The ability of natural geysers to spew water and steam into the air is caused by loops and side-chambers present in their plumbing, said a new study.

It confirmed water in geysers actually boils downward and rapidly.

The process begins when magma below the Earth heats deep-dwelling water, pushing it back through small tunnels in the porous rock that form the geyser's chamber. Steam rises and collects in loops, side champers and other unique twists and turns in the geyser's plumbing. Some of that collecting steam escapes to slowly heat the top of the water.

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The water reaches boiling point at the top and starts to bubble. The boil decreases pressure in the lower water columns, triggering a rapid boil downward and releasing the trapped steam and superheated water. This series of events creates an eruption of steam and water up through the chamber and outward.

Researchers said the water column boils from the top down and later spews out water and steam high into the air. Their findings suggest these underground structures are the main reason behind the timing of eruptions.

German chemist Robert Bunsen first proffered the basic theory of the downward boil in 1846.

Recent findings were able to prove Bunsen to be correct. Researchers lowered temperature and pressure gauges down a geyser in Chile called El Jefe, confirming a geyser's rapid boil begins at the top.

Researchers have previously stuck cameras down geysers, proving the geothermal phenomena regularly features oddly routed pipes. Bunsen didn't know about that part.

The study appeared in the Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research.

TagsGeysers, natural Geysers, Geysers eruption, yellowstone geysers, u-bend, plumbing