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| Title: |
Idealized diagrams illustrating the stages in the eruption cycle of a geyser. |
| Caption: |
A. Groundwater enters underground caverns and fractures in hot igneous rock, where it is heated to near its boiling point. B. Heating causes the water to expand, with some being forced out at the surface. The loss of water reduces the pressure on the remaining water, thus reducing its boiling temperature. Some of the water flashes to steam. C. The rapidly expanding steam forces the hot water out of the chambers to produce a geyser. The empty chambers fill again, and the cycle starts anew. |
| Keywords: |
groundwater, geysers, igneous rocks, steam, hydrothermal vents |
