| Note: | 20 September 1982 - two days observations included here - Steamboat was splashing well and overflowing heavily yesterday. A sustained burst of over 75 feet was seen @ ~18:00 and again @ 18:40. Most bursts were initiated by the North vent, but the S vent came in and continued even after the N. vent had finished.
This morning @ 10:00 the geyser looked similar to yesterday, except there was less runoff, probably because there were no superbursts.
At 10:37 a burst, just like many before, shot up out of both vents to ~70 feet. It dropped after about 5 seconds, and 3 seconds later came back to ~70 ft. For about 20 seconds the geyser played with ~3 second intervals and 2 slow …., with the bursts being higher & higher.
About 20 sec. into this bursting a burst came up to ~150’, but in difference to the previous bursts which were clear was as muddy as the color of coffee.
The change from clear to muddy water occurred in the matter of a second. The muddy bursts didn’t {1 word illeg - possibly crossed out} pulse like the clear bursts, but slowly continuously climbed. It took about a minute and a half to reach maximum height, ~350 feet. The wind shifted during the eruption, people on the boardwalk were drenched and bombarded with pebbles. The eruption appeared to be higher and more massive than the last one, the runoff was heavier, and the eruption was louder. 15 minutes into the eruption, the north vent, within a matter of a minute, switched from water to steam. The south vent continued to jet out water for about 20 minutes more. I could see no evidence of a third central vent, as was the case with the last eruption. When Steamboat started the muddy pool in the delta was 8-10 inches below ovfl, on 9/16 it was at the brink of overflow. Cistern stopped boiling at ~13:10 -13:15. It was down about 2 inches before overflow.
We need X {illeg} more this year to hit the record of 29. GO STEAMBOAT!!!
Tomas Vachuda |
