 North American hot springs review
Added: 02/28/2006 |
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North American hot springs are considered to be the third largest spring in the world (after the well-known hot springs located in New Zealand and Iceland). Many of North American hot springs were created about forty million years ago and are considered to be a result of violent volcanic activity. It goes without saying that all the hot springs in North America differ in size from tiny seeps to almost geysers.
Speaking about North American hot springs, it is important to have an entire imagination about the hot spring. So, a hot spring is referred to a place where warm or hot groundwater issues from the earth on a regular basis for a particular and predictable period of the year. The temperature in these hot springs is considerably higher than ambient ground temperature.
How is the water heated? It's a common knowledge that it is heated by geothermal heat or the heat which is generated from the Earth interior. Such processes are known to occur in various hot spots where mantle or magma material is very close to the Earth surface. Very often the water is so significantly heated that it builds steam pressure and then erupts in a jet above the Earth surface. If so, it is called a geyser. In case the water reaches the Earth surface only in a form of steam, it is considered to be a fumarole. Hot spring water might be mixed with clay and mud. Then such spring is referred to as a mud pot.
There are thousands of hot springs in North America. Among the most popular seeps of North America is "Fales Hot Ditch" (USA, California) and one of the largest subterranean lakes is the one located below Tonopah (Arizona). As a matter of fact, it provides various natural mineral waters to several regions near-by (seven or even more hot springs spas operating in the Tonopah several decades ago). It's interesting to admit that ruins of two of them are still visible and attract attention of both domestic and foreign tourists.
Speaking about North American hot springs I can't but say that the word "Tonopah" means "hot water under the brush". Every hot spring in North America has some record of use by Native Americans for approximately ten thousand years. In addition, it's interesting to admit that hundreds of high-quality arrowheads have recently been found at the existing hot springs of Tonopah. This facts indicates that in the past this area was rather popular hunting ground. So, North American hot springs were pretty important for prehistoric people. By the way, native North Americans used hot springs in a state of complete nudity.
Among the most popular US hot springs are the springs located in the following US national parks: Big Bend National Park (in Texas), Death Valley National Park (in California), Hot Springs National Park (in Arkansas), Lassen Volcanic National Park (in California) and Yellowstone National Park (in Wyoming).
Speaking about North American hot springs it's impossible not to tell you a few words about Canada. The finest Canada hot springs are located in Vancouver Island. They are called "Hot springs Cove". They are known to be located in wildness and remote settings. It is considered to be a real adventure to get to this location. Thus, the mentioned Canadian hot spring cove is pretty enjoyable in its natural state. It is very exciting to see the boiling spring water bubbling up from the Earth and cascading down a small cliff into several rock pools cooled by the waters of the Pacific Ocean.
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