loading page

Imaging the Subsurface Plumbing Complex of Steamboat Geyser and Cistern Spring with Hydrothermal Tremor Migration Using Seismic Interferometry
  • +3
  • Sin-Mei Wu,
  • Fan-Chi Lin,
  • Jamie Farrell,
  • William Keller,
  • Erin B White,
  • Jefferson D G Hungerford
Sin-Mei Wu
University of Utah

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

Author Profile
Fan-Chi Lin
University of Utah
Author Profile
Jamie Farrell
University of Utah
Author Profile
William Keller
Yellowstone Center for Resources
Author Profile
Erin B White
Yellowstone Center for Resources
Author Profile
Jefferson D G Hungerford
Yellowstone Center for Resources
Author Profile

Abstract

Steamboat Geyser in Yellowstone National Park is the tallest active geyser on Earth and is believed to have hydrologic connection to Cistern Spring, a hydrothermal pool ~100 m southwest from the geyser vent. Despite broad scientific interest, rare episodic Steamboat eruptions have made it difficult to study its eruption dynamics and underground plumbing architecture. In response to the recent reactivation of Steamboat, which produced more than 115 eruptions since March 2018 already, we deployed a dense seismic nodal array surrounding the enigmatic geyser in summer 2019. The array recorded an abundant 1-5 Hz hydrothermal tremor originating from phase-transition events within both Steamboat and Cistern. To constrain the spatiotemporal distribution of the tremor sources, an interferometric-based polarization analysis was developed. The observed tremor locations indicate that the conduit beneath Steamboat is vertical and extends down to ~120 m depth and the plumbing of Cistern includes a shallow vertical conduit connecting with a deep, large, and laterally offset reservoir ~60 m southeast of the surface pool. No direct connection between Steamboat and Cistern plumbing structures is found. The temporal variation of the tremor combined with in situ temperature and water depth measurements of Cistern, do reveal the interaction between Steamboat and Cistern throughout the eruption/recharge cycles. The observed delayed responses of Cistern in reaction to Steamboat eruptions and recharges suggest the two plumbing structures might be connected through a fractured/porous medium instead of a direct open channel, consistent with our inferred plumbing structure.
Apr 2021Published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth volume 126 issue 4. 10.1029/2020JB021128