Noisy Yellowstone geyser roars back to life after 3 years

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. – A noisy geyser in Yellowstone National Park has roared back to life after three years of quiet.

Ledge Geyser is one of the biggest in Yellowstone’s Norris Geyser Basin.

The Billings Gazette reports the geyser shoots hot water at an angle up to 125 feet (38 metres) high and a distance of 220 feet (67 metres).

Yellowstone geologist Jeff Hungerford says Ledge Geyser is noisy because its water and steam must pass through a narrow opening in the ground.

Yellowstone has 1,300 thermal features and 500 geysers, more than anywhere else on Earth. Some geysers such as Old Faithful are predictable but most, like Ledge Geyser, erupt erratically.

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Information from: The Billings (Mont.) Gazette, , http://www.billingsgazette.com