Is that for real?

It's a real place, in Nevada, the Green Fly Geyser, a happy mistake:


Located on a gated parcel of private property within the million-acre Black Rock Desert, Fly Geyser is not a natural phenomenon. It was created accidentally in 1964 from a geothermal test well inadequately capped. The scalding water has erupted from the well since then, leaving calcium carbonate deposits growing at the rate of several inches per year. The brilliant red and green coloring on the mounds is from thermophilic algae thriving in the extreme micro-climate of the geysers.

6 comments:

DL Sly said...

That's cool! After living in the desert for nearly a decade, that vision seems completely unbelievable -- but I'd love to go see it sometime as part of a drive-by road trip.
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E Hines said...

And it's a better looking mistake than the Salton Sea.

Eric Hines

Grim said...

Look up Georgia's Providence Canyon, Tex.

DL Sly said...

"And it's a better looking mistake than the Salton Sea."

Coupled with the other affronts to the senses, you just said a mouthful, Brother.
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douglas said...

DL- I was thinking the same thing! It's quite a draw for migratory birds, though. Saw the largest flocks I'd ever seen in my life at the Salton Sea, stretching out to the horizon. Of course, neither this geyser or Providence canyon hold a candle to the scale of the Salton Sea.

DL Sly said...

Douglas,
Anything that can cause a stink bad enough to keep someone in their house from over a hundred miles away (MCAS Yuma) will never be favorably compared to something as beautiful as this geyser.....migratory birds notwithstanding.
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