Fly Geyser in USA: history, description, photos, map
No matter how much a person solves the secrets of the planet, it continues to keep in its bowels many more mysterious miracles, which are quite explainable scientifically, but do not lose their fantastic attractiveness from this. This is especially evident when the phenomena and processes occurring inside the earth's interior break out and form something fabulous on the surface, for example, the landmark of the state of Nevada – the Fly geyser. It means “soaring” in translation. He began his active life relatively recently, in the middle of the 20th century, completely unnoticed by others from a small trickle.
History of the geyser
Once upon a time, at the site of the current geyser, there was an old well that ranchers drilled in 1916 in the middle of the Black Rock desert plain. Until the sixties of the last century, it was used with might and main for economic purposes, but then the well “rebelled”: jets of water began to beat from its mouth, flowing down to the adjacent territory, which gradually became swampy, forcing the owners to abandon this site. What happened?
During drilling, the drill hit the geothermal layer, and over the course of decades, a trickle oozing from the thermal spring filled the entire cavity of the well and began to break out upward. Gradually, the pressure of the water jet increased and, having broken through the barrier, hot fountains beat in 3 places, forming around themselves a kind of growth walls, which by now have turned into an unrealistically charming sight.
The continuously flowing water formed a whole lake with its coastal natural infrastructure and changed the landscape of the surrounding area of the once dry, lifeless land beyond recognition.
For a long time, no one paid attention to what was happening around the old well among the swamps, until time and water created a fantastic formation, colored with bizarre colors, visible from afar. The sensation was a snapshot of an amazing object, taken by one meticulous photographer and posted in a newspaper.
Inquisitive tourists rushed to an unusual place, wishing to see the amazing formation with their own eyes – this is how the well-known landmark of the USA, the Fly Geyser, arose now.
The territory of the mini-geyser is still private property, and it is impossible to enter there without the permission of the owners, who fenced the unique site with a fence. Those who are allowed can come closer to the outlandish place, admire the extraordinary spectacle and photograph it.
There are daredevils climbing over the fence in order to see as closely as possible the miracle created by many years of chemical and biological processes caused by exposure to a thermal source. The swampy ground around the geyser prevents you from approaching very close.
Chemical and biological processes
Every year the spectacle becomes more and more fantastic, due to the influence of various natural factors and the composition of water, rich in various minerals in the form of salts, limestone and copper, which, reacting with oxygen, form oxides, which are the basis of a bizarre form of outgrowths-walls surrounding hot jets.
Calcium carbonate, deposited on the surface in large quantities, gives the layers rocky strength. And numerous colonies of algae and cyanobacteria paint them (layers) in unearthly shades of colors, from pale yellow to coral red.
Geyser landscape
Every year the area of land flooded with geyser water increases: a rather large and deep lake with cooled water is formed, terraces of sedimenting calcium carbonate are formed directly around the beating jets, which is a uniquely beautiful picture. If you look at this structure from afar – a symbiosis of the action of natural forces and man, then you can see that the three-jet geyser is located on a kind of pedestal created by the action of thermal waters on the desert soil in such a way that it turns it into solid rock.
Under the rays of the morning sun, the steam turns into the pinkish colors of the sunrise and is a bewitching sight, and the intricate layers of the walls sparkle with scatterings of precious stones that sparkle and shimmer with all the colors of the rainbow. An unforgettable sight appears before the eyes of admiring contemplators at noon, when the sun is at its zenith: sparkling jets and puffs of steam against a bright blue sky are simply mesmerizing so that it is impossible to look away from the extraordinary landscape.
The forces of nature have created a real architectural ensemble around this place, similar to the water gardens of the ancient Sri Lankans: many terraces and terraces, edged with low walls, completely covered with malachite velvet of algae and mosses, filled with geyser water. They resemble huge mirrors, which reflect the exotic coloring of the geyser walls, which looks especially fantastic in the pre-sunset rays of the hot sun.
The view of the geyser ensemble, illuminated by the last glare of the sun, is just as uniquely beautiful: from a distance, the whole structure resembles a fabulous tent, crowned with outlandish black feathers (this is how water jets are colored against the dark sky). The whitening veil of steam complements the mysterious fabulousness of the evening landscape that cannot be expressed in words, capable of evoking the strongest emotions.
At any time of the day, the view of Fly is remarkably good, so it has already been recognized as one of the most beautiful geysers on the planet and will soon become a place of pilgrimage for tourists from all over the world. Every year the “baby” “grows up” as the water is released, and no one knows yet what it will become in a century. Happy is he who has the opportunity to see such a truly wonderful creation of the magical forces of nature – the Fly geyser!
Geyser Fly on the map
A few more interesting natural attractions in the United States: Badlands, Thor's Well and Lake Powell. – read on our website.