Science is Fun Fridays!

 


South of town is a historic resort, with natural hot springs that were nationally acclaimed by President Ulysses S. Grant when he visited in 1879.

Steamboat Hot Springs.

The area is a small volcanic field of rhyolitic lava domes including steam vents and fumaroles.

The name is attributed to Mark Twain, who is quoted as saying, "Behold! A Steamboat in the desert!"

The waters are a combination of sulfate minerals not found anywhere else in the US.

"Geologically, the springs are among the most interesting in the world, for they demonstrate in a striking way how mineral veins and deposits are formed," noted state engineer, Alfred Merritt Smith, in 1935.

We stopped in for a quick soak this week, and it felt amazing.  The added aromatherapy certainly helped - a signature blend of lavender, orange, and cedarwood.  So relaxing, calming, and nourishing.

The Water


There's a nearby geothermal plant as well, producing over 24 Megawatts of electricity, enough to supply 24,000 homes.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vacation Open Thread!

Image
 From Highway 395 overlooking Mono Lake. This year we're driving on past that to check out Mammoth Lakes and Bishop.  A few sites in the area I'd like to see, not to mention the lakes themselves and some hot springs. There's a fire in Yosemite, so we're hoping the winds keep the smoke to the west. I'll be back on the 18th! ❤️
Read more

Science is Fun Fridays!

Image
  Pterosaurs have incredibly lightweight skeletons, so finding one intact is pretty rare. In the Solnhofen Limestones in Germany, paleontologists came across a perfectly preserved hatchling.  And it is tiny, with a wingspan of less than 20 centimeters. "The odds of preserving one are already slim, and finding a fossil that tells you how the animal died is even rarer," reports lead author, Rab Smyth, from the University of Leicester Centre for Paleobiology. The fractures suggest a powerful twisting force, such as a severe storm, that caused catastrophic injuries. It should be noted that several young pterosaur fossils have been found in this area, and now scientists understand why - adults would likely have survived the storm. Here they explain the conditions:
Read more