
Old faithful is a term used to refer to something that has been used or has existed for a long time, especially when it is reliable. The term is commonly used to refer to Old Faithful, a geyser in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA, that is well-known for its regular eruptions. The geyser was named in 1870 by the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition, who noticed its clock-like regularity of eruptions.
Characteristics | Values |
---|---|
Type | Geyser |
Location | Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA |
Eruption Frequency | Every 44 minutes to two hours since 2000 |
Average Eruption Frequency | 65 minutes after an eruption lasting less than 2.5 minutes or 91 minutes after an eruption lasting more than 2.5 minutes |
Eruption Duration | 1.5 to 5 minutes |
Eruption Height | 106 to 185 feet |
Eruption Output | 3,700 to 8,400 US gallons of boiling water |
First Named | In 1870 by the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition |
What You'll Learn
- Old Faithful is a geyser in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
- It was named in 1870 by the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition
- It is known for its regular eruptions, occurring every 65-91 minutes
- It shoots 3,700-8,400 gallons of boiling water to a height of 106-185 feet
- In the early days of Yellowstone, it was used as a laundry
Old Faithful is a geyser in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
When someone says "Old Faithful", they are usually referring to the famous geyser in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. It is one of the best-known geysers in the world, and was the first in the park to be named. Located in the Upper Geyser Basin, it was named in 1870 by the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition, who were struck by the regularity of its eruptions.
Old Faithful is a highly predictable geothermal feature, with over 1,000,000 eruptions recorded since 1870. It has erupted every 44 minutes to two hours since 2000, with an average interval of 66 and a half minutes in 1939, increasing to 90 minutes since 2000. The geyser's reliability is due to the fact that, unlike other geysers in the Upper Geyser Basin, it is not connected to any other thermal features.
Eruptions from Old Faithful can shoot 3,700 to 8,400 US gallons of boiling water to a height of 106 to 185 feet, lasting from one and a half to five minutes. The average height of an eruption is 145 feet. The geyser's eruptions are not always the same, and the time between them depends on the length of the prior eruption.
In the early days of the park, Old Faithful was used as a laundry, with people placing their dirty clothes into the vent and retrieving them after the next eruption, when they would be steam-cleaned.
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It was named in 1870 by the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition
The Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition was a private expedition promoted by Colonel Samuel T. Hauser and Nathaniel P. Langford, who were leading citizens of the new territory of Montana. The expedition was led by General Henry D. Washburn, who had served as a Major General in the Civil War and completed two terms in Congress from 1866 to 1869.
The expedition set off from Helena, Montana, on August 17, 1870, with the goal of exploring the region of northwestern Wyoming that would later become Yellowstone National Park. The party included several other notable figures, such as Judge Cornelius Hedges, a lawyer and editor from Montana; Truman C. Everts, a former assessor of internal revenue; and Lieutenant Gustavus C. Doane of the U.S. Army, who commanded the military escort.
During their journey, the expedition members made detailed maps and observations of the Yellowstone region, including its lakes and mountains. They also explored the Upper and Lower Geyser Basins, where they discovered a geyser that erupted about once every 74 minutes. Struck by its regularity, they decided to name it Old Faithful.
The Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition played a significant role in publicising the wonders of the Yellowstone region. Upon their return, several members of the party, including Washburn, Langford, and Hedges, wrote newspaper articles and gave lectures about their experiences. Lieutenant Doane also submitted a detailed report to General Hancock, which was later published as a Government document. The expedition's findings sparked widespread interest and inspired further exploration of the area, ultimately leading to the establishment of Yellowstone National Park.
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It is known for its regular eruptions, occurring every 65-91 minutes
Old Faithful is a geyser located in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, United States. It is one of the best-known geysers in the world, and certainly the most famous in America. It was named in 1870 by the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition, who noticed that it erupted at regular intervals.
Old Faithful is known for its regular eruptions, occurring every 65-91 minutes. The time between eruptions depends on the length of the previous eruption. If an eruption lasts for less than two and a half minutes, the next eruption will occur after approximately 65 minutes. If an eruption lasts for more than two and a half minutes, the next eruption will occur after approximately 91 minutes. The duration of eruptions can range from one and a half to five minutes, and they can shoot 3,700 to 8,400 US gallons of boiling water to a height of 106 to 185 feet.
The geyser's predictability can be attributed to the fact that it is not connected to any other thermal features of the Upper Geyser Basin. The reliability of Old Faithful has been well-documented since its discovery, with more than 1,000,000 eruptions recorded. In recent years, the average time between eruptions has increased, likely due to earthquakes affecting subterranean water levels. Despite this, Old Faithful remains a highly predictable geothermal feature, continuing to attract visitors from all over the world.
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It shoots 3,700-8,400 gallons of boiling water to a height of 106-185 feet
Old Faithful is a cone geyser in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, United States. It is one of the best-known geysers in the park, and was the first to be named. It was so-called in 1870 by the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition, who noticed that it erupted at regular intervals. The word "faithful" can mean stable and dependable, and the geyser was given its name because the expedition members knew they could rely on it to erupt again.
Old Faithful shoots 3,700-8,400 gallons of boiling water to a height of 106-185 feet. The average height of an eruption is 145 feet. Eruptions last from 1.5 to 5 minutes. The geyser has been used to clean laundry—people would place their dirty clothes in the vent, and when the eruption occurred, their clothes would be ejected, having been steam-cleaned with boiling water.
The geyser is highly predictable, and since 2000, it has erupted every 44 minutes to two hours. The time between eruptions is dependent on the length of the previous eruption. If an eruption lasts less than 2.5 minutes, the next eruption will occur after approximately 65 minutes. If an eruption lasts longer than 2.5 minutes, the next eruption will occur after about 91 minutes.
The longevity and regularity of Old Faithful's activity are due to the fact that it is not connected to any other thermal features of the Upper Geyser Basin. The geyser's predictability has actually increased due to disruptions caused by earthquakes affecting subterranean water levels.
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In the early days of Yellowstone, it was used as a laundry
Old Faithful is a geyser in Yellowstone National Park that erupts about every 65 to 67 minutes for around four minutes. In the early days of the park, before it was a national park, Old Faithful was used as a laundry.
One of the most famous stories from that time is that of an expedition party who decided to use the geyser as a washing machine. According to an account by Frank D. Carpenter in his 1877 book, The Wonders of Geyser Land, he and his companions put their dirty clothes in a pillowcase and threw it into the cone of Old Faithful. When the geyser erupted, the clothes were blasted over a hundred feet into the air. The heated, churning water had cleaned their clothes.
The success of this laundry experiment encouraged Carpenter and his companions to clog the geyser with "at least a thousand pounds of stones, trees, and stumps." The geyser then expelled all the rubbish and debris, to the delight of the group.
As Carpenter recounts in his book:
> " [Old Faithful] furnishes entertainment of unusual magnitude and duration."
While representatives from Yellowstone could not confirm Carpenter's account, it wasn't the end of the park's laundry experiments. Yellowstone spokeswoman Linda Veress notes that "soap was one of the things that visitors in the early days put into the geysers." In the 1880s, it became common for people to throw soap into the geothermal features, creating a film on the surface. This practice became so popular that hotels and gift shops struggled to keep bars of soap in stock.
One entrepreneur even tried to start a laundry service using one of the dormant hot springs as a washbasin. However, as Veress recounts, "he carelessly dropped a cake of soap into the tub and a short while later, up went the clothes and the tent."
With the establishment of the National Park Service in 1916, such large-scale "experiments" came to an end. However, visitors to the park continued to throw various objects into the geysers and hot springs, causing damage to these delicate natural wonders.
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Frequently asked questions
"Old Faithful" is a geyser in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. It is called "Old Faithful" because of the clock-like regularity of its eruptions, which occur about every 65 to 91 minutes.
The name "Old Faithful" was given to the geyser in 1870 by the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition.
Old Faithful erupts about every 65 to 91 minutes, depending on the length of the prior eruption.
Eruptions of Old Faithful typically last between 1.5 and 5 minutes.
Eruptions of Old Faithful can shoot boiling water to a height of 106 to 185 feet.