The Geyser of Calistoga
by Ian Kleine The Geyser of Calistoga, dubbed the Old Faithful of California had been faithfully belching out steam and scalding vapor ever since man had first witnessed this miniature wonder of the world. Geysers act like heat driven fountains. You have an underground river (cool or not, its still the same) that touches super hot rocks (usually from a magma source). The ensuing pressure from the steam and superheated water causes the whole thing to shoot up via a small nozzle-like feature from the ground. And this is how geysers happen. California's Old Faithful is one of the three geysers in the world that have an internal clock inside of them. They are able to shoot out their deadly steam at timed intervals (this one has a set interval of 45 minutes, while the one in Yellow Stone had an interval of 80 minutes). Magma location, precipitation and the stream that flows into the chamber (an earthquake might break or improve the fountain's height and length of gushing). The geyser has its own park, is fenced off to protect the public and to at least get some profit. The geyser has been marked as a must-see attraction when passing
