Geysers are a relatively rare geological event. They are the result of some specific conditions that only occur in a few places on Earth, which results when a water source meets rocks that are heated by volcanic magma that is close to the Earth’s surface. There are roughly a thousand known geysers across the planet, and about half of those are found in Yellowstone National Park in the United States, including the most famous geyser of all, Old Faithful.
The number of known geysers has recently increased by one however, when a new one erupted for the first time on Russia’s remote Kamchatka Peninsula. According to National Geographic, the new geyser has been named “Prikolny,” which means “Peculiar” in Russian. Reportedly, a surprised observer of the geyser’s first burst shouted out the word when the hot water and steam shot from the ground, and the name has stuck.
According to the story, Peculiar is unique in more ways than one, as it appears that the geyser is also eco-friendly. The geyser shoots water five meters into the air on intervals varying between six and twenty minutes, but when that water falls back to the ground, it is collected once again and recycled to be used for the next eruption.
This new geyser is located in Kronotsky Nature Reserve, not far from the region known as the Valley of the Geysers, which was once a very active geyser field before a landslide covered most of the area back in 2007. The appearnce of Peculiar marks the first new known geyser in the area since the 1960’s.