Question: Seen below is the photograph of a hot water geyser found in Wyoming, USA. located in the 8,990 square kilometres Yellowstone National Park, this geyser is known as the ‘Old Faithful’. The park comprises 3,000 such hot water springs and geysers but none of them are as significant as the old Faithful. Keeping in mind its name, can you guess what makes it noteworthy as a natural wonder?
Hot water geyser at Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
Answer: True to its name this hot water spring stands by its promise to erupt at regular intervals. It erupts at an interval of every 65 -70 minutes and throws nearly 45,000 litres of almost 1000 °C hot water up to 60 metres along with the steam. Such eruption lasts for 4 minutes and then subsides. This four- minute schedule occurs at an interval of every 65-70 minutes. No significant change is seen in this ‘time table’, which is why the geyser is known as ‘old Faithful, since 1870. Its punctuality has been maintained since two centuries, till date.