David's Images of the Day Photoblog
I went back to Crystal Geyser in the morning since I didn’t see it erupt the previous evening. The interesting thing about Crystal Geyser is that it is a cold geyser, powered by carbon dioxide. I did see a minor eruption, then hit the road for Great Basin National Park in Utah.
Travertine Deposit at Crystal Geyser outside Green River, Utah. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 50 mm f/1.4G lens (ISO 200, 50 mm, f/2.8, 1/400 sec). Crystal Geyser is unique in that it is cold and driven by carbon dioxide. Unfortunately, it didn’t erupt during this visit.
Before leaving Green River for Cedar City, I made a stop at the nearby Crystal Geyser. The cold geyser is near an abandoned Air Force missile testing facility, and is right next to the Green River. The geyser is now accessible via a dirt road on Bureau of Land Management land. I was fortunate to arrive this time when the geyser erupted. The geyser is unique in that the water is cold, and powered by carbon dioxide — not heat. The geyser is the result of drilling for gas (petroleum) many years ago. When the place was under Air Force control, the geyser was off-limits for visits. The eruptions are irregular, and you need to be lucky or very patient to see an eruption happen. In this image there is someone meditating while the eruption occurred. The water coming out of the geyser rises over 20 feet in the air — and unlike Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park, the water from Crystal Geyser is cold to the touch. The water is mineral rich, and deposits building the crystalline Travertine terrace as the water flows to the river.
