Yellowstone National Park - Geothermal

Just got back from a short trip to Yellowstone.  Here are some photographs of the hot water.

The first ones are from the Mammoth Hot Springs area at the North Entrance. As a kid this was one of my favorite areas in the park, other than the bears. It was colorful and not as stinky. Since the earthquake disrupted the plumbing it has lost much of the color.



The next pools, geysers and hot srpings are from the Norris Geyser Basin.  I overheard a tour guide tell her group that this basin shows you everthing the Park has to offer (in hot water) and is usually their first stop.



Echinus Geyser is the largest acid-water geyser known. Its waters are almost as acidic as vinegar with a pH ranging from 3.3 to 3.6 . Acid geysers are extremely rare with the majority of the planet's total being found here at Norris Geyser Basin.



Enerald Spring a hot spring's color often indicates the presence of minerals. In a clear blue pool, the water is absorbing all colors of sunlight except one, blue, which is reflected back to our eyes. Here in Emerald Spring's pool, another factor joins with light refraction to give this spring its color. The 27-foot (8 meter) deep pool is lined with yellow sulfur deposits. The yellow color from the sulfur combines with the reflected blue light, making the hot spring appear a magnificent emerald green.



Porcelain Basin the overflow channels of geysers and hot springs are often brightly colored with minerals and microscopic life forms. Hardy, microscopic, lime-green Cyanidium algae thrives in these warm acid waters. Orange cyanobacteria may be found in the runoff streams in Porcelain Basin. From a distance these bacteria look like rusty, iron-rich mineral deposits.



Steamboat Geyser the world's tallest active geyser, Steamboat can erupt to more than 300 feet (90m), showering viewers with its mineral-rich waters.

The next photo is Old Faithful.  Not really my favorite area of the park, but you have to have a photograph of it, right?  The one after that is a pool on the Firehole Geyser Basin Loop.