Steamboat Geyser, the tallest active geyser in the world, erupted more times in 2019 than in any other year, baffling scientists who are trying to understand what triggered this unusual streak of activity.

The geyser can shoot water more than 300 feet into the air, and this year it erupted more than 45 times, surpassing the 32 eruptions recorded in 2018.

In the three years before that, however, the geyser didn’t erupt at all. Unlike Old Faithful, which is famous for its highly predictable eruptions, Steamboat is an erratic giant.

“In the 1960s, there was another period where there were more than 20 eruptions per year,” says Erin White, Yellowstone National Park’s hydrologist. “Prior to that, there were dormant periods of more than 50 years.”

She’s stood right next to Steamboat as it was venting steam. “It is incredibly powerful,” White says. “It’s like standing next to a jet engine.”

Steamboat’s reawakening is an opportunity for researchers to try to answer some fundamental questions about how geysers work.

“It’s such a big geyser. And the bigger something is, the easier it is to study,” says Michael Manga of the University of California, Berkeley. “But it also captures people’s imagination. When it got active again there was lots of press and it reminded people that there are fundamental things about the Earth we don’t understand.”

Steam On, Steamboat: The World’s Tallest Active Geyser Has Another Record Year

Photo: Jacob W. Frank/NPS
Caption: Steamboat Geyser at Yellowstone National Park on Sept. 17, 2018.