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New Geyser Erupts in Kenya -
(8th April 2004)
A Geyser has erupted near Lake Baringo,
Kenya, reaching a maximum height of 80m last Friday. The geyser injured
two people who were drilling a borehole. The two men were seriously injured
by the eruption of hot water. The Baringo County Council had comissioned
a company to drill the borehole to supply the village with freshwater.
The geyser has the potential to become a major tourist attraction, as the
area has a number of other geothermal attractions in the nearby Lake Bogoria
Game Reserve. Experts expect that the geyser will continue to emit hot
water for many years because it is on a a channel from Lake Bogoria. Hundreds
of tourists have traveled to the area to see the geyser that has overtaken
the one in Yellowstone National Park, USA, as the world's highest. The
geyser can be seen as far away as 20 km. The geyser began erupting Thursday
afternoon and has been sending a continuous fountain of salty water in
the sky at a temperature of 90 deg C. This is in contrast to the usual
activity of geysers which are intermittent. Government experts are assessing
how to deal with the salty water discharge, which risks entering the nearby
freshwater lake Baringo, 3 km away. This geyser activity is a reminder
of the volcanic nature of the rift valley. Geysers are produced when boiling
water enters fractured rock at shallow depth, and then flashes to steam,
producing the characteristic jet of hot water. |