黃石“熱流”

The biggest geyser1（間歇泉）in the world is showing off2. Steamboat Geyser erupted3 fifteen times in a row4！ It had not gone off for more than three years. Then it started erupting about every twelve days.

Steamboat Geyser is in Yellowstone National Park. Its hot water comes from a big volcano5under the park. Geyser eruptions6 do not mean that this volcano is “waking up”. Scientists say geysers would probably dry up if the volcano were about to erupt.

Scientists want to know why the geyser goes off when it does. They are studying the eruptions. They want to find a pattern7 so they can tell when the geyser might erupt again.

全球最大的間歇泉正在展示它的威力。美國黃石國家公園“蒸汽船”間歇泉已超過3年未見噴發(fā)。然而近日突然連續(xù)噴發(fā)15次！幾乎每12天噴發(fā)一次。

“蒸汽船”間歇泉中沸水的熱量來自黃石國家公園地下的超級火山。但科學家們表示，間歇泉噴發(fā)并不代表這座沉睡的火山正在“覺醒”。如果火山真的即將爆發(fā)，間歇泉的泉水估計會被蒸發(fā)干凈。

為了找出間歇泉突然噴發(fā)的原因及規(guī)律，科學家們還在繼續(xù)研究，以期預測下一次噴發(fā)的時間。