Yellowstone Volcano Observatory

Yellowstone National park hosts more than 10,000 hydrothermal features including hot springs, geysers, fumaroles, and mud pots. But did you know that park personnel document every one of those features...in person?

USGS and Yellowstone National Park scientists visited a newly discovered thermal site in the park. They mapped the extent of the area and took the temperature of the subsurface using a handheld thermistor.

Scientists who work at Yellowstone are interested in finding physical and chemical signals from the deep magmatic system, both to better understand the nature of the system and also to monitor for possible changes. Helium is an inert gas that is an excellent tracer of magmatic processes.

What does cause an eruption at volcanoes like Yellowstone? To answer this question, we look at small crystals that formed in erupted volcanic rocks! 

Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week's contribution is from Jamie Farrell, assistant research professor with the University of Utah Seismograph Stations and Chief Seismologist of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.

Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week's contribution is from Mike Poland, geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey and Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.

What is hydrothermal alteration, and why is it important? Most visitors to Yellowstone National Park are only vaguely aware of hydrothermal (hot water) alteration (chemical and mineral reactions with hot water).

Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week's contribution is from Sin-Mei Wu, Jamie Farrell, and Fan-Chi Lin, seismologists with the University of Utah Seismograph Stations and the Department of Geology and Geophysics.

Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week's contribution is from Mike Poland, geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey and Scientist-in-Charge, of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.

How long has the magma chamber existed? And how can we explore such a complex question, given that we can't directly see several kilometers deep beneath the ground? It turns out that, in a way, we can use a crystal ball to look back in time at Yellowstone's magma chamber—a zircon crystal ball!

Have you ever wondered why geysers are rare and what causes them to erupt? And why scientists study geysers?