Tag Archives: Norris Geyser Basin

Newly discovered volcanic vent at Yellowstone

Important Takeaways:

  • Scientists from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) have discovered a newly opened volcanic vent in Norris Geyser Basin.
  • The vent is at the foot of a rhyloite lava flow, and is spewing hot steam up into the air.
  • ‘While driving south from Mammoth Hot Springs towards Norris Geyser Basin early on August 5 last summer, a park scientist noticed a billowing steam column through the trees and across a marshy expanse,’ the USGS explained.
  • The new vent was discovered last summer within a region called the Roadside Springs thermal area.
  • Lying within a swath of warm, hydrothermally altered ground, approximately 200ft (60 meters) long, the new feature is about 9.8ft (three meters) below the marsh surface.
  • Shortly after it was identified, park geologists visited the vent to get a closer look.
  • There, they discovered a very thin veneer of grey silicious clay barely covering the ground, and temperatures of 77°C (171°F).
  • According to the team, this indicates the new vent is ‘very young’ in nature.
  • This isn’t the first time that this type of hydrothermal activity has been spotted in the area.
  • Back in 2003, a similar vent was spotted just on the other side of the same rhyolite lava flow.
  • ‘Are the new feature and the activity that started in 2003 hydrologically connected?’ USGS asked.
  • ‘Probably.
  • ‘One could run a line along the axis of the older active area and it would intersect the new feature.
  • ‘This line also follows the trend of faults that run from Norris Geyser Basin northward to Mammoth Hot Springs and beyond.’
  • So far, geologists have mapped more than 100 major hydrothermal areas in Yellowstone National Park, as well as more than 10,000 within its boundaries.
  • Thankfully, USGS reassures that there is still about 100,000 years to go before the supervolcano is likely to erupt.

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3.7 Earthquake shakes Yellowstone as highest temperatures are measured underscoring activity and intense heat

Crackling Lake

Important Takeaways:

  • The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reported a magnitude 3.7 earthquake near Mammoth, Wyoming, at about 6 p.m. MST, close to the Norris Geyser Basin. Seismologists said a few people in the Yellowstone region reported the shaking.
  • “The earthquake is typical of the Yellowstone region and not a sign of any significant unrest,” the agency said following the quake.
  • The National Park Service (NPS) said Norris Geyser Basin is home to some truly extreme geothermal features.
  • The highest temperature ever recorded in Yellowstone (459 degrees) was measured in a drill hole at Norris, just 1,087 feet below the surface, underscoring the intense heat and activity in the area, the NPS added. There are very few thermal features at Norris under the boiling point at 199 degrees at this elevation.
  • Norris shows evidence of having had thermal features for at least 115,000 years, according to the NPS. The features in the basin change daily, with frequent disturbances from seismic activity and water fluctuations.
  • While Yellowstone is frequently rattled by small earthquakes — averaging 1,500 to 2,500 per year — the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory notes that larger, damaging earthquakes have also struck the area.
  • The park’s largest recorded earthquake, a magnitude 6, occurred on June 30, 1975, along the north-central boundary of Yellowstone Caldera, a few miles southeast of Norris Geyser Basin. No injuries were reported, and all park campgrounds and facilities remained open.

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