Mara Reed
Mara Reed is a graduate student in the Department of Earth and Planetary Science at the University of California, Berkeley. As a teenager, she became hooked on “geyser gazing” and now channels that excitement and curiosity toward research. Her studies focus on the factors that influence changes in geyser eruption intervals and often integrate observations from the geyser enthusiast community. Mara also volunteers as a scientific advisor for GeyserTimes, a crowdsourced database of geyser activity.
Tallest active geyser
During the first few minutes of eruption, the jets of Steamboat Geyser in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA, typically exceed 90 m (295 ft); its tallest eruption ever measured reached 137 m (449 ft) on 19 July 2020. It alternates between dormant periods where major eruptions are years apart and active phases where the geyser erupts every few days to weeks. Steamboat’s most active years on record are 2020 (48 major eruptions), 2019 (48 major eruptions) and 1964 (29 major eruptions). Minor eruptions, where one or both vents splash 2–12 m (6–40 ft), are far more common.
Photo: NPS / Jacob W. Frank