THE GEYSERS : A VERY SPECIAL PLACE

The Geysers is a truly remarkable place.

A million years ago, a plume of molten magma intruded close to the Earth's surface. The heat from this 1400˚F intrusion recrystallized the overlying rocks, making them hard and brittle, then caused fracturing to create permeability. Subsequent magmatic activity over the next half-million years maintained high temperatures as water seeped down through fractures to form a hot water geothermal reservoir. At about a quarter million years ago, the caprock overlying the ancestral Geysers reservoir fractured, allowing steam eruptions as the high temperature water boiled down to form the current steam reservoir.

Native Americans, the first inhabitants of this region, visited the thermal areas for their healing powers and ceremonial importance. When rediscovered in the 1840’s, The Geysers soon became a world-famous tourist destination. Although there are no actual geysers at this wonder-inspiring region, the inaccurate name stuck. In the past 50 years, The Geysers has emerged as the world leader in generating sustainable geothermal power using steam from deep beneath the Earth’s surface.

Calpine, in honoring the history of The Geysers from its original discovery by Native Americans to its development as the premier geothermal development in the world, takes its role as a steward of this amazing resource very seriously. Calpine is dedicated to the sustainability of The Geysers.