Page 3 - Ellowstone Articles News Today

Near the south boundary of Yellowstone National Park is a curious ash flow deposit of unknown origin. Geologists from Montana State University took on the challenge of solving the mystery.

An adult mule deer found dead in Yellowstone National Park has tested positive for chronic wasting disease, a contagious, fatal disease of deer, elk and moose.

Grand Prismatic Spring is the largest hot spring in the United States, and one of the largest in the world. The feature is located in Midway Geyser Basin—so named because it is between the Upper and Lower Geyser Basins—and is one of the most popular attractions in Yellowstone National Park.

Geologist Ferdinand Hayden directed the first scientific exploration of Yellowstone in 1871, leading directly to the founding of the world’s first national park in the following year. Hayden’s noteworthy achievements in science and conservation, however, are clouded by his views of Indigenous people.

A long-told myth about Yellowstone is that indigenous people were “afraid” of the area owing to the geysers and thermal activity. But archeological evidence and oral histories and even an early map throw cold water on this story.

Yellowstone is covered with evidence of glaciers. About 22,000 to 14,000 years ago, during the most recent ice age, ice draped the region to a thickness of a kilometer—that’s over half a mile! When the ice melted, it left debris everywhere, mantling much of the surface of Yellowstone National Park. For example, Hayden Valley, located between Yellowstone Lake and the Grand

Satellite remote sensing data from numerous orbiting spacecraft have long been instrumental in studying and monitoring Yellowstone—especially the thermal areas and geyser basins that make Yellowstone National Park famous.

Scientists can determine the sources of hydrothermal fluids in park rivers by monitoring water chemistry. The result? A “budget” of which geyser basins release the most hydrothermal fluids.

What can trees tell us about Steamboat Geyser’s history? Why do Steamboat’s seismic eruption signals vary seasonally? Get up to speed on two newly published research studies centered on the world’s tallest geyser.

Seven years after nonnative brook trout were removed from Soda Butte Creek in the northeastern corner of Yellowstone National Park, the fish again have been spotted in the creek.