Hot spring
Grand Prismatic Spring and Midway Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park
A hot spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater from the Earth's crust. Hot springs are in many places, especially in mountains.
Definitions[change | change source]
"Blood Pond" hot spring in Beppu, Japan
There is no universally accepted definition of a hot spring. For example, one can find the phrase hot spring defined as
- any geothermal spring [1]
- a spring with water temperatures above its surroundings [2][3]
- a spring with water temperatures above 50 °C (122 °F) [4]
- a natural spring with water temperature above body temperature – normally between 36.5 and 37.5 °C (97.7 and 99.5 °F) [5][6][7][8][9]
- a natural spring of water greater than 21.1 °C (70 °F) (synonymous with thermal spring) [10][11][12][13]
- a natural discharge of groundwater with elevated temperatures [14]
Sources of heat[change | change source]
The water issuing from a hot spring is heated by geothermal energy, i.e., heat from the Earth's mantle.
Related pages[change | change source]
References[change | change source]
- ↑ "MSN Encarta definition of hot spring". Archived from the original on 2009-10-31.
- ↑ Miriam-Webster Online dictionary definition of hot spring
- ↑ For example, ambient ground temperature is usually around 55–57 °F (13–14 °C) in the eastern United States
- ↑ US NOAA Geophysical Data Center definition
- ↑ Wordsmyth definition of hot spring
- ↑ American Heritage dictionary, fourth edition (2000) definition of hot spring
- ↑ Infoplease definition of hot spring
- ↑ Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. definition of hot spring
- ↑ Allan Pentecost, B. Jones, R.W. Renaut (2003). "What is a hot spring?". Can. J. Earth Sci. 40 (11): 1443–6. doi:10.1139/e03-083. http://pubs.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/cgi-bin/rp/rp2_abst_e?cjes_e03-083_40_ns_nf_cjes. provides a critical discussion of the definition of a hot spring.
- ↑ Wordnet 2.0 definition of hot spring
- ↑ Ultralingua Online Dictionary definition of hot spring
- ↑ Rhymezone definition of hot spring
- ↑ Lookwayup definition of hot spring
- ↑ Columbia Encyclopedia, sixth edition, article on hot spring
