Mudpots Area I

by Sharon Elliott

Title

Mudpots Area I

Artist

Sharon Elliott

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

Fountain Paint Pot Self-Guiding Trail
The easy boardwalk trail will give you a close-up look as all four kinds of Yellowstone’s geothermal features: mudpots, fumaroles, geysers, and hot springs. What is more, the small hill traversed by this trail will give you a wonderful glimpse into how different thermal features form. According to how close they are to available groundwater. At the foot of the small hill, water is abundant; at Silex Spring, for example water rises from the ground, pools, then overflows (Silex is the Latin word for silica). As you climb higher you will rise above the water table, where there exists only enough moisture to form mudpots. Here you see and hear the glop and gurgle of the Fountain Paint Pot. Go farther along the trail, climb a little higher still, and suddenly there are only steam vents, or fumaroles.
Mudpots occur in places where microorganisms help convert hydrogen sulfide, which rises from deep within the earth, into sulfuric acid. The acid dissolves surrounding rock into clay, which mixes with rising steam and groundwater to form mud of varying colors and consistencies.
Reference: Yellowstone: The Official Guide

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May 26th, 2014

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