Another wonderful creation of nature, ten hot springs have been discovered in Sri Lanka. Some of them located in the districts of Ampara, Anuradhapura, Trincomalee, Polonnaruwa, and Hambantota are so famous that even a song has been created about Madunagala hot springs in the Hambantota district. There are a minimal number of hot springs around the world that are created due to an extremely rare geological phenomenon. This article is about a wonderful hot spring (geyser) located in Nevada, which has attracted the attention of many domestic and foreign tourists, throwing water five feet high.
Hot Springs
There are only a limited number of hot springs worldwide, which are considered a rare phenomenon. Recently, it has been discovered that most of the hot springs are located in the vicinity of volcanoes due to specific geological conditions. The water in these springs has a minor, medium, and large-scale heating as it comes into contact with the hot rock on reaching the earth’s surface from a depth of approximately 2,000 meters (6,600 ft). In the same way, as a result of the great pressure when the water comes up from the inside of the earth, there are cases where the water in some hot springs spreads several feet up in the form of a water flower.
In this way, most of the hot springs that spread upwards like a water flower are limited to five countries. Those countries are the Republic of Chile, Iceland, New Zealand, Russia, and the United States of America. In particular, it is said that more than half of the hot springs in the world are located in a certain national park in the United States of America.
Nevada
The states of Oregon in the northwest, Idaho in the northeast, California in the west, and Arizona in the southeast border the state of Nevada, which is located in the western part of the country. The 32nd most populous state in the country is Nevada. The city of Las Vegas is home to over 75 percent of the country’s inhabitants.
Nevada, the warmest state in the United States, is characterized by desert and semi-arid climates. Except for the Las Vegas area, the daily temperature is 22 degrees Celsius or higher. This is attributed to the huge population growth in Las Vegas. Except for the eastern and northeastern parts of Nevada, most areas receive very little precipitation.
Hot spring in Nevada
Located on private land in Washoe, Nevada, this geyser is popularly known as the ‘Fly Ranch Geyser. The small mound around it is 1.5 meters high and 3.7 meters wide. In 2016, an NGO called ‘Burning Man’ bought the 3,800-acre hot spring property for $6.5 million.
Initially, this was not a place open to the public, but in 2018, the public was allowed to visit it subject to certain restrictions. The water of this spring contains several species of thermophilic algae and due to this, the mound around the spring is colored green and red.
Turn up
Hot water first appeared in this place in 1916 as a result of drilling a well at that place. However, the people who dug the well abandoned it after realizing that the water in that place was hot. A few decades later, in 1964, a company started drilling another well near the place where the first well was drilled, to get hot water for energy needs. However, the water was not as hot as they expected, so they closed the well again.
Even though it was closed, the water that came up with a big splash broke the soil layer and spread upwards. At the same time, the water in the well that had been dug at that place had dried up. Compounds such as calcium carbonate and silica mixed with the water solidified to form the rock layer seen today around the spring.
Temperature and other characteristics
The water here is usually above 90 degrees Celsius. The water that emerges from the spring constantly goes up to five feet and there are 30-40 water pools created due to the flow of the water. Algae in the water turn many of the rocks around the spring green and red.
Carolina Muñoz Saez, a researcher who brought the company that owns it to study this spring, has said that it contains a very large amount of silica. She mentioned that they have been created for a long time like 10,000 years, and this is completely different from the conditions that can be seen in other hot springs that she has studied.
Tourists
Since 2018, this hot spring and the surrounding area have been open to the public. The fountain thus opens to the public only from April to October every year. A certain NGO acts as a guide for visitors. Visitors will also have the opportunity to bathe in the water when the temperature is slightly reduced. Visitors are charged a ticket fee and the proceeds go towards the betterment of the spring and the organization that acts as the guides above.
