Geysers

📖 In short

A geyser is an amazing hot spring that now and then shoots boiling water and steam high into the air, like a giant natural fountain! Tourists come from everywhere to see this incredible sight.

🤩 Did you know?

Yellowstone Park has at least 200 geysers.
Some geysers shoot water 37 or 46 meters high.
The word “geyser” comes from the name of a spring in Iceland.
Geysers are rare and found in only a few places in the world.

🔎 Find out more

🌟 How does it work?

Rainwater seeps deep into the ground until it reaches very hot rocks near molten rock, where it heats up and boils. Steam builds up under the water until it pushes it up hard through a narrow opening.

🔍 Like a pressure cooker

A geyser is like a closed pot on the fire: pressure builds up bit by bit inside, then the water and steam burst out all at once, then it calms down and starts building up again.

💡 Famous geysers

Yellowstone Park in America has hundreds of geysers; the most famous, “Old Faithful”, erupts regularly about every hour and a half. Iceland and New Zealand have famous geysers too.

🎯 Careful!

Geyser water is hot enough to burn skin, and the ground around them can be thin and fragile. So visitors walk on special wooden boardwalks and don't go near them.