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Hot Colors: Windows Into Hidden Worlds
Fueled by heat and water from below, a hot spring bubbles at the Earth’s surface.<BR>The plume of a geyser shoots high into the blue sky. A rust-colored mud pot boils over. Steam and fumes escape from a vent called a fumarole.
Gauge readings: Bio, none. Temperature, 20 degrees Celcius. Oxygen, 1X. pH, 7. Chemical energy, none.
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BB
Call me BB, Captain. Everyone else does. I’ll give you some background information to help you understand the problem. Let me begin by asking if you know what causes the park’s famous thermal features.

Macro
I believe so. Surface water from rain or snow seeps deep into the Earth through cracks and fractures. The surface water eventually encounters tremendous heat from areas of molten rock lying beneath Yellowstone. The water warms to very high temperatures and rises back towards the Earth’s surface. It finally emerges as hot springs, geysers, mud pots, or steam vents—also called fumaroles.

thermal: having to do with extremely hot water

fumarole: thermal feature that releases gas onlySkip to slide controls.
© The Yellowstone Park Foundation 2004Exit Program