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Lobby > Exhibits > Hot Water Treasures > Types of Thermal Features > Geysers > Aging a Geyser GeysersAGING A GEYSER
Evidence found at Old Faithful indicates that its history has included an inactive period. This period lasted long enough for trees to grow. Renewed activity with sinter deposition later killed and then petrified some of the trees, allowing scientists to date the preserved wood using radioactive carbon-14. The results indicate that Old Faithful has only been active as
a hot spring for approximately 750 years. Its life as a geyser has
not lasted longer than 300 years. However, Old Faithful sits on
deposits of much older sinter that were formed by a previous spring
in the same place.  Next | 1 > 2 | Next Section: How Geysers Change 
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