In the Lower Geyser Basin, north of the boardwalk to the east of the almost constant eruption of Clepsydra Geyser, lies two giant craters in the gray siliceous sinter, one beyond the other. These are both erupting geysers, one of the thousands that are found in Yellowstone National Park of Wyoming. However, they stand out as being some of the largest geysers in the world, and are next to each other. The more distant one, the larger of the two, is Morning Geyser. It is an infrequent erupting geyser even during active periods, and often goes through long periods of dormancy that will amount to years at a time. The large crater nearer to the boardwalk is Fountain Geyser. It is an active and very frequent performer, erupting once every 4.5 to 5.5 hours, for an eruption window of only an hour. It is most likely to erupt in the middle of the window for an interval around 5 hours, give or take ten minutes, but this is not always guaranteed. Both the Morning Geyser and Fountain Geyser craters are filled with water, but never all of the way to the rim. From the boardwalk, the water surface cannot be seen in either, and they appear to be empty craters. There is a nearby small ridge which will give a better vantage point to peer down into their craters. From here, their water surfaces can be seen, always a few feet below the surface. Even just before the eruption, the water still remains a few feet below the rim, just as it will be after and in between the eruptions. So the only way to predict the next eruption is to know the time of the previous eruption, add 4.5 hours, then wait for the next eruption to begin somewhere during the next hour or so. It begins without a warning, other than suddenly water begins to burst up out of the crater in a constant roiling action that will last for about thirty minutes. The eruption itself is being caused by water deep down and under great pressure in the plumbing tubes being heated to the boiling temperature, being converted to high pressure steam, that itself pushes upward and attempts to escape from the pool. In the process, surrounding water is heaved up to heights of about 80 feet as the steam releases. The forces created by the steam are so large that they will often grab stones from 30 feet below, carry them all the way up to the water surface, and throw them clean out of the crater to heights of 40 feet, before they crash down on the surrounding geyserite surface. The Wild Images Team has photographed many eruptions of Fountain Geyser in a variety of different conditions and different times of day, and we have captured moments of these stones being thrown out. Sometimes, the activity will pause for a moment, allowing the energy of the escaping steam to concentrate in a single burst of water that will often be higher than the others. It is during these moments that the often looked for blue bursts may occur, where the water being thrown out has not yet broken up into separate globules, but instead remains a large mass of water that reflects the blue color of the pool depths below. Close inspection of the above image will show that it is a result of a large blue burst, and the blue color can be seen in its lower portions, especially on the right side. Moments before this image was taken, The Wild Images Team captured this gorgeous blue burst of Fountain Geyser that is available for sale in our store. This particular eruption produced a series of photos that have remained our favorite set for Fountain Geyser. A combination of great afternoon lighting, blue sky streaked with cirrus clouds and dotted with nimbus clouds, westerly winds carrying the steam eastward to the right, the striking colors of the siliceous sinter mound surrounding Fountain Geyser, coupled with the yellow and orange hues of the distant background grasses surrounding Fountain Flats, add together for a great set of photos. The Wild Images Team has captured many other photos in Yellowstone National Park including a Beehive Geyser eruption with a massive rainbow, the world famous Old Faithful Geyser with water textures, a towering Grand Geyser pause burst eruption, a sunset Castle Geyser eruption with a bright rainbow, an afternoon Riverside Geyser eruption with a rainbow, an early morning Lion Geyser eruption with a rainbow, a very difficult to catch Oblong Geyser blue burst eruption, the extremely powerful Artemisia Geyser eruption with deep bursts, the very moment of waves from a Great Fountain Geyser initial eruption, an iconic White Dome Geyser eruption at sunset, the large bursts of a Fountain Geyser eruption in steam, the delicate red light on a Grotto Fountain Geyser eruption at sunset, the defining moment of a Rocket Geyser eruption at sunset, the extremely brief Aurum Geyser eruption with colors, a view through a Cliff Geyser eruption of Black Sand Basin, the colorful patterns of bacterial mats in Midway Geyser Basin, the changing conditions that cause a rainbow to parallel the Snow Lodge, the Biscuit Basin duo of Black Diamond Pool and Opal Pool, the colorfully pock marked waterways of the erupting Blood Geyser, the active steppes of the Mineral Terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs, the distant double rainbow over the Lewis River Canyon, the before eruption reflections of sunset over the terraces of Great Fountain Geyser, the deep colors of sky reflections over Beauty Pool, the thermally induced sunset light filters through the steamy trees, the intense moment of mammatus clouds over the Firehole River, the very early morning fog surrounding Lower Yellowstone Falls, the runoff created reflections over the colorful runoff pan of Constant Geyser, the unworldly terrain of the extensive Porcelain Geyser Basin in Norris, the deeply hued steam over colorful bacterial mat reflections of Grand Prismatic Spring, the contrast of runoff channels surrounding the blue superheated water of Sapphire Pool, differing wave patterns created by the colorful submerged Fishing Cone Geyser, the strong green created by the record depths of mysterious Abyss Pool, the moment the full moon rises over the Grant Village Lakehouse, the cloud symmetry of a sunset reflection over a calm Yellowstone Lake, and moments earlier with a cloud shelf reflection over a calm Yellowstone Lake, each of which are available for sale in our store. Blog posts from Yellowstone National Park have documented the Old Faithful Geyser eruptions, the steamy Oblong Geyser eruptions, the deep drain Uncertain Geyser eruptions, the steep crater Depression Geyser eruptions, the amphitheater Grand Geyser eruptions, the impressive Fan and Mortar Geyser eruptions, the very quick Aurum Geyser eruptions, the rooster tail Whirligig Geyser eruptions, the series type Lion Geyser eruptions, the tall grotto White Dome Geyser eruptions, the frequent Sawmill Geyser eruptions, the double cone Atomizer Geyser eruptions, the nozzled Beehive Geyser eruptions, the cratered Fountain Geyser eruptions, the deep pool Artemisia Geyser eruptions, the playful Vixen Geyser eruptions, the scenic Riverside Geyser eruptions, the very rare Ledge Geyser eruptions from above, the very rare Ledge Geyser eruptions from below, the gurgling Tilt’s Baby Geyser eruptions, the bursts of Great Fountain Geyser eruptions, the hidden Dome Geyser eruptions, the tilted Daisy Geyser eruptions, the remote Pink Cone Geyser eruptions, the long Castle Geyser eruption water phases, the loud Castle Geyser eruption steam phases, the stark Constant Geyser eruptions, the rim wall Cliff Geyser eruptions, the initiation from Grotto Fountain Geyser eruptions, the continuation of Grotto Geyser eruptions, the defining moment of Rocket Geyser eruptions, the marathon Spa Geyser eruptions, the blue waters of a Spouter Geyser eruption, the isolated Artist Paint Pots throwing mud, the little seen intricate burst of a mud volcano, a view of a dozen visitors under a Beehive Geyser rainbow, the eruption through numerous vents of Fan and Mortar Geysers, the enormous amount of water through the runoff channels of Excelsior Geyser, the otherworldly view of cloudy blue runoff pools in the Porcelain Basin, the moment that a large bison bull rolled in his claimed dirt pile, the rule for the right of way wildlife, the high altitudes where a large raven that perches over the Dunraven Pass, the the day that a phoenix streaked across the backcountry sky, the trail from Grant Village that crosses over this suspended bridge, The Wild Images Team in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, our Photographer Jeremy Robinson shadowed in Morning Glory Pool, and The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome at the Yellowstone National Park entrance sign.
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