Images

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

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

Map of the Sawtooth fault, Idaho, based on new lidar topographic maps. Map by Zach Lifton, Idaho Geological Survey, 2024.

Photos of flow breccia in Central Plateau Member rhyolites in Yellowstone National Park. A) Flow breccia observed in a drill core from the Lower Geyser Basin. The angular, light-colored clasts are fragments of the original lava carapace, broken and incorporated into the flow as it advanced. B) Flow breccia exposed in a road cut along Firehole Canyon Drive.

Total electron content (TEC) data—a measure of activity in the ionosphere—at three GPS stations in Yellowstone. Each line color is a measurement using a different satellite passing overhead. Note how the data are steady until the evening of May 10, 2024, when the signals start to fluctuate wildly due to the arrival of the Coronal Mass Ejection.

Photos of Central Plateau Member rhyolite flow structures from the Yellowstone Plateau Volcanic Field. A) An ogive from a road cut along Firehole Lake Drive. Ogives are pressure ridges that form perpendicular to the direction of flow from the compressive stresses that deform the highly viscous lava as it moves.

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.

Seismic and infrasound data for the April 15, 2024, hydrothermal explosion on Porcelain Terrace at Norris Geyser Basin.  Top plot is seismic data from the YNM station, located at the Norris Geyser Basin Museum.  Middle plot is seismic data from station YNB, in the Ragged Hills of Norris Geyser Basin. Bottom plot is infrasound data from station YNB.&nb