Seventy years ago the geothermal pools of Yellowstone tended to have a uniformly deep blue color. Temperatures were higher because there were fewer tourists at the site. Over the years, coins, trash and rocks tossed into the pool have covered the natural vents. This has lowered temperatures in the pool and caused them to turn to an orange-yellow-green color.
‘When we started studying [the pools], it was clear we were just doing it for fun,’ says Michael Vollmer from Montana State University. The initial research may have been light-hearted, but the team soon discovered there was very little existing scientific literature on the subject.
The GRC is hosting a Workshop/Fieldtrip to Yellowstone National Park, June 22-26. The workshop will include a tour of the major geologic features of the Park, the site of the greatest concentration of geothermal features in the world, and discussions of its volcanic history, geochemistry, and hydrology.
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