Originally named Emerald Geyser by Philetus Norris, park superintendent (1877–1882) because of its color, the name was later officially changed to Emerald Spring by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1930.[3]
In 1892 Robert W. Wood, an American optical physicist, used the spring for a prank. He stealthy dissolved a pint of fluorescein in the pool to surprise several witnesses with unusually colorful water.[4]
Characteristics
Emerald Spring is 27 feet (8.2 m) deep.[5] The water temperature in the spring is around 83.3 °C (181.9 °F).[1] The spring gets its name from the emerald green color of the water created by sunlight filtering through the water, giving the light a blue color, and reflecting off the yellow sulphur creating the green hue.[5]
While Emerald Spring is a mostly calm pool, which usually only has a few bubbles rising to the surface, it does experience periods of turbidity and small 3-foot (1-m) high eruptions. In 1931, Emerald experienced a period of extremely vigorous activity with eruptions measuring 60 to 75 feet (18.2–22.9 m) in height.[6]
^Haines, Aubrey L. (1996). Yellowstone Place Names-Mirrors of History. Niwot, CO: University Press of Colorado. p. 148. ISBN0-87081-383-8.
^Seabrook, W. (1941). "Alarms, excursions, and explosions at Johns Hopkins ending in early marriage and a job at the University of Chicago". Doctor Wood, Modern Wizard of the Laboratory. New York: Harcourt Brace.
