Geysers and Hot Springs

... are hard to really photograph! They are so much more impressive in person, with the boiling, hissing, steaming, and the smells of sulpher and hydrogen sulfide. I took all these pictures during our first week in the park, while we were down in the thermal areas.

The colors in this pool are produced by different species of thermophiles - microorganisms that thrive in very hot, mineral laden water. Different species grow at different temperatures, with the clear dark blue at the center being water too hot for anything to grow.

Look at the delicate structures built up around the edge of the pool as dissolved silica precipitates out of the water.

Boiling out of the ground.

Sometimes the thermophiles build up elaborate mats.

A mud pot.

Waterfall on the Gibbon River.

Grand Geyser erupting.

Lone Star Geyser erupting.

Riverside Geyser erupting.