Monday, September 28, 2009

Yellowstone - Geothermal features


Yellowstone National Park is so big I'm breaking down the post into parts - this is about the geothermal features.

Yellowstone sits on top of a Caldera - which is a fancy word for ''big ass volcano that can blow at any time''

This underground volcano mixes with water and fissures in the ground to create all kinds of fun stuff.

The most famous are the ''geyers'', but there are thousands of them, more than just Old Faithful. As you drive/walk around the park the geyers are all over the place.

My favorite were the ''mud pots'' and ''hot springs''. Often deep holes with brilliant aquamarine or turqouis colors caused by bacteria interacting with minerals, these hot springs are just beautiful.

One of our favorite place was ''Minerva's Steps'' (2nd photo down) as minerals washing down the mountains created a beautiful cascading effect.

Another favorite was ''Roaring Mountain'' as heat escaping from air vents inside a mountain caused the entire area to ''roar''.

We went swimming in Madison River and it was warm to the touch due to the volcanic activities.

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