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  • Geothermal steam rises from Grand Prismatic Spring. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos.
    1709US1-3865-67-Pano_Yellowstone-NP-...jpg
  • Geothermal steam surrounds a snowy boardwalk along Artists’ Paint Pots Trail in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos.
    1709US1-4291-p1-Pano_Yellowstone-NP-...jpg
  • Pumpkin Spring is a geothermally-heated mineral water pool surrounded by bright-orange travertine on the shore of the Colorado River at Mile 212.9. Pumpkin Spring isn't safe for bathing or drinking due to high concentrations of arsenic, lead, and other minerals. Day 15 of 16 days rafting 226 miles down the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, USA.
    2103SW-C2548.jpg
  • People wander through geothermal steam on the Grand Prismatic Spring boardwalk, under a sunburst. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.
    1709US1-3890_Yellowstone-NP-WY.jpg
  • Dead trees form sharp silhouettes against geothermal steam along Artists’ Paint Pots Trail in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.
    1709US1-4248_Yellowstone-NP-WY.jpg
  • Canary Spring, Upper Terrace Drive, Mammoth Hot Springs. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.
    1709US1-4545_Yellowstone-NP-WY.jpg
  • Canary Spring, Upper Terrace Drive, Mammoth Hot Springs. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.
    1709US1-4517_Yellowstone-NP-WY.jpg
  • Glowing lava exits a lava tube, jets into the ocean, and explodes at Kamokuna, enlarging the Big Island, in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, just west of Kalapana, Hawaii, USA, on February 1, 2017. On Kilauea volcano's south flank, Pu'u O'o crater has been erupting continuously since 1983, making it the world's longest-lived rift-zone (flank) eruption of the last 200 years. The eruption has consumed 189 buildings and 8.7 miles of highway. Since 1987, the coastal highway has been closed, buried under lava up to 115 feet thick. After June 30, 2016, the County of Hawaii opened a section of the emergency road/Highway 130 to lava viewing (8 miles round trip, open 3pm-9pm), limiting vehicles to bicycles (rented at the roadblock in Kalapana for $15+ for 3 hours), local residents' cars, and emergency vehicles. See updates at: USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov and www.hawaiicounty.gov/lava-viewing/. Kilauea is between 300,000 and 600,000 years old and emerged above sea level about 100,000 years ago.
    1701HAW-3049.jpg
  • Hot springs water cools and deposits white travertine and hosts orange microbial mats at Orakei Korako Cave and Thermal Park, New Zealand, North Island
    07NZ_8055-Orakei-Korako-Thermal-Park.jpg
  • Colorful microbial mats coat terraces of Grand Prismatic Spring in Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Grand Prismatic is the largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world, next to those in New Zealand. The sterile blue water in the pool’s center is too hot to support life (87 degrees Centigrade or 188 F). Pure water selectively absorbs red wavelengths of visible light, making the center deep blue. But in cooler water along the edges, microbial mats of thermophilic (heat-loving) cyano-bacteria and algae thrive. Yellow, orange, and red pigments are produced by the bacteria as a natural sunscreen. As a result, the pool displays a spectrum of colors from the bright blue water of the center to the orange, red, and brown algal mats along the edges. Summer mats tend to be orange and red, whereas winter mats become dark green. Yellowstone was the first national park in the world (1872), and UNESCO honored it as a World Heritage site in 1978.
    04WY-0091_Yellowstone-NP.jpg
  • Liard River Hot Springs Provincial Park, Alaska Highway, British Columbia, Canada. The Alaska Highway was built as a military road during World War II in just 9 months in 1942, to link existing airfields via Canada to the territory of Alaska. The ALCAN Highway (a military acronym for Alaska-Canada) opened to the public in 1948. It begins in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, and runs via Whitehorse, Yukon to Delta Junction, Alaska. The "Alaskan Highway" is comprised of British Columbia Highway 97, Yukon Highway 1 and Alaska Route 2. While the ALCAN measured 2700 kilometers (1700 mi) upon completion in 1942, by 2012 it was rerouted and shortened to 2232 km (1387 mi). Once legendary for being a rough, challenging drive, the highway is now paved over its entire length. Delta Junction, at the end of the highway, claims "Historic Milepost 1422" where the Alaska Highway meets the Richardson Highway, which continues 96 mi (155 km) to the city of Fairbanks at Historic Milepost 1520, often (but unofficially) regarded as the northern portion of the Alaska Highway (although its Mileposts are measured from Valdez). This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos.
    1906AK2-528-p1-Pano.jpg
  • Palette Spring, Mammoth Hot Springs. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.
    1709US1-4623_Yellowstone-NP-WY.jpg
  • Canary Spring, Upper Terrace Drive, Mammoth Hot Springs. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.
    1709US1-4518_Yellowstone-NP-WY.jpg
  • Geysers spout and spray at Fountain Paint Pots in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.
    1709US1-4210_Yellowstone-NP-WY.jpg
  • Red Spouter at Fountain Paint Pots. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.
    1709US1-4180_Yellowstone-NP-WY.jpg
  • Ohia or Ohi'a Lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha, in the Myrtle family, Myrtaceae) is the most abundant tree in the Hawaiian Islands, and is one of the first trees to colonize lava flows, as here in Kilauea Iki crater. Its brush-like flower stamens are usually red. The walkable pit crater of Kilauea Iki (adjacent to the larger caldera of Kilauea) is still warm after last erupting in 1959, in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, on the Big Island, Hawaii, USA. Established in 1916 and later expanded, the park (HVNP) encompasses two active volcanoes: Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, and Mauna Loa, the world's most massive shield volcano. HVNP is honored as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve.
    1701HAW-2289.jpg
  • The walkable pit crater of Kilauea Iki (adjacent to the larger caldera of Kilauea) is still warm after last erupting in 1959, in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, on the Big Island, Hawaii, USA. Rainwater seeping into cracks contacts hot rock below forming steam which leaves white mineral residue above. Established in 1916 and later expanded, the park (HVNP) encompasses two active volcanoes: Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, and Mauna Loa, the world's most massive shield volcano. HVNP is honored as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve.
    1701HAW-2272.jpg
  • Hot springs (agua termal) pools. Day 4 of 9 days trekking around the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Andes Mountains, Peru, South America.
    14PER-4164_Huayhuash-in-the-hot-spri...jpg
  • Steam rises from orange and green Champagne Pool at Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, North Island, New Zealand
    07NZ_9034-Wai-O-Tapu-TW.jpg
  • Palette Spring, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Over thousands of years, Mammoth Hot Springs have built white travertine terraces. Algae and bacteria tint the travertine shades of brown, orange, red, and green. Terrace Mountain (including Minerva Terrace) at Mammoth Hot Springs is the largest known carbonate-depositing spring in the world. The Mammoth Hotel and Fort Yellowstone are built upon the old Hotel Terrace formation. Hot water from Norris Geyser Basin within the Yellowstone Caldera travels underground via a fault line through limestone and deposits calcium carbonate at Mammoth Hot Springs, outside of the active supervolcano’s caldera. Yellowstone was the first national park in the world (1872), and UNESCO honored it as a World Heritage site in 1978. The panorama was stitched from two overlapping photos.
    04WY-0579-580pan_Palette-Spring.jpg
  • Palette Spring, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Over thousands of years, Mammoth Hot Springs have built white travertine terraces. Algae and bacteria tint the travertine shades of brown, orange, red, and green. Terrace Mountain (including Minerva Terrace) at Mammoth Hot Springs is the largest known carbonate-depositing spring in the world. The Mammoth Hotel and Fort Yellowstone are built upon the old Hotel Terrace formation. Hot water from Norris Geyser Basin within the Yellowstone Caldera travels underground via a fault line through limestone and deposits calcium carbonate at Mammoth Hot Springs, outside of the active supervolcano’s caldera. Yellowstone was the first national park in the world (1872), and UNESCO honored it as a World Heritage site in 1978.
    04WY-0550.jpg
  • Colorful microbial mats coat terraces of Grand Prismatic Spring in Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Grand Prismatic is the largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world, next to those in New Zealand. The sterile blue water in the pool’s center is too hot to support life (87 degrees Centigrade or 188 F). Pure water selectively absorbs red wavelengths of visible light, making the center deep blue. But in cooler water along the edges, microbial mats of thermophilic (heat-loving) cyano-bacteria and algae thrive. Yellow, orange, and red pigments are produced by the bacteria as a natural sunscreen. As a result, the pool displays a spectrum of colors from the bright blue water of the center to the orange, red, and brown algal mats along the edges. Summer mats tend to be orange and red, whereas winter mats become dark green. Yellowstone was the first national park in the world (1872), and UNESCO honored it as a World Heritage site in 1978.
    04WY-0099.jpg
  • Fumaroles outgas at Steamboat Point, Yellowstone Lake, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Yellowstone was established as the world's first national park in 1872 and was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage site in 1978.
    20.10US1-1000.jpg
  • Boardwalks cross a wetland to reach the hot pools, at Liard River Hot Springs Provincial Park, Alaska Highway, British Columbia, Canada. The Alaska Highway was built as a military road during World War II in just 9 months in 1942, to link existing airfields via Canada to the territory of Alaska. The ALCAN Highway (a military acronym for Alaska-Canada) opened to the public in 1948. It begins in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, and runs via Whitehorse, Yukon to Delta Junction, Alaska. The "Alaskan Highway" is comprised of British Columbia Highway 97, Yukon Highway 1 and Alaska Route 2. While the ALCAN measured 2700 kilometers (1700 mi) upon completion in 1942, by 2012 it was rerouted and shortened to 2232 km (1387 mi). Once legendary for being a rough, challenging drive, the highway is now paved over its entire length. Delta Junction, at the end of the highway, claims "Historic Milepost 1422" where the Alaska Highway meets the Richardson Highway, which continues 96 mi (155 km) to the city of Fairbanks at Historic Milepost 1520, often (but unofficially) regarded as the northern portion of the Alaska Highway (although its Mileposts are measured from Valdez). This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos.
    1906AK2-548-p1-Pano.jpg
  • Palette Spring, Mammoth Hot Springs. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.
    1709US1-4625_Yellowstone-NP-WY.jpg
  • Palette Spring, Mammoth Hot Springs. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.
    1709US1-4618_Yellowstone-NP-WY.jpg
  • Palette Spring, Mammoth Hot Springs. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.
    1709US1-4619_Yellowstone-NP-WY.jpg
  • Palette Spring, Mammoth Hot Springs. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.
    1709US1-4617_Yellowstone-NP-WY.jpg
  • Mound Terrace above Minerva Terrace, Mammoth Hot Springs. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.
    1709US1-4596_Yellowstone-NP-WY.jpg
  • Orange Spring Mound, Upper Terrace Drive, Mammoth Hot Springs. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.
    1709US1-4566_Yellowstone-NP-WY.jpg
  • Rippled water pattern over green and brown algae. Porcelain Basin, Norris Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.
    1709US1-4482_Yellowstone-NP-WY.jpg
  • Steamy blue-green water of Cistern Spring, Norris Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.
    1709US1-4341_Yellowstone-NP-WY.jpg
  • Dramatic steamy morning on Artists’ Paint Pots Trail in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.
    1709US1-4251_Yellowstone-NP-WY.jpg
  • Admire colorful microbial mats contrasting with turquoise water at Grand Prismatic Spring overlook in Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Starting from Fairy Falls Trailhead (OK5), walk 2 miles round trip to the Grand Prismatic Spring overlook, up a side trail. Grand Prismatic is the largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world, next to those in New Zealand. The sterile blue water in the pool’s center is too hot to support life (87 degrees Centigrade or 188 F). Pure water selectively absorbs red wavelengths of visible light, making the center deep blue. But in cooler water along the edges, microbial mats of thermophilic (heat-loving) cyano-bacteria and algae thrive. Yellow, orange, and red pigments are produced by the bacteria as a natural sunscreen. As a result, the pool displays a spectrum of colors from the bright blue water of the center to the orange, red, and brown algal mats along the edges. Summer mats tend to be orange and red, whereas winter mats become dark green. Yellowstone was the first national park in the world (1872), and UNESCO honored it as a World Heritage site in 1978.
    1709US1-3978_Yellowstone-NP-WY.jpg
  • House isolated by lava field in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, just west of Kalapana, Hawaii, USA. In the background, on Kilauea volcano's south flank, smoke rises from lava flowing from Pu'u O'o crater, which has been erupting continuously since 1983, making it the world's longest-lived rift-zone (flank) eruption of the last 200 years. The eruption has consumed 189 buildings and 8.7 miles of highway. Since 1987, the coastal highway has been closed, buried under lava up to 115 feet thick. After June 30, 2016, the County of Hawaii opened a section of the emergency road/Highway 130 to lava viewing (8 miles round trip, open 3pm-9pm), limiting vehicles to bicycles (rented at the roadblock in Kalapana for $15+ for 3 hours), local residents' cars, and emergency vehicles. See updates at: USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov and www.hawaiicounty.gov/lava-viewing/. Kilauea is between 300,000 and 600,000 years old and emerged above sea level about 100,000 years ago. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping images.
    1701HAW-2990-91-Pano.jpg
  • Halema'uma'u Crater is an active pit crater containing a steaming lava lake, within the much larger summit caldera of Kilauea in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island, Hawaii, USA. With its name meaning "house of the ferns," Halemaumau is home to Pele, goddess of fire and volcanoes according to Hawaiian mythology. Established in 1916 and later expanded, the park (HVNP) encompasses two active volcanoes: Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, and Mauna Loa, the world's most massive shield volcano. The park portrays the birth of the Hawaiian Islands with dramatic volcanic landscapes, native flora and fauna, and glowing flowing lava. HVNP is honored as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve.
    1701HAW-2824.jpg
  • The walkable pit crater of Kilauea Iki (adjacent to the larger caldera of Kilauea) is still warm after last erupting in 1959, in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, on the Big Island, Hawaii, USA. Rainwater seeping into cracks contacts hot rock below forming steam which leaves white mineral residue above. Established in 1916 and later expanded, the park (HVNP) encompasses two active volcanoes: Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, and Mauna Loa, the world's most massive shield volcano. HVNP is honored as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve.
    1701HAW-2712.jpg
  • The walkable pit crater of Kilauea Iki (adjacent to the larger caldera of Kilauea) is still warm after last erupting in 1959, in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, on the Big Island, Hawaii, USA. Established in 1916 and later expanded, the park (HVNP) encompasses two active volcanoes: Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, and Mauna Loa, the world's most massive shield volcano. HVNP is honored as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve.
    1701HAW-2284-p1.jpg
  • Halema'uma'u Crater is an active pit crater containing a steaming lava lake, within the much larger summit caldera of Kilauea in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island, Hawaii, USA. With its name meaning "house of the 'ama'u fern," Halemaumau is home to Pele, goddess of fire and volcanoes according to Hawaiian mythology. Established in 1916 and later expanded, the park (HVNP) encompasses two active volcanoes: Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, and Mauna Loa, the world's most massive shield volcano. The park portrays the birth of the Hawaiian Islands with dramatic volcanic landscapes, native flora and fauna, and glowing flowing lava. HVNP is honored as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve.
    1701HAW-2257.jpg
  • Glowing lava exits a lava tube, jets into the ocean, and explodes at Kamokuna, enlarging the Big Island, in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, just west of Kalapana, Hawaii, USA, on February 1, 2017. On Kilauea volcano's south flank, Pu'u O'o crater has been erupting continuously since 1983, making it the world's longest-lived rift-zone (flank) eruption of the last 200 years. The eruption has consumed 189 buildings and 8.7 miles of highway. Since 1987, the coastal highway has been closed, buried under lava up to 115 feet thick. After June 30, 2016, the County of Hawaii opened a section of the emergency road/Highway 130 to lava viewing (8 miles round trip, open 3pm-9pm), limiting vehicles to bicycles (rented at the roadblock in Kalapana for $15+ for 3 hours), local residents' cars, and emergency vehicles. See updates at: USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov and www.hawaiicounty.gov/lava-viewing/. Kilauea is between 300,000 and 600,000 years old and emerged above sea level about 100,000 years ago.
    1701HAW-3080.jpg
  • Glowing lava exits a lava tube, jets into the ocean, and explodes at Kamokuna, enlarging the Big Island, in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, just west of Kalapana, Hawaii, USA, on February 1, 2017. On Kilauea volcano's south flank, Pu'u O'o crater has been erupting continuously since 1983, making it the world's longest-lived rift-zone (flank) eruption of the last 200 years. The eruption has consumed 189 buildings and 8.7 miles of highway. Since 1987, the coastal highway has been closed, buried under lava up to 115 feet thick. After June 30, 2016, the County of Hawaii opened a section of the emergency road/Highway 130 to lava viewing (8 miles round trip, open 3pm-9pm), limiting vehicles to bicycles (rented at the roadblock in Kalapana for $15+ for 3 hours), local residents' cars, and emergency vehicles. See updates at: USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov and www.hawaiicounty.gov/lava-viewing/. Kilauea is between 300,000 and 600,000 years old and emerged above sea level about 100,000 years ago.
    1701HAW-3031.jpg
  • Glowing lava exits a lava tube, jets into the ocean, and explodes at Kamokuna, enlarging the Big Island, in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, just west of Kalapana, Hawaii, USA, on February 1, 2017. On Kilauea volcano's south flank, Pu'u O'o crater has been erupting continuously since 1983, making it the world's longest-lived rift-zone (flank) eruption of the last 200 years. The eruption has consumed 189 buildings and 8.7 miles of highway. Since 1987, the coastal highway has been closed, buried under lava up to 115 feet thick. After June 30, 2016, the County of Hawaii opened a section of the emergency road/Highway 130 to lava viewing (8 miles round trip, open 3pm-9pm), limiting vehicles to bicycles (rented at the roadblock in Kalapana for $15+ for 3 hours), local residents' cars, and emergency vehicles. See updates at: USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov and www.hawaiicounty.gov/lava-viewing/. Kilauea is between 300,000 and 600,000 years old and emerged above sea level about 100,000 years ago.
    1701HAW-3024.jpg
  • Champagne Pool, at Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, North Island, New Zealand. Published in "Light Travel: Photography on the Go" by Tom Dempsey 2009, 2010.
    07NZ_8239-Wai-O-Tapu-TW.jpg
  • Tour boats moor in the harbor of active volcanic island Nea Kameni, in the southern Aegean Sea, Greece. The town of Fira perches on 700-foot-high volcanic cliffs on Santorini Island to escape summer heat and pirates of the past. Geologic and human history of Santorini: Humans first arrived around 3000 BC on this volcano known in ancient times as Thira (or Thera). The island was a volcanic cone with a circular shoreline until 1646 BC, when one of earths most violent explosions blasted ash all over the Mediterranean, sunk the center of the island, launched tidal waves, and may have ruined the Minoan civilization 70 miles away on Crete. Remarkably, volcanic ash dumped onto the volcanos flanks actually preserved the village of Akrotiri and its 3600-year-old frescoes from the Minoan era. These are some of the earliest known examples of world art history, which you can now view in museums. In 286 BC, the volcano split off Thirasia (Little Thira) Island (to the West). The volcano began rebuilding, and in 197 BC the small center islet of Palia Kameni appeared. In 1707 CE, lava started forming Nea Kameni, the larger center island which erupted as recently as 1956 and caused a huge earthquake (7.8 on the Richter scale) which destroyed most of the houses in the towns of Fira and Oia. Fira and Oia have since been rebuilt as multi-level mazes of fascinating whitewashed architecture, attracting tourists from around the world. Published in "Sparks", the newsletter for the Museum of Science, Boston February/March 2006.
    01GRE-10-32_boats-Santorini.jpg
  • April 21, 2009: La Cumbre volcano erupts lava into the Pacific Ocean creating steam clouds and expanding Fernandina (Narborough) Island, in the Galápagos Islands, a province of Ecuador, South America. This eruption cycle started April 10, 2009 after 5 years of quiet. Fernandina Island was named in honor of King Ferdinand II of Aragon, who sponsored the voyage of Columbus. Fernandina is the youngest and westernmost island of the Galápagos archipelago, and has a maximum altitude of 1,494 metres (4,902 feet). In 1959, Ecuador declared 97% of the land area of the Galápagos Islands to be Galápagos National Park, which UNESCO registered as a World Heritage Site in 1978. Ecuador created the Galápagos Marine Reserve in 1998, which UNESCO appended in 2001.
    09ECU-3820_Galapagos.jpg
  • A geyser erupts on Fountain Paint Pot trail, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Yellowstone was the first national park in the world (1872), and UNESCO honored it as a World Heritage site in 1978.
    98AUG-04-22_Fountain-Paint-Pot-Trail...jpg
  • Angel Terrace, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Over thousands of years, Mammoth Hot Springs have built white travertine terraces. Algae and bacteria tint the travertine shades of brown, orange, red, and green. Terrace Mountain (including Minerva Terrace) at Mammoth Hot Springs is the largest known carbonate-depositing spring in the world. The Mammoth Hotel and Fort Yellowstone are built upon the old Hotel Terrace formation. Hot water from Norris Geyser Basin within the Yellowstone Caldera travels underground via a fault line through limestone and deposits calcium carbonate at Mammoth Hot Springs, outside of the active supervolcano’s caldera.
    04WY-0602.jpg
  • Palette Spring, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Over thousands of years, Mammoth Hot Springs have built white travertine terraces. Algae and bacteria tint the travertine shades of brown, orange, red, and green. Terrace Mountain (including Minerva Terrace) at Mammoth Hot Springs is the largest known carbonate-depositing spring in the world. The Mammoth Hotel and Fort Yellowstone are built upon the old Hotel Terrace formation. Hot water from Norris Geyser Basin within the Yellowstone Caldera travels underground via a fault line through limestone and deposits calcium carbonate at Mammoth Hot Springs, outside of the active supervolcano’s caldera.
    04WY-0576.jpg
  • Palette Spring, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Over thousands of years, Mammoth Hot Springs have built white travertine terraces. Algae and bacteria tint the travertine shades of brown, orange, red, and green. Terrace Mountain (including Minerva Terrace) at Mammoth Hot Springs is the largest known carbonate-depositing spring in the world. The Mammoth Hotel and Fort Yellowstone are built upon the old Hotel Terrace formation. Hot water from Norris Geyser Basin within the Yellowstone Caldera travels underground via a fault line through limestone and deposits calcium carbonate at Mammoth Hot Springs, outside of the active supervolcano’s caldera.
    04WY-0559.jpg
  • Palette Spring, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Over thousands of years, Mammoth Hot Springs have built white travertine terraces. Algae and bacteria tint the travertine shades of brown, orange, red, and green. Terrace Mountain (including Minerva Terrace) at Mammoth Hot Springs is the largest known carbonate-depositing spring in the world. The Mammoth Hotel and Fort Yellowstone are built upon the old Hotel Terrace formation. Hot water from Norris Geyser Basin within the Yellowstone Caldera travels underground via a fault line through limestone and deposits calcium carbonate at Mammoth Hot Springs, outside of the active supervolcano’s caldera.
    04WY-0556.jpg
  • Palette Spring, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Over thousands of years, Mammoth Hot Springs have built white travertine terraces. Algae and bacteria tint the travertine shades of brown, orange, red, and green. Terrace Mountain (including Minerva Terrace) at Mammoth Hot Springs is the largest known carbonate-depositing spring in the world. The Mammoth Hotel and Fort Yellowstone are built upon the old Hotel Terrace formation. Hot water from Norris Geyser Basin within the Yellowstone Caldera travels underground via a fault line through limestone and deposits calcium carbonate at Mammoth Hot Springs, outside of the active supervolcano’s caldera. Yellowstone was the first national park in the world (1872), and UNESCO honored it as a World Heritage site in 1978. Published in "Light Travel: Photography on the Go" book by Tom Dempsey 2009, 2010.
    04WY-0551.jpg
  • 2004 photo: Morning Glory Pool is a hot spring in the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Microbial mats of thermophilic (heat-loving) cyano-bacteria and algae color the pool brown, yellow, and green. The pool's center lacks the high temperature pure blue water seen in previous decades. Its glory has faded as objects tossed in by vandals have blocked hot water inlets. The rising groundwater of Morning Glory Pool is heated by a hotspot of light, hot, molten mantle rock near the surface. 640,000 years ago, a supereruption of the Yellowstone Supervolcano created the Yellowstone Caldera which measures 34 miles (55 km) by 45 miles (72 km). Any time in the next few hundred millennia, the active volcano of Yellowstone could cause vast destruction in North America and modify world climate. Yellowstone was the first national park in the world (1872), and UNESCO honored it as a World Heritage site in 1978.
    04WY-0228.jpg
  • The famous cone geyser of Old Faithful erupts in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Old Faithful shoots up to 185 feet high, averaging 145 feet high, about every 90 minutes. Old Faithful is powered by boiling groundwater heated by a hotspot of light, hot, molten mantle rock near the surface. 640,000 years ago, a supereruption of the Yellowstone Supervolcano created the Yellowstone Caldera which measures 34 miles (55 km) by 45 miles (72 km). Any time in the next few hundred millennia, the active volcano of Yellowstone threatens vast destruction in North America and modification of world climate. Yellowstone was the first national park in the world (1872), and UNESCO honored it as a World Heritage site in 1978.
    04WY-0179_Old-Faithful.jpg
  • Colorful microbial mats coat terraces of Grand Prismatic Spring in Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Grand Prismatic is the largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world, next to those in New Zealand. Microbial mats of thermophilic (heat-loving) cyano-bacteria and algae thrive here. Yellow, orange, and red pigments are produced by the bacteria as a natural sunscreen. Orange, red, and brown algal mats grow along edges of  effluent hot water. Summer mats tend to be orange and red, whereas winter mats become dark green. Yellowstone was the first national park in the world (1872), and UNESCO honored it as a World Heritage site in 1978.
    04WY-0113_Yellowstone-NP.jpg
  • Colorful microbial mats coat terraces of Grand Prismatic Spring in Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Grand Prismatic is the largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world, next to those in New Zealand. The sterile blue water in the pool’s center is too hot to support life (87 degrees Centigrade or 188 F). Pure water selectively absorbs red wavelengths of visible light, making the center deep blue. But in cooler water along the edges, microbial mats of thermophilic (heat-loving) cyano-bacteria and algae thrive. Yellow, orange, and red pigments are produced by the bacteria as a natural sunscreen. As a result, the pool displays a spectrum of colors from the bright blue water of the center to the orange, red, and brown algal mats along the edges. Summer mats tend to be orange and red, whereas winter mats become dark green. Yellowstone was the first national park in the world (1872), and UNESCO honored it as a World Heritage site in 1978.
    04WY-0081.jpg
  • Colorful microbial mats coat terraces of Grand Prismatic Spring in Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Grand Prismatic is the largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world, next to those in New Zealand. The sterile blue water in the pool’s center is too hot to support life (87 degrees Centigrade or 188 F). Pure water selectively absorbs red wavelengths of visible light, making the center deep blue. But in cooler water along the edges, microbial mats of thermophilic (heat-loving) cyano-bacteria and algae thrive. Yellow, orange, and red pigments are produced by the bacteria as a natural sunscreen. As a result, the pool displays a spectrum of colors from the bright blue water of the center to the orange, red, and brown algal mats along the edges. Summer mats tend to be orange and red, whereas winter mats become dark green. Yellowstone was the first national park in the world (1872), and UNESCO honored it as a World Heritage site in 1978.
    04WY-0043.jpg
  • Colorful microbial mats coat terraces of Grand Prismatic Spring in Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Grand Prismatic is the largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world, next to those in New Zealand. The sterile blue water in the pool’s center is too hot to support life (87 degrees Centigrade or 188 F). Pure water selectively absorbs red wavelengths of visible light, making the center deep blue. But in cooler water along the edges, microbial mats of thermophilic (heat-loving) cyano-bacteria and algae thrive. Yellow, orange, and red pigments are produced by the bacteria as a natural sunscreen. As a result, the pool displays a spectrum of colors from the bright blue water of the center to the orange, red, and brown algal mats along the edges. Summer mats tend to be orange and red, whereas winter mats become dark green. Yellowstone was the first national park in the world (1872), and UNESCO honored it as a World Heritage site in 1978.  Nine overlapping images were stitched to make this panorama.
    04WY-0031-39pan-Grand-Prismatic-Spri...jpg
  • Roiling green pools outgas in the Mud Volcano Area, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Yellowstone was established as the world's first national park in 1872 and was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage site in 1978.
    20.10US1-1039.jpg
  • The Mud Volcano bubbles boisteriously in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Yellowstone was established as the world's first national park in 1872 and was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage site in 1978.
    20.10US1-1037.jpg
  • Liard River Hot Springs Provincial Park, Alaska Highway, British Columbia, Canada. The Alaska Highway was built as a military road during World War II in just 9 months in 1942, to link existing airfields via Canada to the territory of Alaska. The ALCAN Highway (a military acronym for Alaska-Canada) opened to the public in 1948. It begins in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, and runs via Whitehorse, Yukon to Delta Junction, Alaska. The "Alaskan Highway" is comprised of British Columbia Highway 97, Yukon Highway 1 and Alaska Route 2. While the ALCAN measured 2700 kilometers (1700 mi) upon completion in 1942, by 2012 it was rerouted and shortened to 2232 km (1387 mi). Once legendary for being a rough, challenging drive, the highway is now paved over its entire length. Delta Junction, at the end of the highway, claims "Historic Milepost 1422" where the Alaska Highway meets the Richardson Highway, which continues 96 mi (155 km) to the city of Fairbanks at Historic Milepost 1520, often (but unofficially) regarded as the northern portion of the Alaska Highway (although its Mileposts are measured from Valdez).
    1906AK2-532.jpg
  • Algae mat patterns in Grand Prismatic Spring. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.
    1709US1-3879_Yellowstone-NP-WY.jpg
  • People wander the Grand Prismatic Spring boardwalk. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos.
    1709US1-3825-28-Pano_Yellowstone-NP-...jpg
  • Outflow from Excelsior Geyser Crater streams into the Firehole River under a sunburst, at Grand Prismatic Spring parking area. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos.
    1709US1-3811-13-Pano_Yellowstone-NP-...jpg
  • Mound Terrace above Minerva Terrace, Mammoth Hot Springs. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.
    1709US1-4599_Yellowstone-NP-WY.jpg
  • Mound Terrace boardwalks above Minerva Terrace, Mammoth Hot Springs. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos.
    1709US1-4581-92-Pano_Yellowstone-NP-...jpg
  • Mound Terrace above Minerva Terrace, Mammoth Hot Springs. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.
    1709US1-4594_Yellowstone-NP-WY.jpg
  • Mound Terrace above Minerva Terrace, Mammoth Hot Springs. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.
    1709US1-4578_Yellowstone-NP-WY.jpg
  • Canary Spring, Upper Terrace Drive, Mammoth Hot Springs. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.
    1709US1-4543_Yellowstone-NP-WY.jpg
  • Canary Spring, Upper Terrace Drive, Mammoth Hot Springs. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.
    1709US1-4519_Yellowstone-NP-WY.jpg
  • Porcelain Basin, Norris Geyser Basin. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.
    1709US1-4392_Yellowstone-NP-WY.jpg
  • Admire colorful microbial mats contrasting with turquoise water at Grand Prismatic Spring overlook in Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Starting from Fairy Falls Trailhead (OK5), walk 2 miles round trip to the Grand Prismatic Spring overlook, up a side trail. Grand Prismatic is the largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world, next to those in New Zealand. The sterile blue water in the pool’s center is too hot to support life (87 degrees Centigrade or 188 F). Pure water selectively absorbs red wavelengths of visible light, making the center deep blue. But in cooler water along the edges, microbial mats of thermophilic (heat-loving) cyano-bacteria and algae thrive. Yellow, orange, and red pigments are produced by the bacteria as a natural sunscreen. As a result, the pool displays a spectrum of colors from the bright blue water of the center to the orange, red, and brown algal mats along the edges. Summer mats tend to be orange and red, whereas winter mats become dark green. Yellowstone was the first national park in the world (1872), and UNESCO honored it as a World Heritage site in 1978. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos.
    1709US1-4013-16-Pano_Yellowstone-NP-...jpg
  • Admire colorful microbial mats contrasting with turquoise water at Grand Prismatic Spring overlook in Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Starting from Fairy Falls Trailhead (OK5), walk 2 miles round trip to the Grand Prismatic Spring overlook, up a side trail. Grand Prismatic is the largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world, next to those in New Zealand. The sterile blue water in the pool’s center is too hot to support life (87 degrees Centigrade or 188 F). Pure water selectively absorbs red wavelengths of visible light, making the center deep blue. But in cooler water along the edges, microbial mats of thermophilic (heat-loving) cyano-bacteria and algae thrive. Yellow, orange, and red pigments are produced by the bacteria as a natural sunscreen. As a result, the pool displays a spectrum of colors from the bright blue water of the center to the orange, red, and brown algal mats along the edges. Summer mats tend to be orange and red, whereas winter mats become dark green. Yellowstone was the first national park in the world (1872), and UNESCO honored it as a World Heritage site in 1978. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos.
    1709US1-3939-51-Pano_Yellowstone-NP-...jpg
  • Spattering mud at Fountain Paint Pots. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.
    1709US1-4129_Yellowstone-NP-WY.jpg
  • Bubbling mud at Fountain Paint Pots. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.
    1709US1-4100_Yellowstone-NP-WY.jpg
  • Magenta twilight over Halemaumau lava lake glowing in Kilauea. Halema'uma'u Crater is an active pit crater containing a steaming lava lake, within the much larger summit caldera of Kilauea in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island, Hawaii, USA. With its name meaning "house of the 'ama'u fern," Halemaumau is home to Pele, goddess of fire and volcanoes according to Hawaiian mythology. Established in 1916 and later expanded, the park (HVNP) encompasses two active volcanoes: Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, and Mauna Loa, the world's most massive shield volcano. The park portrays the birth of the Hawaiian Islands with dramatic volcanic landscapes, native flora and fauna, and glowing flowing lava. HVNP is honored as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve.
    1701HAW-2858.jpg
  • Volcanic ash drifts over evening visitors at Halema'uma'u Crater, an active pit crater containing a glowing, steaming lava lake, within the much larger summit caldera of Kilauea in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island, Hawaii, USA. With its name meaning "house of the 'ama'u fern," Halemaumau is home to Pele, goddess of fire and volcanoes according to Hawaiian mythology. Established in 1916 and later expanded, the park (HVNP) encompasses two active volcanoes: Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, and Mauna Loa, the world's most massive shield volcano. The park portrays the birth of the Hawaiian Islands with dramatic volcanic landscapes, native flora and fauna, and glowing flowing lava. HVNP is honored as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve.
    1701HAW-2873.jpg
  • Halema'uma'u Crater is an active pit crater containing a steaming lava lake, within the much larger summit caldera of Kilauea in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island, Hawaii, USA. With its name meaning "house of the ferns," Halemaumau is home to Pele, goddess of fire and volcanoes according to Hawaiian mythology. Established in 1916 and later expanded, the park (HVNP) encompasses two active volcanoes: Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, and Mauna Loa, the world's most massive shield volcano. The park portrays the birth of the Hawaiian Islands with dramatic volcanic landscapes, native flora and fauna, and glowing flowing lava. HVNP is honored as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve.
    1701HAW-2819.jpg
  • The walkable pit crater of Kilauea Iki (adjacent to the larger caldera of Kilauea) is still warm after last erupting in 1959, in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, on the Big Island, Hawaii, USA. Rainwater seeping into cracks contacts hot rock below forming steam which leaves white mineral residue above. Established in 1916 and later expanded, the park (HVNP) encompasses two active volcanoes: Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, and Mauna Loa, the world's most massive shield volcano. HVNP is honored as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping images.
    1701HAW-2709-11-Pano.jpg
  • The walkable pit crater of Kilauea Iki (adjacent to the larger caldera of Kilauea) is still warm after last erupting in 1959, in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, on the Big Island, Hawaii, USA. Established in 1916 and later expanded, the park (HVNP) encompasses two active volcanoes: Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, and Mauna Loa, the world's most massive shield volcano. HVNP is honored as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve.
    1701HAW-2282.jpg
  • The walkable pit crater of Kilauea Iki (adjacent to the larger caldera of Kilauea) is still warm after last erupting in 1959, in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, on the Big Island, Hawaii, USA. Established in 1916 and later expanded, the park (HVNP) encompasses two active volcanoes: Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, and Mauna Loa, the world's most massive shield volcano. HVNP is honored as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping images.
    1701HAW-2274-77-Pano.jpg
  • Sulphur Vents accumulate yellow crystals. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, on the Big Island, Hawaii, USA. Established in 1916 and later expanded, the park (HVNP) encompasses two active volcanoes: Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, and Mauna Loa, the world's most massive shield volcano. The park portrays the birth of the Hawaiian Islands with dramatic volcanic landscapes, native flora and fauna, and glowing flowing lava. Most recently erupted in 1984, Mauna Loa may have emerged above sea level about 400,000 years ago and has likely been erupting for at least 700,000 years. Measured from its base on the ocean floor, it rises over 33,000 ft, significantly greater than the elevation of Mount Everest above sea level. HVNP is honored as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve.
    1701HAW-2195.jpg
  • Glowing lava exits a lava tube, jets into the ocean, and explodes at Kamokuna, enlarging the Big Island, in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, just west of Kalapana, Hawaii, USA, on February 1, 2017. On Kilauea volcano's south flank, Pu'u O'o crater has been erupting continuously since 1983, making it the world's longest-lived rift-zone (flank) eruption of the last 200 years. The eruption has consumed 189 buildings and 8.7 miles of highway. Since 1987, the coastal highway has been closed, buried under lava up to 115 feet thick. After June 30, 2016, the County of Hawaii opened a section of the emergency road/Highway 130 to lava viewing (8 miles round trip, open 3pm-9pm), limiting vehicles to bicycles (rented at the roadblock in Kalapana for $15+ for 3 hours), local residents' cars, and emergency vehicles. See updates at: USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov and www.hawaiicounty.gov/lava-viewing/. Kilauea is between 300,000 and 600,000 years old and emerged above sea level about 100,000 years ago.
    1701HAW-3110.jpg
  • Glowing lava exits a lava tube, jets into the ocean, and explodes at Kamokuna, enlarging the Big Island, in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, just west of Kalapana, Hawaii, USA, on February 1, 2017. On Kilauea volcano's south flank, Pu'u O'o crater has been erupting continuously since 1983, making it the world's longest-lived rift-zone (flank) eruption of the last 200 years. The eruption has consumed 189 buildings and 8.7 miles of highway. Since 1987, the coastal highway has been closed, buried under lava up to 115 feet thick. After June 30, 2016, the County of Hawaii opened a section of the emergency road/Highway 130 to lava viewing (8 miles round trip, open 3pm-9pm), limiting vehicles to bicycles (rented at the roadblock in Kalapana for $15+ for 3 hours), local residents' cars, and emergency vehicles. See updates at: USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov and www.hawaiicounty.gov/lava-viewing/. Kilauea is between 300,000 and 600,000 years old and emerged above sea level about 100,000 years ago.
    1701HAW-3043.jpg
  • Glowing lava exits a lava tube, jets into the ocean, and explodes at Kamokuna, enlarging the Big Island, in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, just west of Kalapana, Hawaii, USA, on February 1, 2017. On Kilauea volcano's south flank, Pu'u O'o crater has been erupting continuously since 1983, making it the world's longest-lived rift-zone (flank) eruption of the last 200 years. The eruption has consumed 189 buildings and 8.7 miles of highway. Since 1987, the coastal highway has been closed, buried under lava up to 115 feet thick. After June 30, 2016, the County of Hawaii opened a section of the emergency road/Highway 130 to lava viewing (8 miles round trip, open 3pm-9pm), limiting vehicles to bicycles (rented at the roadblock in Kalapana for $15+ for 3 hours), local residents' cars, and emergency vehicles. See updates at: USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov and www.hawaiicounty.gov/lava-viewing/. Kilauea is between 300,000 and 600,000 years old and emerged above sea level about 100,000 years ago.
    1701HAW-3027.jpg
  • Glowing lava exits a lava tube, jets into the ocean, and explodes at Kamokuna, enlarging the Big Island, in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, just west of Kalapana, Hawaii, USA, on February 1, 2017. On Kilauea volcano's south flank, Pu'u O'o crater has been erupting continuously since 1983, making it the world's longest-lived rift-zone (flank) eruption of the last 200 years. The eruption has consumed 189 buildings and 8.7 miles of highway. Since 1987, the coastal highway has been closed, buried under lava up to 115 feet thick. After June 30, 2016, the County of Hawaii opened a section of the emergency road/Highway 130 to lava viewing (8 miles round trip, open 3pm-9pm), limiting vehicles to bicycles (rented at the roadblock in Kalapana for $15+ for 3 hours), local residents' cars, and emergency vehicles. See updates at: USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov and www.hawaiicounty.gov/lava-viewing/. Kilauea is between 300,000 and 600,000 years old and emerged above sea level about 100,000 years ago.
    1701HAW-3008.jpg
  • Lupine flowers bloom above beautiful Lake Quilotoa, Ecuador, South America. Quilotoa, a tourist site of growing popularity, is a scenic water-filled caldera that is the westernmost volcano in the Ecuadorian Andes. The 3 kilometers (2 mile) wide caldera (diameter about 9km) was formed by the collapse of this dacite volcano following a catastrophic VEI-6 eruption about 800 years ago, which produced pyroclastic flows and lahars that reached the Pacific Ocean, and spread an airborne deposit of volcanic ash throughout the northern Andes. The caldera has since accumulated a 250 meter (820 foot) deep crater lake, which has a greenish color from dissolved minerals. Fumaroles are found on the lake floor and hot springs occur on the eastern flank of the volcano. The route to the "summit" (the small town of Quilotoa) is generally traveled by hired truck or bus from the town of Zumbahua 17 km to the South. Lupinus is a genus in the pea family (also called the legume, bean, or pulse family, Latin name Fabaceae or Leguminosae). Published in "Light Travel: Photography on the Go" book by Tom Dempsey 2009, 2010. Panorama stitched from 3 overlapping images.
    09ECU-2807-09pan_Quilotoa.jpg
  • Colorful microbial mats coat terraces of Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park, Midway Geyser Basin, Wyoming, USA. Grand Prismatic is the largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world, next to those in New Zealand. The sterile blue water in the pool’s center is too hot to support life (87 degrees Centigrade or 188 F). Pure water selectively absorbs red wavelengths of visible light, making the center deep blue. But in cooler water along the edges, microbial mats of thermophilic (heat-loving) cyano-bacteria and algae thrive. Yellow, orange, and red pigments are produced by the bacteria as a natural sunscreen. As a result, the pool displays a spectrum of colors from the bright blue water of the center to the orange, red, and brown algal mats along the edges. Summer mats tend to be orange and red, whereas winter mats become dark green. Yellowstone was the first national park in the world (1872), and UNESCO honored it as a World Heritage site in 1978.
    98AUG-03-20_Grand-Prismatic-Spring-S...jpg
  • Angel Terrace, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Over thousands of years, Mammoth Hot Springs have built white travertine terraces. Algae and bacteria tint the travertine shades of brown, orange, red, and green. Terrace Mountain (including Minerva Terrace) at Mammoth Hot Springs is the largest known carbonate-depositing spring in the world. The Mammoth Hotel and Fort Yellowstone are built upon the old Hotel Terrace formation. Hot water from Norris Geyser Basin within the Yellowstone Caldera travels underground via a fault line through limestone and deposits calcium carbonate at Mammoth Hot Springs, outside of the active supervolcano’s caldera.
    04WY-0601.jpg
  • Orange Spring Mound, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Over thousands of years, Mammoth Hot Springs have built white travertine terraces. Algae and bacteria tint the travertine shades of brown, orange, red, and green. Terrace Mountain (including Minerva Terrace) at Mammoth Hot Springs is the largest known carbonate-depositing spring in the world. The Mammoth Hotel and Fort Yellowstone are built upon the old Hotel Terrace formation. Hot water from Norris Geyser Basin within the Yellowstone Caldera travels underground via a fault line through limestone and deposits calcium carbonate at Mammoth Hot Springs, outside of the active supervolcano’s caldera.
    04WY-0589.jpg
  • Palette Spring, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Over thousands of years, Mammoth Hot Springs have built white travertine terraces. Algae and bacteria tint the travertine shades of brown, orange, red, and green. Terrace Mountain (including Minerva Terrace) at Mammoth Hot Springs is the largest known carbonate-depositing spring in the world. The Mammoth Hotel and Fort Yellowstone are built upon the old Hotel Terrace formation. Hot water from Norris Geyser Basin within the Yellowstone Caldera travels underground via a fault line through limestone and deposits calcium carbonate at Mammoth Hot Springs, outside of the active supervolcano’s caldera. Yellowstone was the first national park in the world (1872), and UNESCO honored it as a World Heritage site in 1978.
    04WY-0560.jpg
  • Canary Spring steams at Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Over thousands of years, Mammoth Hot Springs have built white travertine terraces. Algae and bacteria tint the travertine shades of brown, orange, red, and green. Terrace Mountain (including Minerva Terrace) at Mammoth Hot Springs is the largest known carbonate-depositing spring in the world. The Mammoth Hotel and Fort Yellowstone are built upon the old Hotel Terrace formation. Hot water from Norris Geyser Basin within the Yellowstone Caldera travels underground via a fault line through limestone and deposits calcium carbonate at Mammoth Hot Springs, outside of the active supervolcano’s caldera. Yellowstone was the first national park in the world (1872), and UNESCO honored it as a World Heritage site in 1978.
    04WY-0530.jpg
  • Mineral deposits form the arches of Grotto Geyser in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Grotto Geyser is powered by boiling groundwater heated by a hotspot of light, hot, molten mantle rock near the surface. 640,000 years ago, a supereruption of the Yellowstone Supervolcano created the Yellowstone Caldera which measures 34 miles (55 km) by 45 miles (72 km). Any time in the next few hundred millennia, the active volcano of Yellowstone threatens vast destruction in North America and modification of world climate. Yellowstone was the first national park in the world (1872), and UNESCO honored it as a World Heritage site in 1978.
    04WY-0217_Grotto-Geyser.jpg
  • Colorful microbial mats coat terraces of Grand Prismatic Spring in Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Grand Prismatic is the largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world, next to those in New Zealand. The sterile blue water in the pool’s center is too hot to support life (87 degrees Centigrade or 188 F). Pure water selectively absorbs red wavelengths of visible light, making the center deep blue. But in cooler water along the edges, microbial mats of thermophilic (heat-loving) cyano-bacteria and algae thrive. Yellow, orange, and red pigments are produced by the bacteria as a natural sunscreen. As a result, the pool displays a spectrum of colors from the bright blue water of the center to the orange, red, and brown algal mats along the edges. Summer mats tend to be orange and red, whereas winter mats become dark green. Yellowstone was the first national park in the world (1872), and UNESCO honored it as a World Heritage site in 1978. Photo was published in "Light Travel: Photography on the Go" book by Tom Dempsey 2009, 2010.  Three overlapping images were stitched to make this panorama.
    04WY-0162-164pan-Grand-Prismatic-Spr...jpg
  • Colorful microbial mats coat terraces of Grand Prismatic Spring in Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Grand Prismatic is the largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world, next to those in New Zealand. The sterile blue water in the pool’s center is too hot to support life (87 degrees Centigrade or 188 F). Pure water selectively absorbs red wavelengths of visible light, making the center deep blue. But in cooler water along the edges, microbial mats of thermophilic (heat-loving) cyano-bacteria and algae thrive. Yellow, orange, and red pigments are produced by the bacteria as a natural sunscreen. As a result, the pool displays a spectrum of colors from the bright blue water of the center to the orange, red, and brown algal mats along the edges. Summer mats tend to be orange and red, whereas winter mats become dark green. Yellowstone was the first national park in the world (1872), and UNESCO honored it as a World Heritage site in 1978. Six overlapping images were stitched to make this panorama.
    04WY-0134-139pan_Grand-Prismatic-Spr...jpg
  • Colorful microbial mats coat terraces of Grand Prismatic Spring in Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Grand Prismatic is the largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world, next to those in New Zealand. The sterile blue water in the pool’s center is too hot to support life (87 degrees Centigrade or 188 F). Pure water selectively absorbs red wavelengths of visible light, making the center deep blue. But in cooler water along the edges, microbial mats of thermophilic (heat-loving) cyano-bacteria and algae thrive. Yellow, orange, and red pigments are produced by the bacteria as a natural sunscreen. As a result, the pool displays a spectrum of colors from the bright blue water of the center to the orange, red, and brown algal mats along the edges. Summer mats tend to be orange and red, whereas winter mats become dark green. Yellowstone was the first national park in the world (1872), and UNESCO honored it as a World Heritage site in 1978.
    04WY-0127.jpg
  • Colorful microbial mats coat terraces of Grand Prismatic Spring in Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Grand Prismatic is the largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world, next to those in New Zealand. The sterile blue water in the pool’s center is too hot to support life (87 degrees Centigrade or 188 F). Pure water selectively absorbs red wavelengths of visible light, making the center deep blue. But in cooler water along the edges, microbial mats of thermophilic (heat-loving) cyano-bacteria and algae thrive. Yellow, orange, and red pigments are produced by the bacteria as a natural sunscreen. As a result, the pool displays a spectrum of colors from the bright blue water of the center to the orange, red, and brown algal mats along the edges. Summer mats tend to be orange and red, whereas winter mats become dark green. Yellowstone was the first national park in the world (1872), and UNESCO honored it as a World Heritage site in 1978.
    04WY-0100.jpg
  • Colorful microbial mats coat terraces of Grand Prismatic Spring in Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Grand Prismatic is the largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world, next to those in New Zealand. The sterile blue water in the pool’s center is too hot to support life (87 degrees Centigrade or 188 F). Pure water selectively absorbs red wavelengths of visible light, making the center deep blue. But in cooler water along the edges, microbial mats of thermophilic (heat-loving) cyano-bacteria and algae thrive. Yellow, orange, and red pigments are produced by the bacteria as a natural sunscreen. As a result, the pool displays a spectrum of colors from the bright blue water of the center to the orange, red, and brown algal mats along the edges. Summer mats tend to be orange and red, whereas winter mats become dark green. Yellowstone was the first national park in the world (1872), and UNESCO honored it as a World Heritage site in 1978.
    04WY-0090.jpg
  • Colorful microbial mats coat terraces of Grand Prismatic Spring in Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Grand Prismatic is the largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world, next to those in New Zealand. The sterile blue water in the pool’s center is too hot to support life (87 degrees Centigrade or 188 F). Pure water selectively absorbs red wavelengths of visible light, making the center deep blue. But in cooler water along the edges, microbial mats of thermophilic (heat-loving) cyano-bacteria and algae thrive. Yellow, orange, and red pigments are produced by the bacteria as a natural sunscreen. As a result, the pool displays a spectrum of colors from the bright blue water of the center to the orange, red, and brown algal mats along the edges. Summer mats tend to be orange and red, whereas winter mats become dark green. Yellowstone was the first national park in the world (1872), and UNESCO honored it as a World Heritage site in 1978.
    04WY-0025.jpg
  • Admire colorful microbial mats contrasting with turquoise water at Grand Prismatic Spring overlook in Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Starting from Fairy Falls Trailhead (OK5), walk 2 miles round trip to the Grand Prismatic Spring overlook, up a side trail. Grand Prismatic is the largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world, next to those in New Zealand. The sterile blue water in the pool’s center is too hot to support life (87 degrees Centigrade or 188 F). Pure water selectively absorbs red wavelengths of visible light, making the center deep blue. But in cooler water along the edges, microbial mats of thermophilic (heat-loving) cyano-bacteria and algae thrive. Yellow, orange, and red pigments are produced by the bacteria as a natural sunscreen. As a result, the pool displays a spectrum of colors from the bright blue water of the center to the orange, red, and brown algal mats along the edges. Summer mats tend to be orange and red, whereas winter mats become dark green. Yellowstone was the first national park in the world (1872), and UNESCO honored it as a World Heritage site in 1978.
    1709US1-3937_Yellowstone-NP-WY.jpg
  • Mound Terrace above Minerva Terrace, Mammoth Hot Springs. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.
    1709US1-4602_Yellowstone-NP-WY.jpg
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