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Mushroom Pool: The subtle spring with the spectacular story - Caldera Chronicles
Mushroom Pool: The subtle spring with the spectacular story By Yellowstone Volcano Observatory March 9, 2026 Mushroom Pool is nondescript in appearance, but its impacts on microbiology and on how research is done in Yellowstone National Park have been profound. Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week's contribution is from Michael Poland, geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey and Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. Mushroom Pool is a small hot spring in Yellowstone’s Lower Geyser Basin that looms large in science. The spring’s fun(gi) name might have been given in the 1890s due to its appearance or the presence of algae and bacteria. Media Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details Mushroom Pool, Lower Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park. Old roads were routed very near this feature as early as 1895, when the poo...
Was there ever a Yellowstone on Mars? - Caldera Chronicles
Was there ever a Yellowstone on Mars? By Yellowstone Volcano Observatory November 24, 2025 Yellowstone is not just a fantastic natural laboratory for Earth-based studies. A better understanding of hydrothermal activity in the first National Park can also provide clues about what Mars might have looked like long ago. 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, and Steve Ruff, associate research professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University. Today, Mars is a cold and dry planet with a very thin, low-pressure atmosphere. It has water, but it's all frozen, locked up in underground ice (like permafrost) and in polar ice caps. But billions of years ago Mars had a thicker atmosphere and a warmer and wetter clima...
Water Flows Beneath Yellowstone National Park, Sometimes Taking Decades to Reach a Geyser - Discover Magazine
Water Flows Beneath Yellowstone National Park, Sometimes Taking Decades to Reach a Geyser
No, animals are not leaving Yellowstone National Park - Yellowstone Volcano Observatory
No, animals are not leaving Yellowstone National Park Online sources are saying that animals are fleeing Yellowstone National Park. This isn’t the first time such claims have been made. And just like before, they aren’t true. Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week's contribution is from Michael Poland, geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey and Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. Here we go again. The Internet is abuzz with claims that animals are fleeing Yellowstone National Park and suggesting that the bears, elk, and other creatures know something about Yellowstone’s volcanic system that humans don’t. Hogwash. Media Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details These bison seem pretty relaxed. The nonsense seems to have started on July 10, 2025, when a social media post suggested that “hundreds” of mountain lions were...
Yellowstone, where there's always something new - USGS Caldera Chronicles
Yellowstone, where there's always something new Geologically speaking, things are always changing at Yellowstone—especially in the hydrothermal areas. It’s simply the nature of the complex hydrothermal system that overlies one of the planet’s largest magma reservoirs. Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week's contribution is from Jefferson Hungerford, Park Geologist, and Kiernan Folz-Donahue, Field Geologist, both with Yellowstone National Park. The summer of 2024 was a busy time, with July’s hydrothermal explosion at Biscuit Basin and the first hydrothermal explosion ever recorded by geophysical monitoring data in Norris Geyser Basin. In addition to these higher energy events, a new hydrothermal feature popped up right in front of our eyes—literally! Media Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details Looking south from near a...
Digging into the history of hydrothermal explosions at Yellowstone’s Biscuit Basin - Caldera Chronicles
Digging into the history of hydrothermal explosions at Yellowstone’s Biscuit Basin In July 2024, a hydrothermal explosion at Black Diamond Pool sent muddy water and rocks hundreds of feet into the air. It’s far from the first time a feature in Biscuit Basin has experienced an explosive event. Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week's contribution is from Tara Cross, Yellowstone Geology volunteer, and Mara H. Reed, PhD candidate at the University of California, Berkeley. Scientists are hard at work investigating the hydrothermal explosion on July 23, 2024, at Black Diamond Pool in Biscuit Basin . An important part of understanding the recent activity involves investigating past similar events. And there have been several at Biscuit Basin. Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details Aerial view of Black Opal Pool, Black Diamond Pool, and part of Wall...