Images

An unnamed small acidic (pH ~3) hot spring (with a temperature of about 55°C at the source) in the Gibbon Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park. The yellow region is due to the precipitation of sulfur by sulfide-oxidizing chemotrophic microorganisms.

ANNIMATED GIF: This animated image file (GIF) of the Kīlauea summit water lake is a cropped version this file, showing a close-up view of the lake.

A sample of the digital elevation model from the 2019 LiDAR survey of Kīlauea, showing the vicinity of the former HVO office and Jaggar Museum in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.

A wide array of phototrophic microbial community textures exhibited in an alkaline (pH ~8.5) hot spring outflow channel in the Biscuit Basin, including thick mats, toadstools, ropes, and pinnacles. The differences in color are due to pigments (chlorophylls, bacteriochlorophylls, and carotenoids) produced by phototrophic microorganisms.

Sapphire Pool, an alkaline (pH ~7.5) spring in the Biscuit Basin area of the Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park.

Manuel Nathenson is a scientists emeritus with the USGS Volcano Science Center.

Map of seismicity (yellow circles) in the Yellowstone region during 2019. Gray lines are roads, red line shows the caldera boundary, Yellowstone National Park is outlined by black dashed line, and gray dashed lines denote state boundaries.

ANIMATED GIF: The KWcam webcam has been imaging the Kīlauea summit water lake for just over a year now, tracking visual changes in the lake including water level and color.

Sabrina Brown collecting samples from Yellowstone Lake core YL16-2C at the National Lacustrine Core Facility (LacCore) at the University of Minnesota.

This photo looks north along the broad Fissure 8 channel. At its widest section, the Fissure 8 channel is about 430 meters (1400 feet wide). In the upper right section of the photo, Highway 132 can be seen cutting through the braided section of the channel. USGS photo by M. Zoeller.

A closer view of the braided section of the Fissure 8 channel, with Highway 132 cutting across both branches. USGS photo by M. Zoeller.

"Earthquake camp" of the Hayden expedition in 1871, located on the north shore of Yellowstone Lake near Steamboat Point. Photo by William H. Jackson, courtesy Yellowstone National Park (https://www.nps.gov/features/yell/slidefile/history/jacksonphotos/Image…).

Dan Dzurisin, of the Cascades Volcano Observatory, conducting a leveling survey at Newberry Volcano, Oregon, in 2002.

Jo Schmith examining ash from Katla volcano in Iceland. 

Yellowstone earthquakes that occurred during 2010-2019. Blue symbols indicate events that occurred as part of swarms, while red indicates non-swarm seismicity. Map courtesy of the University of Utah Seismograph Stations.

Earthquake hazard map showing peak ground accelerations having a 2 percent probability of being exceeded in 50 years, for a firm rock site. Black box outlines Yellowstone region. The map is based on the most recent USGS models for the conterminous U.S. (2018), Hawaii (1998), and Alaska (2007).

Earthquakes at Mount Rainier from 2010 to 2019. As shown in the graphic, fluids from the magmatic system beneath the volcano rise through existing cracks and weaknesses in the crust. Along with rainwater and ice/snow melt, these fluids combine to create a hydrothermal system within the volcano.

The December 18 overflight provided updated thermal images of Kīlauea summit, covering the caldera floor and showing the warm surface of the water pond in Halema‘uma‘u crater. A band of warm temperatures persists along the new cliff formed during the 2018 subsidence.

The growing lake of groundwater within Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano as it looked on December 18, 2019. 

The December 18, 2019, overflight provided updated aerial photographs of Kīlauea summit, covering the caldera floor and showing the current size of the water pond in Halema‘uma‘u crater.

Mount Konocti as seen from the town of Clear Lake.