Taken with Canon powershot A75, dated Nov 2004
The Lady Knox geyser is one of the fascinating sight to see at Wai-o-tapu thermal wonderland, near Rotorua, on the North Island of New Zealand. Each day at about 10 am, with the help of a little soap-like ingredient the geyser will froth and buble before whooshing out up to 15 metres high. The eruption is lasting up to an hour in length, but the start-up is the really fun part.
This is actually an artificially induced geyser. It was determinde years ago that the hot spring that is the source for the geyser, could easily be induced into eruptiong. Theoretically, the geyser has two water chambers, one lower, hot one and one upper, cold one. The upper chamber cools due to a larger opening to the outside. The lower one heats up due to the volcanic activity below. When soap is thrown into, the lowered surface tension of the water allows it to mix with the hotter water below, causing the eruption. The geyser's cone is also an artificial construct but now completely covered by sinter.
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