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Cold-water geyser

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Tall, thin geyser erupts as bystanders watch.
Andernach Geyser, (Germany), the world's highest cold-water geyser

Cold-water geysers have eruptions similar to those of hot-water geysers, except that CO2-bubbles drive the eruption instead of steam from the proximity to magma. In cold-water geysers, CO2-laden water lies in a confined aquifer, in which water and CO2 are trapped by less permeable overlying strata. This water and CO2 can escape this strata only in weak regions like faults, joints, or drilled wells. A drilled borehole provides an escape for the pressurized water and CO2 to reach the surface. The magnitude and frequency of such eruptions depend on various factors such as plumbing depth, CO2 concentrations, aquifer yield etc. The column of water exerts enough pressure on the gaseous CO2 so that it remains in the water in small bubbles. When the pressure decreases due to formation of a fissure, the CO2 bubbles expand. This expansion displaces the water and causes the eruption. Cold-water geysers may look quite similar to their steam-driven counterparts; however, often CO2-laden water is more white and frothy.[1] The best known of these are probably Saratoga Springs, New York, or Crystal Geyser, near Green River, Utah.[2] There are also three cold-water geysers in Germany, named Wallender Born (a.k.a. Brubbel), Wehr Geyser and Andernach Geyser (a.k.a. Namedyer Sprudel); two in Slovakia, one in the village of Herľany and a very small one in Sivá Brada; and one in Brazil, in the municipality of Caxambu.[3]

Cold-water geyser Wallender Born (Germany)

Notes

  1. ^ Glennon, J. Alan "Carbon-Dioxide-Driven, Cold-Water Geysers" Archived 2009-04-23 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 2008-04-01
  2. ^ Glennon, J.A. 2005; Glennon, J.A. and Pfaff, R.M. 2005
  3. ^ Bonotto, Daniel Marcos (2016). "Hydrogeochemical study of spas groundwaters from southeast Brazil". Journal of Geochemical Exploration. 169. Elsevier BV: 60–72. doi:10.1016/j.gexplo.2016.07.016. hdl:11449/173240.

References

  • Glennon, J.A. (2005). Carbon Dioxide-Driven, Cold Water Geysers, University of California, Santa Barbara. Originally posted February 12, 2004, last update 6 May 2005. Accessed 8 June 2007.
  • Glennon, J.A., Pfaff, R.M. (2005). The operation and geography of carbon-dioxide-driven, cold-water geysers, GOSA Transactions, vol. 9, pp. 184–192.