Fly Geyser was accidentally created in 1964 by well drilling for geothermal energy. In the ensuing half century, the continuously-spouting geyser has accumulated quite a mound of travertine terraces from dissolved minerals.
If you’re thinking that’s going to take a lot of CLR to clean up, think again. This year, the geyser reopened to the public for the first time in 20 years, and researchers have found it contains unusual levels of silica, not limestone:
Since purchasing the ranch in 2016, Burning Man has been researching the land so they can guide visitors in an environmentally sound way. There’s also an added level of danger as some of the pools of water top 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
Carolina Muñoz Saez — formerly at UC Berkeley — was one of the researchers who studied the geyser. I spoke to her via Skype from her native Chile. “I took some water samples to analyze the origin of the water,” Muñoz Saez said.
Muñoz Saez said the inside of Fly Geyser is lined with quartz. And quite a bit of it. Quartz takes a very long time to develop, so it’s more common in much older geysers, like in the 10,000 year old range.
• 4K Drone Footage FLY GEYSER (YouTube / Backwoods Beast TV)