As you admire the beauty of Silex Spring, consider
how this hot water arrived
at the surface. Deep beneath your feet, heat from the molten
rock of the earth's interior is transmitted up through the solid
rock of the earth's crust. Ground water circulating through
these rocks becomes heated and follows cracks and fissures upward. Where
the hot water can escape at the ground surface, a hot spring is
formed.
Hot water is a better solvent than cooler water; it dissolves
large amounts of silica, the major element of these volcanic rocks. Silica,
in the form of sinter, lines the bottom of Silex spring. It
forms terraces along the runoff channels and gives the spring
its name: Silex is Latin for silica.
Silex Spring overflows most of the year. This overflow creates
a hot environment where thermophiles thrive. Thermophiles
become food for several kinds of flies that live in and on the
hot water. The flies then become food for mites, spiders,
various insects and birds