05Aug

The Often Unnoticed Eruption Of Dome Geyser Occurs Over A Large Mound On Geyser Hill In Yellowstone

On top of Geyser Hill sits a large mound. It is tucked back into the trees, so while it stands above everything, it certainly does not stand out. As a matter of fact, most visitors who make the trek over to this area will usually pass it by without realizing that it is, in fact, a geyser. Dome Geyser is its name, for the large dome it has built up over the ages, similar to those of Old Faithful Geyser and Split Cone Geyser. All of these are located in the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park, a tract of land over which the largest concentration of geysers in the world is found, with over 150 geysers spread over a narrow band of terrain along the Firehole River. One region that stands out in the Upper Geyser Basin is Geyser Hill, a barren area due to the high surface temperature, that stands up above the surrounding landscape. And it is on top of Geyser Hill that an even higher mound stands, that of Dome Geyser. Even when it does have an eruption, it often still goes unnoticed, due to the steep grade of its mound obscuring a view of its eruption from the trail. The best viewpoint of a Dome Geyser eruption is found by continuing further down the trail to somewhere near Infant Geyser and taking a look back along a less steep gradient of its mound from a higher altitude. It is from this exact viewpoint that The Wild Images Team captured this image of the initial eruption of Dome Geyser. This is the initial eruption, as afterward Dome Geyser will continue to make 15 or more eruptions, about one every 15 or so minutes, in what is known as a series. During this series, it will make a brief eruption for a few minutes, then go quiet for 15 or so minutes, the erupt again for a few minutes, in succession for several hours. After this it will become dormant for a period of time, before coming back to life in a new series. Even with all of this activity, it is rarely seen except by the few individuals who may be looking in the right direction at the exact viewpoint. Its eruptions are quite scenic, as can be seen in this image. A nice foreground is dominated by the sparsely vegetated yet colorful mound, and a nice background of the contrasting green of the surrounding pine trees. Combine this with a nice sky and the result will be a beautiful photo. A close inspection of this image will show a slight blue tint to the water burst of Dome Geyser, an effect caused by the reflection of light from its deeper pool and its stronger blue color, something that is also found in a few of the bursting fountain type geysers found around Yellowstone National Park of Wyoming, including Oblong Geyser, Artemisia Geyser, Fountain Geyser, and Great Fountain Geyser. Dome Geyser is unique among them however, by existing atop its namesake dome mound. 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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