• 2,219,791 acres - 3468 square miles
• Established 1872
• Oldest and best known National Park
• Geology and Wildlife
Yellowstone National Park
• Northwestern Wyoming, southern Montana, eastern Idaho
• High plateau - 8000 ft.
• Mountain ranges
• Madison and Gallatin
• Beartooth and Absaroka
• Laramide Orogeny
• Continental Divide
• Major Attractions
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
• What is an ecosystem?
• All the parts are present
• Large mammals
• Predators
• Ungulates
• Problems
– Large ranges
– Fragmented habitats
– Climate cycles
– Politics vs. Science
Yellowstone National Park
• Where are the volcanoes?
• Obvious volcanic feature, but no obvious volcano
• Remote sensing - too big to be obvious on the ground
Yellowstone Caldera
• Yellowstone Plateau = collapsed caldera filled with young volcanic rock
• 1500 square miles - 40 miles long, 30 miles wide
• 3 volcanic cycles
– 2 MA, 1.2 MA, 600 KA
• 240 cubic miles
Yellowstone Caldera
• Why is the Yellowstone Caldera active?
• Mantle hot spot
• Chain of Calderas?
• Melting continents
• Rhyolitic magma
• Rises close to surface
Yellowstone Caldera
• Will the Caldera erupt again, and when?
• Careful monitoring
• Heat flow
• Geophysical methods
• Depth of focus and frequency of EQ’s
• Expanding domes
Yellowstone Geothermal Features
• Highest concentration of geothermal features in the world
• What heats the water?
• Hot springs
• Geysers
• Mud pots
• Paint pots
• Fumaroles
Yellowstone Geothermal Features
• Geysers - erupts steam & H2O
• Requirements
– Abundant water
– Heat source
– Tight plumbing - sinter
• Hot rocks
• Confined steam - pressurized
• Geyser basins
Yellowstone Geothermal Features
• Hot springs
• Hot water flows
• Plumbing not confining
• Sinter
• Mammoth Hot Springs
• Travertine
• Precipitation of calcite - bacteria
Yellowstone Geothermal Features
• Life under extreme conditions
• Bacteria = extremophiles
• Tolerance to hot water