Pink Cone Geyser is the namesake of the Pink Cone Group in Yellowstone’s Lower Geyser Basin. The vent is surrounded by a low, nearly symmetrical, moderately steep-sided geyserite cone that is colored dark reddish-brown. The coloration is attributed to manganese impurities. The cone was originally covered in finely nodulose geyserite, but vandalism by people and buffalo since the late 1800s has removed almost all of it.
An eruption occurs about once a day or so (18 to 28 hours or so). Eruption durations are between 1.5 and 2 hours. The latter parts of a Pink Cone Geyser eruption involve alternating water-phase spouting and steam-rich emissions. Forced steam emissions become increasingly common and less forceful near the end of the eruption. Eruption cessations are marked by sustained passive steaming. Occasional, slightly forced steam billowing occurs afterward.
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