Silex Spring is a photograph by Jeff Swan which was uploaded on October 27th, 2019.
Silex Spring
As you admire the beauty of Silex Spring, consider how this hot water arrived at the surface. Deep beneath your feet, heat from the molten rock of... more
by Jeff Swan
Title
Silex Spring
Artist
Jeff Swan
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
As you admire the beauty of Silex Spring, consider how this hot water arrived at the surface. Deep beneath your feet, heat from the molten rock of the earth's interior is transmitted up through the solid rock of the earth's crust. Ground water circulating through these rocks becomes heated and follows cracks and fissures upward. Where the hot water can escape at the ground surface, a hot spring is formed.
Hot water is a better solvent than cooler water; it dissolves large amounts of silica, the major element of these volcanic rocks. Silica, in the form of sinter, lines the bottom of Silex spring. It forms terraces along the runoff channels and gives the spring its name: Silex is Latin for silica.
Silex Spring overflows most of the year. This overflow creates a hot environment where thermophiles thrive. Thermophiles become food for several kinds of flies that live in and on the hot water. The flies then become food for mites, spiders, various insects and birds
Uploaded
October 27th, 2019
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