We end our series of images from Yellowstone, Grand Teton National Park, and Jackson Hole, Wyoming with a sunset over the mountains.
Farewell Wyoming
Tag Archives: Yellowstone
Yellowstone – Rainbows at Old Faithful
The vapor of Old Faithful’s eruption at Yellowstone and a bright sun form a rainbow further beautifying the world famous geyser. There is an illusion of two rainbows in the first image – one in the geyser and another one against the blue sky.
Old Faithful at Yellowstone
Discovered in 1870 by the Washburn Expedition, Old Faithful geyser was named for its frequent and somewhat predictable eruptions, which number more than a million since Yellowstone became the world’s first national park in 1872. Old Faithful can vary in height from 100-180 feet with an average near 130-140 feet. Eruptions normally last between 1.5 to 5 minutes.
Here is a sequence of images depicting a dormant Old Faithful to eruption and then cool down ……
Yellowstone – Blend of Colors
The colorful landscape of Yellowstone National Park is unique and draws visitors from all over the world.
Yellowstone – Colorful Prismatic
The iconic image of Yellowstone is an expansive spring with rainbow-like colors radiating from its center, dominated by a fiery orange hue at its edges. Though these dazzlingly painted hot springs seem fit only for picture books, their colors come from very real, and very earthly, microscopic creatures.
Hiding out in the park’s hot springs — where temperatures are high enough to blister your skin and as acidic as liquid in a car battery — are heat-loving microbes. And they’re thriving. Where you see rings of color, there are, most of the time, rings of different bacteria, each group adapted to the conditions, such as temperature and pH (how acidic a solution is) of their environments.
Yellowstone – Prismatic Creation
Many of the bright colors found in Yellowstone’s hydrothermal basins come from thermophiles—microorganisms that thrive in hot temperatures. So many individual microorganisms are grouped together—trillions! —that they appear as masses of color.
Yellowstone – Grand Prismatic
Old Faithful may be more famous, but the Grand Prismatic Hot Spring is the most photographed thermal feature in Yellowstone. That’s because of its crazy-bright colors and enormous size. The Grand Prismatic Spring is the largest hot spring in the United States. Its colors match most of those seen in the rainbow dispersion of white light by an optical prism: red, orange, yellow, green, and blue
While we were there, steam covered the Grand Prismatic and did not reveal its brilliant colors, but adjoining springs were equally colorful and will be posted next.
Yellowstone – Colorful Mud Formations
Best known for its stunning display of vivid color, Yellowstone National Park is an undoubted national treasure. The reds, yellows and browns of the mud in the images below are derived from oxidation states of the iron in the mud.
Abstract Art of Nature at Yellowstone
Amazingly vibrant color, more than any other single thing, is what puts Yellowstone in a league all by itself. Here is an example of abstract art created by natural living organisms.
Yellowstone – Excelsior Geyser Crater
Excelsior Geyser Crater is a 200 x 300 foot crater that constantly discharges more than 4,000 gallons of water per minute into the Firehole River.
In Yellowstone National Park’s recorded history, Excelsior Geyser and Sapphire Pool in Biscuit Basin have exceeded Steamboat in size.
Yellowstone – Boardwalks
Every year, thousands of pairs of feet anxiously scurry across more than 14 miles of Yellowstone National Park’s iconic, wooden boardwalk system, eager to ferry their owners to an up close and personal glimpse of hundreds of natural hydrothermal springs and geysers.
Colors in Yellowstone
Yellowstone National Park is an undoubted national treasure, best known for its stunning display of vivid color. Surprisingly, living organisms are actually what cause the bright colorations at Yellowstone. More specifically, there are several species of bacteria that can only survive in specific temperatures and acid levels.
Here are examples of colorful formations that are not circular ……
Yellowstone – Norris Geyser Basin Formations
Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park is home to the largest active geyser in the world, Steamboat Geyser. Steamboat can reach 380 feet and its steam phase can be heard miles away. Unfortunately, Steamboat is rare, the last major eruption was in 1991.
There are several spots with bubbling hot water …..
Yellowstone Rivers
While yesterday’s post showed images of steam rising from water streams, there are still full flowing normal rivers in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
Yellowstone – Steam Rising
The landscape at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming is populated by areas with volcanic activity causing flowing water to boil and create steam.
Heat and volcanic gases from slowly cooling magma rise and warm the dense salty water that occupies fractured rocks above the Yellowstone magma chamber. That brine, in turn, transfers its heat to overlying fresh groundwater which is recharged by rainfall and snowmelt from the surface.
Colors of the Grand Canyon at Yellowstone
What created the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone pink and yellow colors? Mineral stains mark the locations of hot springs and steam vents in the canyon walls. For thousands of years, upwardly percolating fluids have altered the chemistry of the rocks, turning them yellow, red, white, and pink.
The Yellowstone Name
Contrary to popular belief, Yellowstone was not named for the abundant rhyolite lavas in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone that have been chemically altered by reactions with steam and hot water to create vivid yellow and pink colors. Instead, the name was attributed as early as 1805 to Native Americans who were referring to yellow sandstones along the banks of the Yellowstone River in eastern Montana, several hundred miles downstream and northeast of the Park.
Falls at Yellowstone
The 308-foot Lower Falls at Yellowstone National Park may have formed because the river flows over volcanic rock more resistant to erosion than the downstream rocks, which are hydrothermally altered. The 109-foot Upper Falls flows over similar rocks.
Falls at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone
Past and current hydrothermal activity at Yellowstone National Park altered and weakened the rhyolite, making the rocks softer. The Yellowstone River eroded these weakened rocks to deepen and widen the canyon, a process that continues today. The current canyon begins at Lower Falls and ends downstream from Tower Fall. Here is a view of the Lower Falls.
The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is the most breathtaking sight inside Yellowstone National Park. Twenty miles long, the canyon is up to 4,000-feet wide and 1,200-feet deep in places. It’s located on the eastern side of the park. From several vantage points, you can view Lower Falls plunging steeply into the canyon 308 feet, or the Upper Falls tumbling 109 feet.
Photos by Ravi 