The Wallender Born or Wallenborn (popularly known as the BrubbelWallenborn, das schöne Dorf am Brubbel
/ref>) is a cold water geyser in the village

Wallenborn Wallenborn is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Daun, whose se ...

(

Eifel The Eifel (; lb, Äifel, ) is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Community of ...

district,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

). It is adjacent to the reactivated

Andernach Geyser Andernach Geyser (german: Geysir Andernach, previously ''Namedyer Sprudel'') is the highest cold-water geyser in the world, reaching heights of 30 to 60 metres. The geyser was first bored in 1903 on the Namedy Peninsula (''Namedyer Werth'') in ...

(aka ''Namedyer Sprudel'') an active cold water geyser in Germany. Experts disagree on whether the Wallender Born can be described as eruptive course, but periodic gas outbreaks have been witnessed since time immemorial. Until being drilled, Wallender Born was therefore at least a (periodic)

mofette Mofetta (Italian from Latin ''mephītis'', a pestilential exhalation) is a name applied to a volcanic discharge consisting chiefly of carbon dioxide, often associated with other vapours, representing the final phase of volcanic activity. The Oxfo ...

. The high water surge of a typical hot spring was found only after construction work. The fountain is operated geyser-like: The artificial conduit is located below the water surface of a small pond. The water is therefore not thrown like a fountain, but turbulent. The "fuel gas" of the geyser is

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...

. It contains traces of other gases like

hydrogen sulfide Hydrogen sulfide is a chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless chalcogen-hydride gas, and is poisonous, corrosive, and flammable, with trace amounts in ambient atmosphere having a characteristic foul odor of rotten eggs. The unde ...

which leads to a smell reminiscent of rotten eggs.

Interval between eruptions

The eruptions of the Wallender Born occur roughly every 35 minutes. An eruption lasts about 5 minutes and is divided into another two clearly distinguishable phases: The first of these two phases will take about 10 seconds, the water from the vent, and possibly underground existing reservoirs, depending on groundwater level and air pressure results in a 2–4 m high water column (maximum) being ejected. In the second phase, which takes about 5 minutes, the surge varies greatly. The second phase is the quiet phase during which the water slowly sinks back into the vent. The violence of the eruption and the height of the

water column A water column is a conceptual column of water from the surface of a sea, river or lake to the bottom sediment.Munson, B.H., Axler, R., Hagley C., Host G., Merrick G., Richards C. (2004).Glossary. ''Water on the Web''. University of Minnesota-D ...

varies slightly between outbreaks.

Geology

Wallender Born is the result of volcanic activity seen in the

region, although the shape of the eruptive source is not a direct consequence of

geothermal energy Geothermal energy is the thermal energy in the Earth's crust which originates from the formation of the planet and from radioactive decay of materials in currently uncertain but possibly roughly equal proportions. The high temperature and pres ...

, but of the escape of carbon dioxide. From the

magma Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also been discovered on other terrestrial planets and some natural sa ...

in the crust

volcanic gas Volcanic gases are gases given off by active (or, at times, by dormant) volcanoes. These include gases trapped in cavities (vesicles) in volcanic rocks, dissolved or dissociated gases in magma and lava, or gases emanating from lava, from volcanic ...

rises through cracks and fissures in the earth's surface and dissolves partly in the ground water to carbonic acid. The source is a calcium-sodium-bicarbonate-sorrel. The spring water is very cloudy with sediment.

References

{{coord, 50, 09, 13, N, 6, 43, 13, E, region:DE-RP_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Cold water geysers Geysers of Germany Eifel Articles containing video clips Landforms of Rhineland-Palatinate