To reach The Geysers, you may drive from either Cloverdale or Healdsburg. The road winds from one to the other. It is well worth the time, if you have the time. There are a few other caches along the way, and some points of interest to see.
As an earthcache, there is no "box" or "container" to discover. Rather, with this cache, you discover something about the geology of the area.
TO LOG THIS CACHE, send the answers of #1 - #5 to me through my geocaching profile. DO NOT post the answers to any logging requirements on this site.
1. Give the name and GC code of this Earthcache.
2. Standing at the coordinates, how many cooling towers venting steam do you see?
3. From the text below, what do you think contributes to the decline of the underground water source?
4. How many gallons of water today are pumped underground to replenish the steam fields?
5.There is a benchmark by the broken brick seats, what word and number is etched in the center?
Go ahead and log your cache. Only if you have incomplete logging requirements will I respond to you.
In the Mayacamas Mountains, located north of San Francisco, naturally occurring steam field reservoirs below the earth's surface are being harnessed to make clean, green, renewable energy.
The Geysers, comprising 45 square miles along the Sonoma and Lake County border, is the largest complex of geothermal power plants in the world. Power needs of Sonoma, Lake and Mendocino counties as well a portion of the power needs of Marin and Napa counties are met. In fact, The Geysers satisfies 60 percent of the average electricity demand in the North Coast region from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon border.
Steam used at The Geysers is produced from a grey sandstone reservoir, that is capped by a mix of low permeable rocks and underlaid by rock rich in silica. Gravity and seismic studies suggest that the source of heat for the steam reservoir is a large magma chamber over 4 miles beneath the ground. Unlike most geothermal resources, the Geysers is a dry steam field, which means it mainly produces superheated steam.
Geothermal power began being produced here in 1960. In 1987, The Geysers reached peak production serving 1.8 million people. Since that time due to decreasing underground water sources, the steam field has gradually declined meaning less steam to turn the turbine generators.
In the 1990's, construction of a pipeline from Lake County began that would bring treated wastewater to The Geysers to be pumped underground to replenish the declining steam fields. This brought 9 million gallons a day and started flowing in October 1997. A second pipeline from the City of Santa Rosa brought an additional 11 million gallons per day and started flowing to the Geysers in 2003. Thus the future is bright for geothermal power at The Geysers.