White Dome Geyser's beautifully shaped cone is many centuries old, and is still growing with each eruption. For hundreds of years, thermal water has been building the cone that you see today - one of the largest in Yellowstone.Formation of a Cone · Splashing and spraying during each eruption, thermal water is still building White Dome. After traveling underground through silica-rich volcanic rhyolite, the water deposits silica as it splashes over the cone, forming spiny, bulbous masses of geyserite. More and more bumps form on this gnarly, ancient cone as White Dome grows older and more massive. · Inside this immense cone is a narrow vent. Each time thermal water bursts through this small passageway, silica is deposited on its walls. Very gradually, White Dome's vent is getting narrower.< Sidebar : > Fountain or Cone?Fountain GeysersFountain Geysers, like Great Fountain Geyser behind you, erupt through a large vent with a wide opening that can look like a hot spring. Water bursts in many directions.Cone GeysersWhite Dome and other cone geysers erupt in a narrow jet of water through a slim vent, usually from a cone-shaped formation.
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