fountain
Emergence Setting and Hydrology
Artesian fountain with pressurized CO2 in a confined aquifer.
For Example: Crystal Geyser, UT
Description
At fountain springs, cold groundwater is forced out of the Earth by stratigraphic head pressure or CO2 (e.g., Crystal Geyser; Glennon and Pfaff 2005). Discharge is caused by a confined, pressurized aquifer, rather than by heat as is the case with geysers. Fountain springs may be cold water, submarine seeps of hydrocarbons, carbonates or brine; these can support dense macrofaunal communities along continental margins under the oceans (Cordes et al. 2007).