Yellowstone News and Information

Henry Wood Elliott and the first map of Yellowstone Lake Release Date: June 7, 2021 Henry Wood Elliott was a dedicated conservationist and explorer who, in 1871, helped create the first bathymetric map of Yellowstone Lake. Unlike many of his contemporaries, however, he declined to leave his name on any feature in Yellowstone. Geologists now honor Elliott’s legacy by referring to a very large explosion crater beneath Yellowstone Lake as Elliott’s Crater. Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week's contribution is from Lisa Morgan, emeritus research geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. Henry Wood Elliott during a geological expedition in 1870.  Photo by William Henry Jackson. In 1999-2002, the U.S. Geological Survey, with support from Yellowstone National Park and Eastern Oceanics, produced the first high-resolution b

  Yellowstone’s gravest threat to visitors (it’s not what you might think) Release Date: May 31, 2021 Yellowstone National Park is truly a wonder of nature, globally appreciated for its untamed beauty. Visited by millions each year, tourists travel from all over the world to witness its unique environment. However, while enjoying Wonderland, visitors should also keep safety in mind. Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week's contribution is from Erin Krieger, student in Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming, and Mairin Sims, Laramie High School student. With the arrival of the Memorial Day weekend, summer is upon us!  And for many, that means holiday time.  What better place to take a holiday than Yellowstone?  But while enjoying the spectacle of America’s first National Park, please keep safety in min

  Travertine: Yellowstone’s Hydrothermal Timekeeper Release Date: May 24, 2021 Standing on the boardwalk next to any of Yellowstone’s hot, steamy, vigorously bubbling hot springs, mud pots, fumaroles, or geysers, you may be struck by the sheer amount of energy that powers this system, night and day. But how long have these features been active?  To address this question, geologists can turn to the “clock” that is frozen within hydrothermal travertine deposits. Yellowstone  Caldera  Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week's contribution is from Lauren Harrison, a postdoctoral researcher with the U.S. Geological Survey. Travertine is a form of limestone composed of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are both made of calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ). In contrast to limestones that are formed in the ocean from the shells of tiny plankton and other ma

  The Queen’s Laundry—the oldest historic building in Yellowstone National Park Release Date: April 19, 2021 Yellowstone is dotted with historic places.  But did you know that the oldest building that is still standing, built 140 years ago, was constructed because of a thermal spring?  Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week's contribution is from Annie Carlson, Research Coordinator at the Yellowstone Center for Resources, Yellowstone National Park. Queen's Laundry bathhouse, in the Lower Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park.  Building began under superintendent Philetus Norris in 1881 but was never finished. (Credit: Jim Peaco, Yellowstone National Park. Public domain.) Every historic building in Yellowstone has a story to tell. You may be familiar with the impressive Old Faithful Inn or Fort Yellowstone’s t

  Yellowstone’s Cool Thermal Areas Release Date: April 5, 2021 Yes, some of Yellowstone’s thermal areas are cool—as in, no longer hot.  Cooling is part of the “life cycle” of a thermal area.  And just as it’s important to keep track of where thermal areas warm up, it’s also important to keep track of where they are cooling down. Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week's contribution is from R. Greg Vaughan, research scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey. We do not define the habitat of wolves just by observing where a wolf pack may be standing at any given moment; they move around.  Similarly, you can think of a thermal area as the “habitat” of individual thermal features, like geysers and hot springs.  Hot fluids also move around (underground), so just because a patch of ground in Yellowstone is either warm or cool d

Preserving the legacy of geologic mapping in Yellowstone Release Date: March 15, 2021 Before the age of cheap computers, handheld GPS, and other innovations, geologic mapping was done with a compass, paper, and pencil.  An effort is underway to digitally preserve and publish these valuable geologic maps, some of which depict Yellowstone thermal areas at a very fine scale! Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week's contribution is from Dakota Churchill, contractor with the USGS and student at UC Berkeley. In the 1960s and 70s, a group of  USGS Geological survey scientists began to tackle the challenge of mapping Yellowstone.   The team included Bob Christensen, Don White, Robert Fournier, Alfred Truesdell, and L.J. Patrick Muffler, and they spent every summer between 1966 and 1971 doing fieldwork in Yellowstone. This was a huge

      The complex plumbing systems of Steamboat Geyser and Cistern Spring Release Date: March 22, 2021 Steamboat Geyser has been wowing visitors to Yellowstone National Park since March 2018.  Seismic studies of the geyser and nearby Cistern Spring are now revealing details of the hydrothermal plumbing system that would not otherwise be known, possibly explaining why the geyser eruptions are the tallest in the world! Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week's contribution is from Sin-Mei Wu, Jamie Farrell, and Fan-Chi Lin, seismologists with the University of Utah Seismograph Stations and Department of Geology and Geophysics. Steamboat Geyser in the water-phase of an eruption on June 4, 2018, Norris Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park. Photo by Jamie Farrell (University of Utah). (Credit: Farrell, Jamie, . Public doma