How Does A Geyser Work?

tomscott.com - @tomscott - There aren't that many places in the world where you can find geysers: even fewer where they blow regularly. Here, amongst the volcanic landscape of Iceland, is one of them. Here you'll find the original Geysir, plus its more regular cousin Strokkur. And a lot of wind.

[@DemonXeron]

I was thinking to start "these subtitles are completely unnecessary, oh well, they might help a bit." Then the wind picked up. Thanks Tom!

[@pielad4349]

yea

[@katyagardiner4003]

The subtitles are also useful for people who are deaf or hearing loss. For example I have cochlear implants and without my cochlear implants, I have no hearing. I personally use the subtitles

[@einsiol]

Geysir is actually only the name for that particular geyser. The Icelandic word for geyser is "goshver" (plural "goshverir"). Broken down Gos(eruption)hver(hot-spring). :)

[@ajs41]

Interesting. Even Tom Scott didn't know that.

[@ImTerasHD]

TOM SCOTT WAS IN MY HOME COUNTRY O.O

[@TheButterism]

Tom Scott is every where, Im pretty sure there is at least one of him in every country

[@KingTaltia]

***** That would explain why one episode of "Things you might not have known" can be in Disneyworld, and the next in Iceland...

[@Wafflical]

lightningbro Or maybe he was just flying Icelandair.

[@stefanarnarsson6702]

i knew that becuse i live in iceland. :)

[@johann4429]

Eg a heima i noregi en eg er ny fluttur fra islandi

[@williamjones7163]

He comes my poor American based education. I thought that the only reliablly repeatable geyser was in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, USA. And it was called Old Faithful. It goes off every 90 minutes or so. Thank you for educating me on something I did not know but should have.

[@gro_skunk]

I love how he gives up on the British pronunciation and goes for the American pronunciation because it sounds like he's talking about some old guy.

[@antiantiderivative]

You mixed up American and British

[@gro_skunk]

iamanenigma unknowntotheworld im american and i say guyser, not geezer.

[@Showsni]

+Skunkdog Gro But then when he gets to the end of the video he lapses back into his natural British pronunciation. :)

[@gro_skunk]

+Showsni omg he does I didnt notice.

[@absolutenutter1007]

Gro Skunk geezer means a bloke not just an old guy

[@thetomhfh]

haha how many takes did it take to get that timing?

[@TomScottGo]

That might have been the third time through that last paragraph.

[@QS1597]

Tom Scott oof

[@ilikelobsters.2376]

@@QS1597 indeed

[@tanyacockle6469]

I love the range of geysers, from those that blow so rarely it's a sight to see, that it MEANS something to actually be there. To ones that explode every 5 minutes and satisfy people like me who wanna just show up and see something cool

[@OlanKenny]

Bet you wish you'd had Matt and his windproof microphone for this one haha

[@AitchGames]

Been to here in person many years ago, just managed to catch the "Once a day geyser", its pretty huge when it goes off!

[@seancoyne3298]

Was here here a few months ago, beautiful country!

[@woolymamooth6526]

Hey Tom I just saw this for myself today and it's still cool!

[@Brissles]

Been there. Love Iceland. Solid vid. Keep it up.

[@kaimonington]

Well done on the timing of that thing exploding!

[@ZL123]

Bit from description: "There aren't that many places in the world *_wher eyou_* can find geysers". Otherwise, awesome!

[@TomScottGo]

Fixed it, thanks!

[@homefreylf]

I am so jealous that you're in Iceland right now!

[@FeWorld]

Perfect timing.

[@Wafflical]

I wonder how many takes that took.

[@CuboydMC]

@@Wafflical tom said in another reply that it took him about 3 takes to get through the last paragraph.

[@prepperjonpnw6482]

In the States they have one called "Old Faithful" in Yellowstone national park that is huge.

[@flamingrice7227]

I wondered how they worked so I pop it up and was happy to see it was this guy explaining it

[@EvelynneRude]

If you said "gee-suh" "guy-suh" "gay-suh" it sounds as if you're talking about an old man who likes to watch geysers go off.

[@johann4429]

he is saying Geysir im from iceland

[@SCRedstone]

geezer geyser gazer

[@anuradhakrishnan6040]

Why did I get a new video notification when this video is 2 years old??

[@f0rm0r]

sounds like you're talking about that place near Cairo with all those great big mausoleums

[@8ytan]

That timing though.

[@iankernohan3874]

So it's the physical weight of the colder water that's pushing down on the hot-rock-surrounded water? Cool!

[@over9000713]

I thought this was a re-upload until I realized it was 2 years old.... a glitch in the matrix?

[@neolexiousneolexian6079]

KZbin = "The Matrix" TIL.

[@jeffsmusics]

I just got a notification for this video, I'm so confused. lol

[@BrentDeJong]

same. like it's new, but I've already seen it, and it's two years old.

[@thomasbowman5155]

me too, I was very confused

[@jeanmatthiasdilg5931]

Me too. Must be a bug...

[@robertlinke2666]

me too

[@wcubbin]

His "East End" quip totally stole my joke about a geezer working for cash in hand

[@umgubularslashkilter9272]

with that wind it seems like you have a very different hairstyle. Somehow, it looks very good

[@toastyrybread5993]

Of course when I need to remember how a geyser works I find a decade old Tom Scott video. Those old school KZbin vibes though 😂

[@Guitarm4n99]

Great timing man

[@zachos-un6py]

fantastic audio

[@Pakanahymni]

The Icelandic verb "geysa" is etymologically exactly the same with the English "to gush", thus "geysir" literally means "gusher". I have no idea why people borrowed the word instead of using their etymological parallels that are found and productive in English.

[@Regolith86]

Because we English speakers like to follow other languages into back allies, knock them unconscious and then go through their pockets for loose vocabulary.

[@TheAstronomicals]

Yep.

[@DreadMarauder]

You should make a video on the volcanos in iceland. If anything it'd give you a chance to say eyjafjallajokull on camera.

[@irandom419]

Google windscreen if you use an external mic or micromuff from Knoptop if using a builtin one.

[@Maolo92]

How long will a geyser keep on working? Since when it's active every five minutes?

[@Meloncov]

+Maolo92 A long time, but just how long is hard to impossible to predict. Several geysers have come and gone in Yellowstone since it became a national park.

[@abcvideoyoutuization]

Someone need to start a map with pins to follow where is has been.

[@protercool8474]

Alright Guyzers, let me tell you about the old geezer who was also a geyser gazer

[@RKH1502]

Dat timing doe

[@SveinbjornGeirsson]

Hey, you're here Tom? Awesome! Let's hang out!

[@aliyasseraref37]

congrats on 600k

[@kingsnorthlobotomy]

that is some thing I may not have heard

[@cxmer7n]

Thanks KZbin for the 2 year old notification 👍🏻

[@PlutoAndMessiah]

You should be a TV presenter..

[@spidermanmyers]

Did anybody else notice that unless he was specifically pointing out the pronunciation the British version would be subtitled as the standard spelling but other pronunciations got it phonetically quoted?

[@jackdutfield6096]

only 50k views? well, i feel privileged

[@ChallengeTheNarrative]

A Geezer does a bit of this and a bit of that

[@djdawgo]

Just went there

[@AON12345]

I only heard the wind whispering to me

[@vickylikesthis]

tom scott, you're everywhere.

[@jellylemonade1655]

ive been there!

[@shinji391]

I like to listen to the wind, what about you?

[@dominiccobb6470]

nice, thx

[@johnaayyy3424]

What the heck I got a notification for this vid even though it's 2 years old

[@DogsRNice]

Tom likes to mess with us

[@tripleb5197]

As did I. In fact I might have gotten one one year, and two years after it was published.

[@notthere83]

If you talk about how a "geezer" works, I may not think of the East End but the movie Bubba Ho-Tep. :)

[@Pining_for_the_fjords]

When were you there? I've just come back from a trip to Iceland, was at this place on Saturday 15/02/14. We might have just crossed paths.

[@thekevin26167]

In the description, it says 'wher eyou'

[@wangus]

I know all about geysers from Pajama Sam.

[@danb.709]

It's amazing they trust you to just walk around it and not be stupid. Not a thing at Yellowstone anymore, they tell you exactly where you can and cannot go. There are a lot of rules now, and they are unfortunately completely necessary.

[@evelynbenson8095]

Is it normal for the eruptions to be that short in Iceland? I ask because the ones in New Zealand (where I live) go much longer.

[@Meloncov]

+Evelyn Benson It'll vary from geyser to geyser. Short tunnel means a short eruption, long one means a longer one.

[@evelynbenson8095]

+Kevin Baker Ah, Rotorua's ones must have very long tunnels. Thank you for your reply.

[@cmilla111]

That is something you might not have heard.

[@ThePixel1983]

As I understand it, Strokkur is pronounced "Stroh-ckür", with the H aspirated and the Ü being that German sound that English natives find hard to make. (Say U and squeeze your mouth from the sides to make a fish mouth.)

[@harsharya545]

_In my home we just need to switch the plug on_

[@arthurvasey]

A geezer talking about a geyser!

[@ThePixel1983]

By the way, Strokkur = little butter barrel

[@DeepankarSandhibigraha]

Kept it real, didn't do a voiceover. 👌👌

[@expiredlamb2000]

Why do you not have more subs?

[@pernir2007]

Tom i think you should know the geysir you ware at is man made or at least man assisted the tourist shop down across the street helps it so it erupts every 5 minuts or so the other one is totally real

[@andrivif]

Nope, that's false. Geysir, the geyser called Geysir used to go off a handful of times a day, then it started to dwindle to a point that it would only go off if assisted with pouring soap into it (yes, actual soap) but it was banned due to worries about that causing damage to the underground caves that form the explosion. Then there were ideas of drilling into Geysir in an attempt to bringing it back to life but they were afraid that his little, totally naturally formed and more active brother Strokkur would get damaged by doing that as they are thought to be linked together underground as they stand very close to each other.

[@Justin_Leone]

Strokkur isn't continually interfered with to make it erupt. However, it was deliberately unblocked in the 60s following a long period of inactivity following an earthquake in the 1800s that deactivated it.

[@square6082]

In description "wher eyou"

[@Voltaic_Fire]

Ey up, geezer.

[@xnamkcor]

Little Gey Sir

[@oscar..]

Alright, geyser

[@stfdcrst]

"Geezer"

[@noigunason8137]

Geysir stopped erupting years ago mate.

[@smelge]

It still erupts, but it's occasional, and usually starts again if there's seismica ctivity in the area. It can be induced to erupt by chucking soap in.

[@L0LWTF1337]

WIND NOISES

[@jungleng]

Isn't glacier pronounced "glassier" in british? That's how i hear it pronounced on national radio in nz

[@laurie5734]

been there done that xd

[@KasabianFan44]

So, what have we learnt today "Geyser" is actually pronounced gay-zur

[@thrillscience]

You need a shotgun mike with one of those fuzzy things on it. If you're ever in California, we'll hook you up.

[@Altoclarinets]

so you pronounced glacier the American way in this video and as "glass'yer" in the videos from the Arctic trip... so which one do you actually use?

[@rabbiboazmarmon7723]

How long has that been going on? I mean, is it an old geyser?

[@Justin_Leone]

It's thought that it's been there for about 1000 years, but has gone through periods of inactivity, as earthquakes have both deactivated and reactivated it. In the late 1800s an earthquake deactivated it until the 1960s, when it was deliberately unblocked by people (I'm not sure how they managed to do so), and it's been erupting ever since.

[@NashArcher]

Sir, you are gay What did you say? Gay Sir

[@0xUltraHex]

Hey ***** this video isn't in the playlist!

[@DogsRNice]

Looks like it's February 2014 again

[@SamuelTSteiner]

GAYser hihihi :D

[@SamuelTSteiner]

Chris Ng disgusting

[@Lucifer-zl8sn]

I always said "Guy-zer"

[@TheWaffle654]

That's typically how it is pronounced in NA, not guy-suh. Brits tend to drop the R off the end of words, whereas Americans pronounce it, sorta like the Germans.

[@meatballg8655]

how a geezer works? they don't they sit at home all day living off the state

[@LarryB-inFL]

Sorry, but the American pronunciation is NOT guy-suh. No one I know says that. The S is pronounced as Z, and the R is pronounced: Guy-zer ( gī′zər).

[@eepiTV]

gay-sir

[@rvymvn]

What?

[@pashok28]

Намана.

[@hakenbacker]

Huh?

[@SaphireDrum]

It's more like "guy-zer" in America. Source: American