Yellowstone - Mammoth Hot Springs

Still Day 3 and after a short cool-down we explore the Mammoth Hot Springs.

Mammoth Hot Springs is large area of hot springs that has been created over thousands of years as hot water from the spring cooled and deposited calcium carbonate. Although the springs lie outside the Yellowstone caldera, their energy has been attributed to the same magmatic system that fuels other Yellowstone geothermal areas.

A few little titbits ...
👆At Yellowstone, the rain and melted snow seeps into the earth. The water is quickly warmed by heat radiating from a partially molten magma chamber deep underground.
👆After moving throughout this “plumbing” system, the hot water rises up through a system of small fissures. Some carbon dioxide is dissolved in the hot water, forming a weak, carbonic acid solution.
👆In the Mammoth area, the hot, acidic solution dissolves large quantities of limestone on its way up through the rock layers. Above ground and exposed to the air, some of the carbon dioxide escapes from the solution. Without it, the dissolved limestone can’t remain in the solution, so it reforms into a solid mineral. This white, chalky mineral is deposited as the travertine that forms the terracesRead more