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THERMALFEATUREMEASURES
Upper Geyser Basin
Old Faithful Geyser
Height: 106 - 184 feet / 32 - 56 meters
Duration: 1.5 - 5 minutes
Interval: 90 minutes
Temperature: 204° F / 95° C
Discharge: 3,700 - 8,400 gallons
Beehive Geyser
Height: 150 - 200 feet / 46 - 61 meters
Duration: 4 - 5 minutes
Interval: unpredictable
Norris Geyser Basin
Steamboat Geyser (World’s Tallest!)
Height: 300 - 400 feet / 91 - 122 meters
Duration: 20 minutes (water)
3 - 12 hours (steam)
Interval: unpredicatable
Echinus Geyser
Height: 50 - 100 feet / 15 - 30 meters
Duration: 12 minutes - 1 hour
Interval: unpredicatble
Lower Geyser Basin
Clepsydra Geyser
Height: 10 - 40 feet / 3 - 12 meters
Duration: nearly continuous
Fountain Geyser
Height: 50 - 90 feet / 15 - 27 meters
Duration: 20 - 35 minutes
Interval: 5.5 - 11 hours
Firehole Lake Drive
Great Fountain Geyser
Height: 100 - 230 feet / 30 - 70 meters
Duration: 30 - 90 minutes
Interval: 9 - 16 hours
White Dome Geyser
Height: 30 feet / 9 meters
Duration: 2 minutes
Interval: 9 minutes - hours
Pink Cone Geyser
Height: 20 feet / 6 mteres
Duration: 2 hours
Interval: 13 - 17 hours
WHAT ARE THOSE COLORS?
The vivid colors are the result of pigmented
bacteria in the microbial mats that grow around
the edges of the mineral-rich water. The bacteria
produce multiple colors; the amount of color in the
microbial mats depends on the ratio of chlorophyll
to carotenoids and on the temperature of thewater
which favors one bacterium over another.
Mammoth Hot Springs
Characteristics
• Underlain by ancient limestone deposits
• Water rich in calcium and sulphur
Thermophiles by Color
• Orange - Chloroflexus and cyanobacteria
in summer
• Green - Chloroflexus and cyanobacteria in
winter. Chlorobium in cooler water
• Cream - Filamentous bacteria
Norris Geyser Basin and Mud Volcano Area
Characteristics
• Underlain by rhyolite rock
Thermophiles by Color
• Pink-pinkish-orange mats and streamers -
Thermus aquaticus and other Thermus sp
• Green streamers and mats - Cyanidium
• Orange - Iron and/or arsenic, perhaps oxidized
by thermophiles
• Gray, muddy pools - Sulfolobus
Upper, Middle, and Lower Geyser Basins and
West Thumb Geyser Basin
Characteristics
• Underlain by rhyolite rock
• Water rich in silica, which forms sinter and
geyserite deposits
Thermophiles by Color
• Pink, yellow, orange, gray filaments -
Thermocrinis bacteria
• Orange mats - Cyanobacteria, especially on
sunny summer days (carotenoids protect the
organisms from the bright sun)
• Olive-green mats - Cyanobacteria mixed
with iron
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Thermal Features In Yellowstone