Images

Cinder Pool, located in the southwest part of 100 Spring Plain in Norris Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park. The pool was known for “cinders” made of sulfur that condensed after rising from a molten layer at the bottom of the pool, but after 2019 those cinders disappeared.  Photos from June 2018 (left) and June 2023 (right) by Lauren Harrison.

Exposure of the Mount Jackson Rhyolite Series vitrophyre at Gibbon River. Boulders of weathered, lichen-covered rock show how easy it is to overlook these new units. Photo by Liv Wheeler, Montana State University, August 2024.

Looking southeast at the hydrothermal feature that formed in August 2024 just north of Nymph Lake. Steam is emanating from a vent that is partially full of water to create the frying pan feature nestled in the newly formed vent. A thin grey layer of silica mud covers the vent area.  Photo by Jefferson Hungerford, Yellowstone National Park, August 2024.

This boulder is the largest that is confirmed to have been part of the July 23, 2024, hydrothermal explosion from Black Diamond Pool, Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone National Park.  The tape measure is 50 centimeters (20 inches) long.  Black Diamond Pool and a boardwalk are in the background.

High-resolution Planet satellite image of Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone National Park, from July 24, 2024.  The image shows changes that occurred as a result of the July 23, 2024, hydrothermal explosion from Black Diamond Pool, including deposition of material in the vicinity of the pool and a plume of discolored water in the Forehole River.

Webicorders of Yellowstone Seismic Network stations YMR (West Entrance road) and YNM (Norris Geyser Basin Museum) showing traffic signals (left) and visitors walking (right) during daytime hours.  Both records span the entire 24-hour period of July 23, 2024, MDT. 

Webicorders of Yellowstone Seismic Network stations YMR (West Entrance road) and YNM (Norris Geyser Basin Museum) showing traffic signals (left) and visitors walking (right) during daytime hours.  Both records span the entire 24-hour period of July 23, 2024, MDT. 

Aerial view of Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone National Park, showing debris deposited by the July 23, 2024, hydrothermal explosion from Black Diamond Pool.  Major features are labeled.  The main debris field (within dashed yellow line) has a gray appearance.  Photo taken by Joe Bueter, Yellowstone National Park, on July 23, 2024.

Webicorders of Yellowstone Seismic Network stations YMR (West Entrance road) and YNM (Norris Geyser Basin Museum) showing traffic signals (left) and visitors walking (right) during daytime hours.  Both records span the entire 24-hour period of July 23, 2024, MDT. 

Webicorders of Yellowstone Seismic Network stations YMR (West Entrance road) and YNM (Norris Geyser Basin Museum) showing traffic signals (left) and visitors walking (right) during daytime hours.  Both records span the entire 24-hour period of July 23, 2024, MDT. 

Webicorders of Yellowstone Seismic Network stations YMR (West Entrance road) and YNM (Norris Geyser Basin Museum) showing traffic signals (left) and visitors walking (right) during daytime hours.  Both records span the entire 24-hour period of July 23, 2024, MDT. 

Cover of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory response plan for geological hazards in the Yellowstone region.  The report can be accessed at https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1351/.  Cover features a photograph by Mike Poland and frame captures from a video by Juliet Su.

High-resolution Planet satellite image of Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone National Park, from July 21, 2024.  This work utilized data made available through the NASA Commercial Smallsat Data Acquisition (CSDA) Program.  Data are copyright, Planet Labs Inc. 2024, all rights reserved.
 

Map of major thermal features in Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone National Park.  Base map from Google Earth

This animation shows a map of of Yellowstone seismicity by year from 2017 through 2023.  Earthquakes are red circles, with the circle size indicating earthquake magnitude.  Gray lines are roads, black dashed line shows the caldera boundary, Yellowstone National Park is outlined by black dot-dashed line, and gray dashed lines denote state boundaries.

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) move from the surface of the Sun towards Earth through space. Top: CME is generated as an outflow of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun, moving through space to Earth over a matter of hours. Bottom: The magnetic fields of the CME and outflowing solar wind interact with Earth’s magnetic field, which shields it from greater effect.

Front cover of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory 2023 annual report, which includes a summary of earthquake, deformation, and geyser activity, as well as research investigations and other information. The report is freely available online athttps://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/cir1524.

Infographic giving earthquake, deformation, thermal emission, and geyser statistics for the Yellowstone region for the year 2023.  The graphic accompanies the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory 2023 annual report, freely available online athttps://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/cir1524.

Site of April 15, 2024, hydrothermal explosion on Porcelain Terrace, Norris Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park.  The small crater and disrupted ground are in silica sinter deposits that formed in the past two years, since water has been flowing from the terrace into Nuphar Lake (off photo to right), and angular fragments of ejecta on top of the sinter are

View of the vibrant, multicolored extremophilic bacteria in the outflow from Grand Prismatic Spring at the Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park. Photo by Elizabeth Mordensky, May 12, 2024.

Rhyolite lava flow textures from Long Valley and Yellowstone calderas.  A) Photograph of well-developed spherulites in a lava flow from Long Valley Caldera in Eastern California. This high-silica rhyolite flow is very similar to the Central Plateau Member rhyolites of the Yellowstone Plateau Volcanic Field and exhibits many of the same textures.