A. C. Peale

“ Thus a spring which has a temperature of only a few degrees above the freezing-point would be a thermal spring in Siberia, where the ground is frozen constantly to the depth of six hundred and thirty feet, thawing out only a few feet in summer, and where the mean annual temperature is about 1212° Fahr.; whereas, in the West Indies, or in the Eastern Archipelago, it would be a cold spring. Warm and hot springs are also widely distributed. ”

“ Geyser, geysar, geiser, or geisir, as it is variously spelled, is an old Icelandic word, meaning gusher, or rager, and is derived from the verb geysa, or gjosa, to gush, to rage, or to burst forth, to be impelled. ”

“ With the exception of Australia, no continent is without them, and even here they may be said to exist in a fossil state, for sinters and siliceous deposits are found in New South Wales, in a basaltic and trachytic region, indicating the former presence of hot springs, and possibly of geysers. Of course, hot springs are less widely spread than those which are simply warm, being found mainly in districts which have been affected by volcanic action, or where the rocks, from which they flow, have been subjected to disturbances such as occur in mountain elevations. ”

“ The stony plateau or platform spoken of is undoubtedly a platform or mound of siliceous sinter, so common to geyser areas.
The Azores mark one of the volcanic centers of the Atlantic Ocean ridge, on which also Iceland lies. The Island of San Miguel, or St. Michael's, has hot springs in all parts, but especially in two places at the West End, in the valley of Furnas. ”

“ Nordenskiöld discovered an intermittent cold geyser-like spring spouting through the ice-field of Greenland about thirty miles from the coast. Almost all the constantly boiling springs have periods of increased activity, and those which spout only a few feet into the air have been classed as pseudo geysers. ”

“ This valley is almost circular, about twelve miles in circumference, and surrounded by volcanic mountains. Through it flows the Ribeira Quinta, or Warm River. The springs are of high temperature, and include some that spout to a height of twelve feet. They are at one end of the valley, surrounded by deposits of siliceous sinter, which forms rims eight to ten inches in height around the individual springs. The "Great Caldeira," or Boiling Fountain, is the principal geyser.
The very name, geyser, testifies to Iceland's historical precedence as the land of geysers. ”

“ Latitude, however, has no effect, for we find them equally hot in the Arctic regions and under the equator. They are found in the frozen fields of Siberia and on the islands of Alaska, while the Andes have boiling springs from one end to the other. ”