Crystal Geyser is located approximately 4.5 miles (7.7 km) from Green River, Utah, in the United States. It is an anomalous example of a carbon dioxide-motivated, cold-water geyser, free from any geothermal activity, located along the eastern bank of the Green River.
Among the aquifers surrounding the geyser, there are significant amounts of carbon dioxide dissolved in groundwater, and there are also massive accumulations of gas beneath the surface in the vicinity of the geyser. Groundwater can be pushed to the surface through the geyser when the aquifer is saturated with carbon dioxide, causing a pressure enough to propel groundwater through the geyser.
There was a time when the geyser burst forth from a height of 130 feet (40 m) or more when it burst forth earlier. There was a study carried out in 2005 that established that eruptions are bimodal. It was determined that approximately 66% of eruptions occurred approximately 8 hours after the previous eruption, while the remaining 22% occurred approximately 22 hours after the previous eruption. It is estimated that eruptions last on average for 100 minutes, with some lasting for 7-32 minutes, while others last for 98-113 minutes.
Besides cold-water geysers, there is a pattern observed in other geysers, both geothermal and cold-water geysers, which has been attributed to a bimodal distribution of eruptions. During the intervals between eruption events, the water level stays at a level about seventeen feet below the surface of the geyser’s surface or the level of the water table.
There is a pond surrounding the geyser that has been filled with water in anticipation of an eruption, and it begins to bubble when the water surfaces. The frequency of bubbling events increases as the time leading up to an eruption progresses, but they do not occur continuously during the lead-up to the eruption. It usually takes a few minutes for a bubbling event to occur, and then there will be a few minutes of silence in between. A natural side pool is located next to the main geyser, where bubbling events alternate with those taking place in the main geyser.
The geyser’s current structure was created by the drilling of an exploration well used for oil exploration in 1935. Initially, the well was 2,600 feet (790 meters) deep, but its depth was reduced by several hundred meters when the previous owner of the land partially filled it in. A thick layer of orange travertine covers the surrounding area of the modern geyser where it is located. There are substantial deposits of white travertine that can be found on the banks of the river, next to the modern orange travertine deposits.
Before the exploratory well was drilled, the geyser was likely to have been in a pre-existing depositional environment that might explain this. Currently, the geyser erupts on average every 8 to 27 hours, with some eruptions lasting as long as 14 hours and even longer. There are relatively few eruptions today that is higher than ten feet in height. Geological evidence suggests that the underground structure of the geyser was altered by a geological event. People are believed to have thrown rocks into the geyser in an attempt to provoke an eruption in the geyser.
Crystal Geyser was recorded for the first time in writing on July 13, 1869, by the Powell Geographic Expedition of the United States Coast Survey. During the report, it goes on to state that the team stopped to examine some interesting rocks deposited by mineral springs that once existed there but are no longer flowing as they once did. Read More – The Strange Cold Geysers of Madagascar
There is a passage that describes a geological site containing interesting rocks that were deposited there by mineral springs that used to flow in the area. Immediately surrounding the area, one finds an orange layer of travertine, a layer that consists of porous laminae that are rich in iron oxide. As one can see from the image, aragonite is found close to the vent, while magnesium-poor calcite can be found further away from the vent. According to some studies, the iron-rich laminae are attributed to the bacterium Leptothrix.
In the vent area, a type of crystal called pisoids, also known as pearls, forms in pools. Located near the geyser is the nearby Green River, which dissolves calcium carbonate from the Middle Jurassic strata, especially the Summerville Formation, and provides the water that powers the geyser. The geyser’s temperature of about 18 degrees Celsius (64.4 degrees Fahrenheit) on average.
