Illuminating the Meteorological Modulation of Eruptions of Strokkur Geyser, Iceland

Similar to volcanoes, regularly erupting geothermal features such as geysers are based on a delicate balance between a heat source, fluid and geometry. This balance can be easily disturbed by various internal or external factors such as landslides, earthquakes or the weather. However, due to a lack of long-term studies, these relationships remain unclear in most cases. Here we examine the effect of the weather in detail in a long-term study. We include 4.5 years of seismic and weather data in our study and compile a water fountain catalogue containing 650 000 events. We find a strong relationship between the wind speed and waiting time after eruptions and discuss this in the context of a heat loss model. This effect is not limited to the surface water pool but affects the system down to at least 24 m depth. Additionally, we observe a weak inverse correlation between temperature and waiting time after eruption. Finally, we quantify this correlation to correct for these external weather effects in future studies. This will allow us to study further internal or external drivers.