“No human architect ever designed such intricate fountains as these.
The water trickles over the edges from one to another
blending them together with the effect of a frozen waterfall.”
Marveled one early park visitor upon seeing Mammoth Hot Springs.
Mammoth Hot Springs is the only major thermal area located outside the Yellowstone Caldera.
The difference between Mammoth and the other hot springs in the park is that it is formed when water flows through (softer) limestone, instead of the (harder) volcanic rhyolite rock.
The limestone is from an ancient inland sea once occupied the area. The thermal water is fed from Norris Geyser Basin via an underground fault line. As water and gas travel through cracks and fissures on their way to the surface, large amount of calcium carbonate (dissolved limestone) is carried out and deposited, forming white travertine.
Heat-loving bacteria and algae thrive in this environment, give the terrace its orange-brownish tint.
Depends on the season, you may see wild flowers
and little birds
feeding on insects in the run-off channels, calling “killdeer, killdeer“.
Speaking of “deer”……
Elks are aplenty lounging on lawns in the nearby Fort Yellowstone. Watch out for poops.
This concludes our fourth day in the Yellowstone National Park.
Next up, Wildlife Watching in Yellowstone