Multimedia

View from a research camera installed at Biscuit Basin near the site of seismic, infrasound, and GPS monitoring. The camera has a view of Black Diamond Pool, where a hydrothermal explosion occurred on July 23, 2024, as well as of the area north of the pool where another small explosion occurred on June 13, 2026.  Camera images are updated every 15 minutes

Camera installed at the Biscuit Basin monitoring site. The camera is near the top of a small tower that holds a weather sensor and solar panel that powers nearby seismic and acoustic sensors.  The solar panel that powers the camera is located on the ground at the base of the tower.  USGS photo by Mike Poland, July 22, 2026.

Black Sand Pool, in Yellowstone National Park's Upper Geyser Basin.  The hot spring is known for it's thumping behavior, which occurs every few minutes due to collapse of bubbles within the spring.  The thumping is strong enough to be heard and felt by anyone nearby.  USGS photo by Mike Poland, July 21, 2026.

Aerial view of the Black Diamond Pool area of Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone National Park, showing the locations of northern, middle, and southern vent groups that formed as a result of a small hydrothermal explosion on June 13, 2026.  The "new pool' developed later, between June 14 and 16.

Pool of boiling water that formed a few days after the June 13, 2026, hydrothermal explosion at Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone National Park, and that is located near the middle vent group of features that formed during the explosion.  The pool is about 6.5 × 5.3 meters (21 × 17 feet) in size and formed via collapse based on the lack of surrounding ejecta.

Looking south, toward Black Diamond Pool (steaming blue area in the left middle ground) along a fissure that formed during a small hydrothermal explosion on June 13, 2026, in Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone National Park.  The fissure is about 18.5 meters (61 feet) long and filled with near-boiling water.