19Aug

The Rare Ledge Geyser And The More Common Coalsack Geyser Erupt Together In Yellowstone

About twenty miles to the north of the heavily concentrated thermal areas of the Upper Geyser Basin, Midway Geyser Basin, and Lower Geyser Basin lies the thermal area known as Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park of Wyoming. It is known for holding some world records. First of all, it is the hottest thermal area in Yellowstone and one of the hottest in the world, with subsurface temperatures near the boiling temperature of water. This leads to the landscape such as the porcelain basin, where no plants can grow. Second of all, it has the most acidic waters for a thermal area in Yellowstone and one of the most in the world. The high acidity of the water has contributed to some unique features being found in the siliceous sinter formations of the area. Third of all, the largest geyser in the world, Steamboat Geyser, is located here. With eruptions that reach up to 400 feet in height, it is quite an amazing sight. In the past it has been very unpredictable, often with years between single eruptions that would occur randomly. It has even had a fifty year span between two successive eruptions. Lately for the last couple of years it has been erupting quite regularly, about once every week or two, but at the time of this blog entry, it has not erupted in over 42 days. This is just after having successive intervals between eruptions of 26 days followed by 37 days. So it currently appears to be heading towards a period of dormancy again. Only time will tell. But while Steamboat Geyser is the largest in Norris Geyser Basin, the second largest geyser distinction belongs to Ledge Geyser. And while the eruptions of Steamboat Geyser last around 15 minutes, the eruptions of Ledge Geyser easily last over six hours! Ledge Geyser also alternates between periods of near dormancy followed by periods of somewhat predictable activity. It was fairly active in 2008, but other than a couple of random eruptions, it did not become active again until 2015, seven years later. It was then that The Wild Images Team made a concerted effort to catch one of its eruptions under ideal photographic conditions. That is a tall order for a geyser, that even when it is active, has an interval between eruptions of anywhere between 3 days and 9 days, for an eruption window of 6 days! And of course, it will erupt anytime during that eruption window, day or night, sunny or cloudy, dry or rainy. But our patience paid off when we were present during its eruption on the afternoon of August 17, 2015, when it had a perfect background sky and nice lighting as seen on this sister image found in our store. Since the eruption lasted for over an hour and a half, we had plenty of time to position our camera equipment in various locations around the area. While our shots centered on the view from equal level to the eruption, we eventually moved down into the porcelain basin to capture this above photo of the namesake ledge after which Ledge Geyser is named. The actual main geyser is seen as the narrow, heavy jet of water that is rightmost of the group of three found at the center of the image. Behind it and to its left is the large column of steam coming from its eruption. To the left of this and back in front of it is the steam vent that is also part of Ledge Geyser. Meanwhile, to the right of the eruption of Ledge Geyser in the picture, Coalsack Geyser itself is putting on a show with heavy bursts of water that are running down its visible runoff channel. 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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