Geysers
are fountains of hot water and superheated steam that may spout up to a height
of 150 feet from the earth beneath. The phenomena are associated with a thermal
or volcanic region in which the water below is being heated beyond
boiling-point. The jet of water is usually emitted with an explosion, and is
often triggered off by gases seeping out of the heated rocks. Almost all the
world's geysers are confined to three major areas: Iceland, the Rotorua
district of North Island, New Zealand and Yellowstone Park of U.S.A. The
world's best known geyser is perhaps 'Old Faithful' in Yellowstone National
park, Wyoming which erupts at regular intervals- every 63 minutes on the
average.
Hot
springs or thermal springs are more common, and may be found in any part of the
earth where water sinks deep enough beneath the surface to be heated by the
interior forces. The water rises to the surface without any explosion. Such
springs contain dissolved minerals which may be of some medical value. Iceland
has thousands of hot springs. Some of them have been harnessed to heat houses,
swimming pools and for other domestic purposes.
Hot springs and geysers have become tourist attractions e.g in Japan and Hawaii.
No comments:
Post a Comment