Researching the Earth—and a Few of Its Neighbors

Abstract

During my career, our knowledge of erupting geysers and volcanoes in the Solar System has exploded. In this prefatory, I tell how I became fascinated with high-speed processes through studying meteorite impact dynamics, and then how my initial idea of studying Old Faithful geyser as a volcanic analog led me to work not only on the dynamics of eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980 but also on geysers erupting on Io (a fiery satellite of Jupiter), Triton (a frigid satellite of Neptune), and Enceladus (an active satellite of Saturn). Unforeseeably, the study of these events also led to work on mineral thermodynamics and the hydraulics and geomorphic evolution of rapids in the Grand Canyon. This is a narrative, not a formal review article, but the reader can find references in the Related Resources section to explore topics in more detail.