V21A-4706:
Water discharge from Lone Star Geyser, Yellowstone NP, WY
Tuesday, 16 December 2014
Fred Murphy, USGS, Menlo Park, CA, United States, Noah G Randolph-Flagg, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States and Shaul Hurwitz, USGS California Water Science Center Menlo Park, Menlo Park, CA, United States
Abstract:
During four days in April, 2014 we made a series of measurements at Lone Star Geyser in Yellowstone National Park, WY. This work included the continuous measurement of liquid water discharge from the geyser and some nearby not springs, and concurrent meteorological measurements. The discharge of the geyser and the hot springs was measured in channels that carry the water to the Firehole River. We found that average measured discharge varies from day to night, likely due to melting of geyser-generated and meteoric snow during warmer daylight hours and freezing of erupted liquid and vapor during the night. The nearby hot springs contribute a nearly constant flow of about 3 l/s to the Firehole River, while during eruptions the total discharge increases to a maximum of about 25 l/s. Two small geysers within 5 meters of the Lone Star Geyser cone were observed to erupt during a time when Lone Star Geyser was not erupting. The water discharged from these small geysers is a very small fraction of that from Lone Star Geyser.
