Collaborative Research: Subsurface plumbing, tremor migration, and eruption cycle of Yellowstone Geysers

The Yellowstone hydrothermal system hosts the largest number of geysers on Earth. These natural wonders attract millions of visitors each year. Despite a history of scientific investigation spanning over 150-years, fundamental questions about geysers remain: What structures are required to create geysers?

Why do some geysers erupt regularly and others do not? What controls eruption characteristics such as the volume erupted, the interval between eruptions, and the height to which geysers erupt? Can eruptions be accurately predicted?

This project aims to address these questions by collecting and analyzing interdisciplinary data from few iconic geysers in Yellowstone, including Old Faithful and Steamboat. Using naturally excited ground vibration observed across dense seismic arrays, the subsurface plumbing structure will be imaged and the thermal state within will be inferred during each stage of the eruption cycle.

By mimicking the natural geysers, laboratory geyser models will be built to examine how plumbing geometry and other factors give rise to eruption characteristics. Through the research, the project will support undergraduate and graduate education and the scientific findings will be disseminated through the education and outreach platforms of National Park Service and USGS Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.

Geysers are springs that intermittently erupt mixtures of steam and liquid water. They provide a window into the transport of mass and energy in hydrothermal systems. To understand how and why geysers exist and erupt the investigators will use a multidisciplinary approach to study the iconic geysers of Yellowstone National Park, in particular, Old Faithful, the geysers of Geyser Hill, and the world’s tallest geyser, Steamboat.

They will use dense temporary seismic arrays and novel interferometry-based array analyses to track subsurface hydrothermal tremor migration and hence the evolving thermodynamic conditions before, during, and after eruption. Similar analyses will be used to image the plumbing system of geysers and deeper geological structures that enable geysers to exist and identify changes in those structures over time.

Laboratory models and in situ pressure and temperature measurements will be used to interpret seismic observations and develop a generalized understanding of geysering phenomena and signals. Together, a combination of seismic data and models will be used to forecast eruptions, including their timing.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.