We thought we'd seen it all... until water started gushing from the ground. In Vals-les-Bains, in 1865, mineral water research revealed an extraordinary phenomenon!
Since then it has never stopped gushing forth, several times a day, to the great surprise of visitors, who would never have imagined finding this kind of thing in Ardèche.
A "geyser" in Ardèche. Do you believe that?
You're peacefully strolling in Vals-les-Bains, in the shade of the giant sequoias, in this peaceful park that runs alongside the Volane... and then, bam: a magnificent jet comes out of the ground!
The phenomenon is a little different from Icelandic geysers , which have a thermal cause. Here, the gush occurs when the pressure of the gases accumulated underground becomes greater than the weight of the groundwater column.
Everything happens beneath your feet: a water tank, a gas tank... and when the pressure builds, water gushes out. It's rare, it's beautiful, it's a little crazy.
Gushing at fixed times. How is this possible?
The Intermittent Spring has been erupting naturally several times a day, under the pressure of accumulated CO2, since its discovery in 1865. But to make observing the phenomenon easier, a mechanism has been installed. It's simply a valve that opens at set times. This arrangement doesn't change the fact that the erupting is a natural and rare phenomenon; it simply regulates its frequency.
Small detail: It's nature that decides! Sometimes the jet is timid, barely more than 50 cm. Sometimes it explodes several meters high for several minutes. It is impossible to predict the power of the spectacle, but suspense is part of the experience !
Parc de l’Intermittente 07600 Vals-les-Bains
