Yellowstone National Park is one of the most popular natural tourist sites in the United States, but there is a lot more to the history and subject of geyser tourism. People have been visiting geysers for over a hundred years. In the early 19th century, Waimangu Geyser was a very popular tourist site, resulting in the construction of hotels nearby and the creation of a tour—“the Round Tour”—that is still given today years after that particular geyser became extinct.

Since geysers are actually quite rare—there are only about 1000 in the entire world— there are only a handful of spots to go geyser gazing. Geysers are concentrated in five countries. There is Yellowstone National Park in the United States, the Dolina Geiserov and the Kamchatka Valley of Geysers in Russia, the El Tatio geyser field in Chile, the Taupo Volcanic Zone in New Zealand, and many places in Iceland.

Unsurprisingly, many of these places have capitalized on their natural resources and done their best to create a thriving tourist industry around them. Many of the world’s geyser fields are located in remote or difficult to access places because of the requirements for the formation of geysers. The terrain is usually near volcanoes where there is a high level of geothermal activity along with the right type of rock to withstand the water pressure. This can create some difficulties in creating a spot that is practical for tourists to visit. The Kamchatka Valley of Geysers is very hard to access. In fact, groups have to be brought in by helicopter over the mountains. The secluded valley only has one hotel, but even with the difficulties and expense in getting there, thousands of tourists still flock to the Valley of Geysers each year.

There are often other things to see around geyser tourists sites. For instance, Yellowstone National Park has incredible wildlife, such as bison, wolves, and bears. It is also one of the easiest geyser fields to access and can handle large crowds of tourists. Additionally, there are plenty of hotels near the National Park where tourists can stay in comfort or they can rough it and camp at the park. New Zealand—the site of the Waimangu Geyser—has had a history of geyser tourism for over a century. The El Tatio geyser field in Chile is another popular site in the southern hemisphere. Although it is located in a remote and sparsely populated part of the Andes Mountains, there are tour guides that bring you to the geyser fields and you can camp at the park or stay in San Pedro and drive up.

Despite theme parks, resorts, and other new vacation destinations, many tourists still love visiting natural wonders of the world, like the geyser fields as can be seen by the millions who visit geyser all around the world each year. Some countries that contain geysers have taken steps to insure that these natural wonders are protected, so they can be admired by future generations.

People have used hot springs, geysers and other sources of geothermal energy for centuries. They harnessed this power as a source of heat, a tool for cooking, and for healing purposes. As technology has progressed, people have devised more ways to use geysers. Geysers have been used for a number of commercial purposes including tourism, energy, and manufacturing.

Since geysers are so rare and beautiful, a thriving tourist industry has built up around these few geyser fields. Millions of tourists visit Yellowstone National Park each year, and thousands flock to other harder to reach sites around the world like El Tatio geyser field and Kamchatka Valley of Geysers. One commercial use of geysers has been the building of geothermal energy plants.

The first geothermal power plant was invented in Italy in 1904. Geothermal power plants form electricity from hot water or steam gathered from reservoirs in the ground. Geothermal energy is an attractive option because it is a clean source of energy. Scientists are working on being able to extract geothermal energy straight from the Earth’s core instead of having to use reservoirs of water. Geysers are also used for many purposes in Iceland, such as heating greenhouses.

Since Thomas Brock discovered that geysers contain life—microorganisms that can survive in the scalding temperatures—scientists have done extensive research on these thermophiles and hyperthermophiles. Thermophiles and hyperthermophiles are bacteria that can survive and thrive in the extreme heat of the geysers. This was an important scientific discovery, but you may wonder how it relates to commercialism. It turns out that these extremophiles—bacteria that can survive extreme temperatures, such as thermophiles and hyperthermophiles—have had a huge impact on advances in biotechnology and manufacturing.

Corporations spend billions of dollars on enzymes each year. These enzymes are used for everything from creating artificial sweeteners to helping in DNA matching in criminal cases. Extremophiles are able to withstand temperatures that normal enzymes break down at. Thus, companies could save millions of dollars that they spend on specially treating enzymes by using extremophiles. In the few decades since the study of these bacteria has taken place, there have already been tremendous breakthroughs. In fact, these microorganisms are worth so much that one corporation actually made a contract with Yellowstone National Park giving the park some of the profits from the marketing of these bacteria in return for the right to search and use the geysers to get samples of bacteria.

Geysers have proven to be more than simply beautiful creations of nature, but some scientists and conservationists question the commercial uses that some geysers fields have been used for. These people are concerned with the destruction of already rare geysers for the purposes of obtaining energy from the ground. They also question whether it is right to use the geysers for finding and harvesting microorganisms, regardless of the benefits and advancements that these microbes have brought. The struggle between companies and conservationists continue, but hopefully a balance will be reached that will protect these rare sites while allowing progress to be made.

You have set aside the time, picked the perfect spot to go, and gotten your directions from the internet. You are all ready for a day of geyser gazing right? Before you head off to the geyser field of your choice, there are some basics that you should make sure to bring with you.

One of the most important things to remember for geyser gazing is sensible clothing. Wear sturdy shoes like boots that can handle rough terrain because you will probably have to do a lot of walking. Boots are also a good idea because they provide more protection in case you step into a hot spring or geyser pool, which can severely burn you. Since geyser gazing may involve a lot of hiking, wear clothing that is loose and comfortable enough to move in while protecting you from the elements. Jeans, cargo pants, t-shirts and sweatshirts are a good idea. You might also want to wear a baseball hat and sunglasses to protect yourself from the sun. Sunscreen is a very good thing to have for an all-day excursion. Make sure that you bring it with you instead of putting it on at home, so you can reapply it later on in the day.

If you are making the trip in late autumn or in the winter, bundle up with layers, so you can remove articles of clothing as you warm up from hiking and the midday sun. Bring binoculars in order to check out the geysers from a safe distance and to spot far off geysers. You may get so busy that you forget your growling stomach, but you should consider whether you want to pack a lunch or go to a nearby restaurant. Do not wait until you are in the middle of your tour and find yourself starving without any food. Since geyser fields are tourist spots, the odds are there are many restaurants within a reasonable distance from the geysers. Even if you are not going to eat lunch at the park, make sure you bring water to prevent dehydration.

In addition to bringing binoculars, you will not want to forget your camera. Many of the sights at geyser fields are stunning and you want to be able to capture that memory. You may also want to carry a small notebook and pen to record your observations about the geyser. It might be wise to bring a small first-aid kit—a few bandages, band-aids, and some anti-bacterial wipes—in case you get hurt during your sightseeing. You can carry all of your belongings in a backpack or messenger bag.

Make certain to bring materials about geysers. You do not want to bring encyclopedias because you will have to carry them. Try to bring a paperback guide about geysers and pick up any materials that the park office or visitors’ center offers. If possible, check out the schedule for the geysers’ eruptions ahead of time online. If that is not available, check the schedule when you get to the geyser field and plan your route accordingly. Geyser gazing can be a very enjoyable experience and a little preparation will make it all that much better.

Scientists have been searching for life on other planets ever since man first went into space and dreaming of it even before then. Their search still continues, but what scientists have found are geysers on other moons.

In 1989, the Voyager 2 discovered geysers on one of Neptune’s moons—Triton. The geysers on Triton are nitrogen geysers, which may be caused by solar heating or tidal forces inside the moon. The nitrogen gas bursts through the surface of semi-frozen nitrogen either because it has been heated or because the tidal forces force it through the surface. Incredibly, the eruptions on Triton can last for as long as a year, and the moon is streaked with material from eruptions that has been scattered downwind from the geysers.

Triton is not the only moon that contains geysers. In 2005, the spacecraft Cassini, which had orbited Saturn’s moons numerous times, photographed billows of steam from the moon Enceladus. Later, these scientists came to realize that the clouds of smoke came from geysers on the surface. The eruptions on Enceladus were composed of liquid water and scientists theorized that some heat source inside of the moon melted the water and pressure caused it to eventually burst through the surface. In fact, the scientists studying the moon discovered that the ring around Saturn most likely came from the eruptions from Enceladus because the material is the same as the eruptions.

Io, a moon of Jupiter, has eruptions of frozen water and gas through vents on its surface. These cold geysers on the moons are called “cryovolcanoes.”As of yet, scientists have not discovered geysers on other planets only the moons of various planets in the solar system, but that does not mean they have given up searching. It was not until twenty years ago that the first geysers were discovered on a moon, so there may be more on other moons as well as other planets in the solar system.

The presence of geysers on these moons may be a clue to finding life in outer space. Geysers are a place where microorganism grow and thrive—thermophiles and hyperthermophiles (a term for bacteria that can survive extreme temperatures) have been found in the extremely hot waters of geysers—so scientists are excited about finding them on these moons. In fact, the scientists studying the Cassini’s results say that this proof of liquid water beneath the surface of Enceladus indicates that this moon would be a good place to search for life.

One of the requisites for life as we know it is a warm source of water. Although Mars has captured the attention of many searching for life, scientists may switch their attention to this moon of Saturn. One of the scientists on the Cassini study says that now that they have found liquid water, they are searching for other signs of a habitat suitable for life—whether the geysers are stable, a chemical habitat to support life, etc. The discovery of life in geysers has led to revolutionary advancements in biotechnology, and now geysers may help scientists find life in space.

Just like volcanoes, geysers can also become extinct. Extinct geysers are geysers that no longer erupt without some kind of interference or action from man. Many geysers have become extinct throughout the years, which is a concern to many conservationists, scientists, and nature lovers because of the rarity of geysers—there are only about 1000 all over the world.

Geysers can become extinct because of either natural occurrences or through human interference. Geysers have become extinct as a result of natural occurrences and sometimes natural disasters. Shifting geothermal plates caused the famous Waimangu Geyser—at up to 460 meters (1491 feet) the highest geyser ever recorded—to die out like countless other geysers. Ironically, the rare conditions that allow geysers to exist are the same ones that cause instability and the destruction of these natural wonders. Some geysers are wiped out by natural disasters though.

The Kamchatka Valley of Geysers was hit by both a tornado, which destroyed one geyser, and then devastated by a flood that obliterated more geysers. In the 1970’s protests began to protect the geysers in New Zealand from further damage. Eventually, a court ruling decided that companies had to obtain water rights in order to carry out geothermal exploration, a decision that saved many geysers.

Although some geysers do die of natural causes so to speak, many are destroyed by man. Two geyser fields in Nevada—Steamboat Springs and Beowawe — were destroyed when geothermal power plants were installed. Geothermal drilling lowered the temperature and water level to the point that there was not enough of either for geysers to exist. Some geyser fields in New Zealand were also destroyed with the creation of geothermal power plants. The fragility of geysers and the special conditions they require to survive means that they are very easy to destroy.

In the 1800’s there were over two hundred geysers in New Zealand, but that number had dwindled to 56 by 2004. So many geysers were destroyed in New Zealand that El Tatio geyser field in Chile took its place as the largest geyser field in the southern hemisphere.

Geysers can also go dormant with long periods of time between eruptions. Several geysers in Yellowstone National Park—the Giant, the Giantess, and the Steamboat Geyser—have not erupted in over four years. Most geyser fields have dormant geysers among them. Geysers can also become less active when their water supply decreases or become restricted for some reason. Old Faithful has slowed down, and some scientists believe that this change is the result of long-term drought conditions in the area that have caused a decrease in Old Faithful’s reservoir.

Because geysers are so rare, there have been efforts to protect the few left in existence. The geysers in Yellowstone are protected because they are part of a U.S. National Park. Other steps have been taken by different countries like the law passed by New Zealand to restrict geothermal drilling. Hopefully, these efforts will preserve geyser fields for future generations to study and admire.

The Waimangu Geyser was located in New Zealand. Its name translates as “black geyser” and came from the fact that the water that erupted from it was black from mud and rocks in the ground. This geyser started erupting in 1900 and quickly gained popularity because of its incredible size. The Waimangu Geyser was the largest one ever recorded reaching heights of 150 meters (486 ft) regularly. The geyser was even noted to reach 460 meters (1491 ft) on more than one occasion. The tallest geyser that is still considered active(although it has not erupted for several years)—the Steamboat geyser of Yellowstone National Park—only reaches heights of around 100 meters (324 ft).

The power of the Waimang Geyser was demonstrated in a terrible accident in 1903.Four tourists were killed by the geyser in 1903—Ruby and Katherine Nicholls who were sisters, David MacNaughton, and Joe Warbrick. They were members of a tourist expedition and ventured too close to the geyser. Their guide tried to get them to move away from the geyser warning them of the danger, but they stayed by it. A terrific eruption that shot out carried the four victims almost a mile away. The clothes of the victims were torn to shreds, and the bodies, badly damaged, were found in different spot around the landscape. One doctor believed that they died nearly instantaneously.

This incredible geyser quickly became a tourist spot and hotels were built around the area between 1902 and 1903. The tour was known as the “Round Trip,” and in fact, it still takes place today, although the geyser itself has died. Many photographs were taken of the geyser by tourists and scientists. Because of its dark color, the Waimangu Geyser almost looks like oil in these old black and white photographs. Unfortunately, those photographs are the only way that people can see the geyser today.

The Waimangu Geyser, as magnificent as it was, was short-lived. The eruptions began slowing in the fall of 1904 because of shifting geothermal activity and stopped altogether in late autumn of 1904. Since then, the Waimangu area has been a place of great interest to scientists. In the years following, more activity shifted the landscape and formed thermal lakes around the now extinct Waimangu Geyser. One of the boarding houses for tourists was destroyed during one of these periods of disturbance.

Throughout the century, scientists have continued to study the Waimangu area and instruments were installed in 1970 to monitor activity around the two hot lakes in the area—the Frying Pan and the Inferno Crater lakes. Scientists have discovered that the two lakes follow a cycle. The Inferno Crater Lake used to fall and rise along with the Waimangu Geyser. Now, it rises and falls inversely with the Frying Pan Lake. When the water level of the Inferno Crater Lake rises, the Frying Pan’s water level decreases and vice-versa. Waimangu is the only place in the world where hot lakes follow a cycle such as this. The Waimangu Geyser spurted into existence and gradually waned away, however taking into account the constant flow of geothermal activity that takes place in that part of the world, perhaps another such geyser will one day appear.

Kamchatka is a region in the far northeast section of Russia. It is a rather isolated region rich in natural resources and home to the second largest collection of geysers in the world. In addition to the over ninety geysers in the valley, the area is filled with hot springs and volcanoes.

The Valley of Geysers was discovered in 1941 by a scientist, Tatiana Ustinova, and her guide who had stumbled upon the valley and were nearly scared to death when one geyser erupted near them. Ustinova named the geyser “Pervenets,” which means “the first-born.”

The Kamchatka Valley of Geysers has been damaged more than once by natural disasters. In 1981, the Typhoon Elsa caused so much flooding and damage from debris that one geyser (Bolshaya Pechka) was completely destroyed. Nor was that the only disaster. In June of 2007, a landslide in the valley caused severe damage, covering two-thirds of the valley and coming very close to destroying the valley’s only hotel. Many geysers, including Pervenets and Maly, were buried. Some geysers were destroyed and many scientists and wildlife conservations were afraid that the geyser field would be almost completely obliterated.

A group of Russian scientists went to the area in June of 2007 in order to assess the damage and try to preserve as much of the valley as they could. They found at least one new geyser when they got there which erupted with a height of five meters (just over 16 feet).The Director of the Kronotsky Preserve visited the Kamchatka Valley of Geysers and said that most of the damage was not permanent, even predicting that it would be soon cleaned up in order for tourism to continue.

The valley has lush foliage and brilliant colors from various mineral deposits, which provides a beautiful backdrop for the steaming geysers. Many of the geysers—over twenty—have been named. While the green groundcover is beautiful, it can be dangerous to walk on because it may conceal geysers. Even with boots, it is dangerous because the ground can be a boiling marsh, which unsuspecting tourists sink into. The only spots that you can be sure are safe is where the plant wormwood grows. For some reason, this plant will only grow where there is no danger of geysers or any other thermal spots.

While Kamchatka’s Valley of Geysers is a tourist spot of incredible beauty, it is very hard to access. In fact, it is almost impossible to get there without helicopter. In order to protect the beauty of the valley, unplanned tourist excursions were prohibited in 1977. Now, only planned groups of tourists are brought in by helicopter.

Because of its setup and location, the Kamchatka Valley of Geysers cannot handle the massive crowds of tourists that Yellowstone National Park gets each year. Still, the valley does get thousands of tourists each year. If unplanned tourism had not been outlawed several decades ago, the Valley of Geysers would have most likely suffered irreparable damage and one of the natural wonders in that part of the world would have been lost forever.

The El Tatio geyser field can be found in the Atacama Desert in the South American country of Chile. El Tatio—translated “the Grandfather”—is the largest geyser field in the southern hemisphere with more than eighty active geysers. That distinction belonged to the Taupo Volcanic Zone in New Zealand until many of the geysers on that island were destroyed by a combination of man’s intervention and natural occurrences. The El Tatio geyser field is also the third largest geyser field in the world trailing Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and the Kamchatka Valley of Geysers in Russia.

Another unique feature of El Tatio is that it is situated in the Andes Mountains, which puts it at an elevation of 4,200 meters above sea level. Even though it is high up in the mountains, El Tatio is not the geyser field with the highest elevation in the world. The eruptions of the geysers at El Tatio are actually quite small. The average eruption is only 75 centimeters (29.5 inches) and the highest one measured about six meters (under twenty feet). Considering other active geysers–like the Great Fountain in Yellowstone National Park–reach over 200 feet, the geysers at El Tatio are not large.

In addition to the attraction of the geysers, the field is quite scenic because of a combination of the geysers, the formation of the ground, pools that are vibrantly colored as a result of the bacteria and microbes that live in them, and because the geyser field is set among a group of active volcanoes.

It is not surprising that like the world’s other geyser fields, El Tatio is a popular tourism attraction. In fact, it was named one of the seven wonders of South America. There are numerous tours of the El Tatio geysers although some of them are fairly expensive. The El Tatio geysers are best viewed at sunrise because you can see the steam to its full advantage. This means that you would have to leave at 4 a.m. from the nearby city of San Pedro for some tours to reach the site by sunrise.

Because this geyser field is in a remote part of the Andes, it is not as accessible as some other geyser locations, such as Yellowstone National Park. Tourists can also drive up on their own or camp at the geyser field, and there is a visitors’ center with indoor plumbing and a small kitchen for the campers’ use.

If you do take a tour of these geysers, you should watch where you are going. There are no park rangers like at Yellowstone National Park, and the geysers can be dangerous. Many parts of the geyser field are covered with a thin crust that looks like solid ground but will not support a person’s weight. Visitors to the geysers do get burned by the geysers and boiling pools quite frequently. Although difficult to reach, El Tatio is a place of great beauty and is an incredible sight to see firsthand.

Geysers can and have been categorized like clouds and mountains. Thus, when you are geyser gazing you might want to know the different types. There are two general types of geysers—one known as the fountain geyser and the other termed the cone geyser.

The fountain geyser spurts water erratically and often violently, shooting water in all directions like its namesake. Before the geyser erupts, a pool forms in a crater over the site of the geyser, and then the geyser shoots through it spraying the pool all over. Sometimes, the water in the pool completely drains away. The cone geyser shoots out of a mound of mineral deposits, which are known as siliceous sinter. Unsurprisingly, the material is also known as geyserite.

Cone geysers usually erupt in steady bursts and can last for a few seconds or for minutes at a time. Some geysers can erupt for hours at a time, although those are rare and some of them have been dormant for several years. The Great Fountain geyser in Yellowstone National Park regularly has eruptions of about forty-five minutes long. The famous geyser the Old Faithful is a cone geyser.

In addition to geysers being categorized according to eruption, they are also divided into six different reservoir types. Geysers in class A have one single pipe as their source and they end in a cone at the surface. Type B geysers have a narrow, deep shaft while type C geysers are like type A with the exception of a pool of water at the surface rather than a cone. The other three types are usually found in fountain geysers. Type D has a series of smaller reservoirs, which empty in turn causing the geyser to spurt irregularly. Type E and type F geysers are variations on a single shaft.

There are also geysers, which are misnamed, but are called that because they are eruptions of pressurized water. Artificial geysers can be created in places with geothermal activity and then fitted with coverings that make their eruptions look like geysers. The technical name for these artificial geysers is “erupting geothermal wells.”

Another type of false geyser is a cold-water geyser. Instead of boiling water, carbon dioxide causes eruption in cold-water geysers. They look very similar to true geysers, but the water in cold-water geysers is usually whiter and frothier—like water in rapids—due to the carbon dioxide. There are a couple of cold-water geysers in Germany and a famous one in Utah called the Crystal Geyser.

Hot springs that continually spout water are sometimes called geysers. They actually do not qualify as a geyser because a geyser has periods of dormancy. The basic categorization of geysers is not too complex, and some geyser gazers may find it interesting to try to classify the different geysers that they see into the categories of cone geysers and fountain geysers. Next time you are at a geyser field, you might want to study the geyser and take a guess before you look it up in your guidebook.

Biology and geysers? It seems like an odd combination; however, geyser biology is a field of study that has gained importance and interest in the last few decades. Geyser biology is, as it sounds, the study of living organisms in geysers. Up until approximately fifty years ago, scientists were still convinced that nothing could survive in water above temperatures of approximately 163 °F (73 °C), not to mention the scalding waters found in geysers and hot springs.

This theory was proven wrong however when in 1966 Thomas D. Brock, from the University of Wisconsin, discovered microorganisms in hot springs in Yellowstone National Park. In the decades since this discovery, these microorganisms have been found in geothermal locations around the globe, including Iceland, which is known for its numerous geysers. In addition to geysers, these microbes have been found in other bodies of water with high temperatures, such as the hot springs in Japan and Iceland.Not only have scientists discovered thermophiles—bacteria that prefer temperatures between 45 and 80 °C (113 °F to 176 °F), but they have even found a group of bacteria classified as hyperthermophiles.

Hyperthermophiles prefer temperatures above 80 °C. Some of these organisms can even survive at temperatures higher than the boiling point of water –100 °C (212 °F). This is a revolutionary change from fifty years ago when scientists thought the existence of such bacteria an impossibility.Undoubtedly, these microbes are fascinating to geologists and biologists, but what is the importance of these hardy bacteria? There is a reason why fields like biomedicine and industrial companies spend billions of dollars a year on enzymes.

These enzymes are used for everything from genetic identification to producing that “stonewashed” look in jeans. The only problem is that normal enzymes break down when exposed to high temperatures, which is not a problem for thermophiles and hyperthermophiles. Thus, by utilizing these hyperthermophiles, manufacturers could cut costs by skipping the steps that they would need to do in order to protect normal enzymes from extreme temperatures.

The results of some of these enzymes have been seen for over a hundred years. One visitor to Yellowstone National Park noted that when an article of clothing was dropped into a boiling pool and pulled out, it looked as if it had been cleaned with bleach. It was microbes that produced this bleach-like effect on clothing.

One of the first thermophiles discovered by Mr. Brock and colleagues that thrived at temperatures above 70 °C was the bacterium Thermus Aquaticus. This valuable microbe has been found to contain an enzyme that is used in polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Polymerase chain reaction is the technique used by scientists to copy and replicate DNA in a relatively brief period of time. This technique is used for DNA identification in criminal cases. Manufacturing is not the only field where these microbes have proven useful. Scientists believe that these organisms may provide new clues to the puzzle of evolution. Geyser biology may be a relatively new field, but its impact—if recent results are any prediction—will be great.