Grand Geyser Puts On A Show Within Its Amphitheater As One Of The Largest Geysers In The World

This eruption of Grand Geyser makes the surrounding pine trees look tiny. But they are fully grown pine trees of significant height. It is just that Grand Geyser is that large, dwarfing everything else around it. As one of the largest geysers in the world, it is located on a large siliceous sinter platform abutting a tall ridge that forms a natural amphitheater with runoff channels emanating in all directions away from the ridge to accommodate the significant output of water from its eruptions. It is a fountain type of geyser, with the eruption emanating from a vent located under feet of water in its filled pool. Actually, Grand Geyser is technically comprised of three separately named geysers that contribute to its eruption, either before, during, or after its main bursts. In the above photo, captured by The Wild Images Team during a late afternoon eruption, the other two geysers are completely hidden in the sheer scale of the water burst and accompanying steam coming from Grand Geyser. But believe it or not, on its left side sits a higher pool, with beautiful light blue water ringed by bright yellow geyserite, with its own submerged vent. Also a fountain type of geyser, it is named Turban Geyser, and it is a very frequent active geyser that can reach up to 20 feet in height. Before an eruption of Grand Geyser, it will be found passing through cycles of eruption activity, where it is bursting for about five minutes, followed by about fifteen minutes of calm, after which it will begin bursting yet again for another five minutes, followed by yet another fifteen minutes of calm. This will continue for the hours leading up to the eruption of Grand Geyser. During and after the eruption of Grand Geyser itself, Turban Geyser will be found in continuous bursting activity, with no calm pauses. It only becomes quiet for an extended period about an hour after Grand Geyser has ceased its eruption, though it begins its cycle of eruptions again about an hour later and will continue up to, during, and for an hour after the successive Grand Geyser eruption. In front of the raised ringed platform enclosing the pool of Turban Geyser sits an opening in the geyserite that is named Vent Geyser. It begins to erupt only after Grand Geyser has itself been erupting for several minutes, and it tends to build up height as Grand Geyser diminishes, reaching up to over 70 feet. As a vent type geyser, it does not burst like Turban Geyser, but instead holds a steady stream of water. Like Turban Geyser, Vent Geyser will also continue for about an hour after Grand Geyser ceases its eruption. You would think that such an awesome display of geysers would be rare and unpredictable. However, it is exactly the opposite. Grand Geyser erupts up to four times a day, and the window of eruption is only about an hour and a half. So while it is not nearly as predictable as Old Faithful Geyser or Daisy Geyser, the beauty of it makes it worth the short wait required. While it technically erupt anywhere between four hours to eight hours after the previous eruption, it is much more likely to be between five and a half hours to seven hours, narrowing the eruption window significantly. And more than just that, it will almost certainly initiate within minutes of one of the starts of Turban Geyser. The pool of Grand Geyser pulses in height following the exact cycle of Turban Geyser. Every twenty minutes or so, the pool of Grand Geyser pushes itself up to slight overflow. Shortly thereafter, Turban Geyser begins its next round of bursting activity. Within a minute after that, the pool of Grand Geyser will do one of two things: either drop back down, meaning no eruption will occur this time and not until it at least rises again twenty minutes later, or subtle wave ripples will start to form on its surface. Nearby observers, often using binoculars, may call out “waves on Grand”, indicating an imminent eruption. The pool of Grand Geyser will suddenly burst upward into the sky, reaching up to and over 200 feet, hold there for a brief period, before dropping back and bursting upward again almost immediately. As a general rule, the longer the pause before the next burst, the larger the next burst will be. So The Wild Images Team strategically captured the above photo after one such pause, and shortly thereafter this gorgeous sister image of a large burst available for sale in our store after a successive pause. Eventually the bursts of Grand Geyser will lower down in height until it stops. As this happens, Turban Geyser and Vent Geyser will start to become more noticeable as they emerge from the massive flow of Grand Geyser and themselves continuously erupt for the next hour. This will be featured in a future blog post. However, within the next few seconds up to minute Grand Geyser can surprise by suddenly bursting upward in a massive pause burst, reaching very large heights. And then after this, it is possible to happen a second time. If a few minutes have passed with nothing happening, it is likely done. Turban Geyser and Vent Geyser will then own the show. 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.

To see more photos, please visit our store