Page 159 - 1915, Springs of CA.

HOT SPRINGS. 143
indicating that the water carries some carbon dioxide and calcium,
but the quantity of calcium in the water is not sufficient to make it
appreciably hard.
TARTARUS LAKE (PLUMAS 5).
About 1 mile east of south from Drake Hot Springs (Plumas 4,
p. 142) lies a shallow, oval pond, approximately 175 yards long and 100
yards wide, that is known as Tartarus Lake. An overflow channel
leads northwestward from it, but in the summer of 1910 this channel
carried no water. A number of mud pools or "paint pots" on its
northern and northwestern border were in sluggish action, and at its
southeastern end were sputtering and steaming vents with temper-
atures of 170°. Although the surface of the lake was apparently
quiescent, the water was turbid and slightly yellow in color, proba-
bly from sulphur in suspension. It was said that two years previous
the lake was vigorously bubbling throughout nearly its whole extent.
During the season of greatest run-off the lake receives the drainage
from the surrounding slopes and then overflows, but it ordinarily
contains only a small amount of water. The water, like that of sev-
eral other hot springs in areas of solfataric action in the region,
tastes astringent and probably contains an unusually large amount
of aluminum and sulphate.
The lake lies in a small depression surrounded by moderate slopes
beside a trail that leads from Willow Lake northwestward to Drake
Hot Springs. In several places close to the lake the lava of the
Lassen Peak region has been altered to white siliceous material,
but an area several yards wide on the western side of the lake con-
sists largely of white and iron-stained kaolin. The locality presents
features similar to those at Bumpass Hot Springs and Devils Kitchen,
but the action of the springs, like that at Soupan Hot Springs, ap-
pears to be much less vigorous.
THE GEYSER (PLUMAS 6).
In a ravine about 2^ miles southeast of Tartarus Lake there is an
actively boiling pool locally known as The Geyser (PL V, O, p. 50).
A main pool, about 25 feet in diameter, is situated at the base of
steep slopes, and in July, 1910, the water was continually thrown to
a height of 1 to 3 feet from a vent in its northern part. From the
main pool the water overflowed into another, somewhat smaller pool,
in the center of which there was a distinct upward current and from
which the overflow escaped down the ravine. In the center of a
third pool or basin about 10 yards south of the main pool there
was also a distinct upward current, and from this pool a stream of
2 or 3 gallons a minute overflowed. Although the main spring was
in very active ebullition, it also discharged only 2 or 3 gallons a