Recording Geothermal Activity in the Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park using a Dense Geophone Array, 2021

Geysers are springs that intermittently erupt mixtures of steam and liquid water. They provide a window into the transport of mass and energy in hydrothermal systems. To understand how and why geysers exist and erupt the investigators will use a multidisciplinary approach to study the iconic geysers of Yellowstone National Park, in particular, Old Faithful, the geysers of Geyser Hill, and the world’s tallest geyser, Steamboat. They will use dense temporary seismic arrays and novel interferometry-based array analyses to track subsurface hydrothermal tremor migration and hence the evolving thermodynamic conditions before, during, and after eruption. Similar analyses will be used to image the plumbing system of geysers and deeper geological structures that enable geysers to exist and identify changes in those structures over time. Laboratory models and in situ pressure and temperature measurements will be used to interpret seismic observations and develop a generalized understanding of geysering phenomena and signals. Together, a combination of seismic data and models will be used to forecast eruptions, including their timing.