Lady Knox Geyser- Rachel

Lady Knox Geyser was the second stop we made while visiting the North Island of New Zealand. When we first arrived, we saw what appeared to be a large mound of dirt enclosed by a fence and stadium seating all around it. Excited by the promise of a great show, we all snagged seats as close to the action as possible. Soon a park ranger walked up to the geyser and introduced himself and his bag of soap he brought along for fun. The ranger gave us a brief history of the geyser before beginning the show. Lady Knox Geyser was discovered by a group of prisoners about 100 years ago. These prisoners worked by clearing the trees and shrubs from that area, which obviously left them quite dirty by the end of the day. The prisoners found the geyser and thought it would be a smart idea to bring soap so they could wash themselves in the water from the geyser. Of course, now we know that adding soap to the geyser makes it erupt, which must have been fun to see the first time the prisoners engaged in this activity. After this discovery, the prisoners began building up the cone of the geyser in order to make the eruption higher.
Lady Knox Geyser has a super heated reservoir of water underneath. There are two chambers of water: one contains water of temperature 200°C and the other contains cooler water, which sits on top and acts as a lid. The rocks underneath the geyser act as a heat source for the bottom chamber of water. As the water heats up, pressure continues to build up until the cooler water acting as a lid cannot hold it in any longer. Natural eruptions vary and depend on recent rainfall. They can last for about 45 minutes. Because natural eruptions are so unpredictable, rangers add soap to the geyser every 24 hours for tourists to see it. The soap makes the geyser bubble at first, then it softens the water and mixes the two water chambers to form a flash of steam. The white color of the geyser’s cone is from the silica that precipitates and builds up on the outer surface.
It was a lot of fun to see the geyser erupt and it was interesting to feel the water from the geyser hit your skin. The temperature of the water was a lot cooler than you would expect coming from a chamber of water at 200°C. It was also a great chance for some really fun pictures!