Fly Geyser

Fly Geyser

The Géiser Fly, also known as Fly Ranch Geyser, is an artificial geothermal geoser located in Washoe County, Nevada. The geyser Fly is located near the border of the Fly Reservory, in the geothermal valleys of Hualapai, and has a height of approximately 1.5 meters (4.9 feet).

The natural origin of this beautiful and colorful source of almost supernatural appearance is attributed to a reserve of groundwater, near a layer of burning rock, in a place where the movements of faults and tectonic plates are frequent. The first geyser in the site was generated in 1916, when a well was being sought for irrigation, when water was found at an almost boiling temperature 

The drilling was abandoned, and over time, the site was formed a colorful cone about 3.7 meters high. In 1964, a geothermal company sought to drill a second well, very close to the first but, this time, the water that sprouted from there to borboons, was not hot enough to function as a source of energy. 

The company is supposed to seal the exit of this well, but the stopper was destroyed or fractured. The water then began to come out of this new drilling with enough pressure to cancel the first geyser, creating a new one.

The continuous flow of water from this accidental geyser, which has dissolved minerals such as silica and calcium carbonate, has been forming new cones and travertine ponds. Currently, it has several conical mouths that stand out from a mound. Each cone is about two meters long and the mound has a height of about 8 meters, which makes up an impressive set that seems to come out of a science fiction film and that impacts even more by the plain and wasteland of the surrounding lands.

At first glance you can see three large cones, dyed green and red, in the middle of a field of high pastures and surrounded by natural ponds; the mouths of the cones continually throw water, in jets that rise about a meter and a half in the air. An incredible show.

Scientists familiar with geyser say that their unusual color is due to the cones being covered with thermophilic algae that are developed in humid and warm environment.