Friday, November 13, 2015

UPPER TERRACE OR MAMMOTH HOT SPRING- YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

Mammoth Hot Springs is a large complex of hot springs on a hill of travertine ( limestone deposit)
at Yellow Stone National Park . It is one of the world's best examples of travertine-depositing hot 
springs. Limestone is the dominant underlying rock here instead of rhyolite (silica rich rock), which
 is dominant in park's other major  hydrothermal areas. This hotspring is located adjacent to Fort
Yellowstone and  Mammoth Hot springs Historic district. Fort Yellowstone was established for
military purpose while Yellowstone park was under the control of military during 1886-1918. 

Mammoth Hot Spring also known as White Mountain hot spring lies outside the caldera boundary.
 This natural sculpture  was created over thousands of years as  hot water from the  spring cooled
and  deposited  calcium carbonate on the surface. When hot water rises through limestone, large
quantities of rock get dissolved and a white chalky mineral is deposited on the surface. Mammoth hot
 spring gets its energy from the same magmatic system that fuels other Yellowstone geothermal areas.
The entrance to the Upper Terrace Drive is two miles (3.2 km) south of  the Albright Visitor Center
on the Grand Loop Road.  This road  provide access to Mammoth Hot spring, Upper, Midway and
Lower geysers basin,  Tower fall, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and  lake Yellowstone. Grand
Loop road Historic district encompasses the primary road  system in Yellowstone national park.
This    scenic drive winds for 230 km among hot springs and travertine formations.

There are  two terraces here. Lower Terrace can be reached from boardwalks at their base or from
the Upper Terrace Drive. Lower terrace area is comprised of  Opal terrace, Liberty Cap, Palette
Spring, Minerva Terrace, Cleopatra Terrace, Jupiter Terrace, Main terrace and Canary Spring.
 Upper loop  area has more incredible areas which include  Prospect Terrace, New highland terrace,
 Orange  Spring  mound, Bath lake, White Elephant Back Terrace and Angel Terrace. 
 Liberty cap is an unusual inactive hot spring at Yellowstone National Park. This 37-foot (11-m)
 cone marks the northern portion of Mammoth Hot Springs.  It received its name from the  1871 
expedition  team  by the Hayden Survey party because of its marked resemblance to the peaked caps
 worn by colonial patriots during the French Revolution. This unusual formation was created by a hot
 spring  whose plumbing remained open  in one location for a long time. Its internal pressure was 
sufficient to raise the water to a great height, allowing mineral deposits to build continuously for
 perhaps hundreds of years.

Opal Terrace of Lower terrace area received its name when it was a small spring with opal colors.
 The terrace was created by mineral laden hot water flowing through steep landscape and depositing
 minerals as step-like platforms. It was dormant until 1926  when it began to flow again and began
depositing up to one  foot (0.3m) of travertine per year. Opal Terrace, mainly composed of calcium
 rich travertine, constantly change its activity, shape and color 
The  Palette Spring is another attraction at Lower terrace, where water flows from a flat area and then
 down a steep  ridge, creating a colorful hillside palette of brown, green, and orange (the colors are
due to the presence of different heat-tolerant bacteria). This effect is much the same as an artist would
 achieve by allowing wet paint to run down a vertical surface.
With its wide range of bright colors and ornate travertine formation, Minerva Terrace and spring is
considered as the most  favorite attraction  at Mammoth hot spring. For several years in the
 early  1900's, it was completely dry. But by 1951 reports state that Minerva was again active.During
 some  cycles of activity, water discharge and mineral deposition have been so great that boardwalks
 have  been buried beneath mounds of newly deposited travertine. Consequently, an elevated and
movable boardwalk now spans the hill in the vicinity of Minerva of Lower Terrace.
This  dynamic hydro thermal area constantly changes its  features. Due to confusion related to the
intermittent nature of many of the springs in the Mammoth Area, the name Cleopatra Spring/Terrace
 has been given to at least three different springs over the years. As  the confusion developed the
original Cleopatra Spring came to be called Minerva Spring
There are approximately 50 hot springs in the Mammoth Hot Springs area. Jupiter Terrace of Lower
 terrace area  displays cycles of activity. In the 1980s Jupiter Terrace flowed so heavily that it
 overtook boardwalks several times.  It has been dry since 1992, but when active, its color and 
intricate terraces make Jupiter an appealing spring.
Main terrace  is constantly changing as new springs show up and others become inactive. Bunsen
 Peak,Terrace Mountain and Clagette Butte are the main peaks adjacent to Mammoth Hot spring
terrace. Some sections of boardwalk are wheelchair-accessible; the rest of the area has stairs or steep
 grades due to  the terrain .
 Canary spring at the lower terrace loop is named for its bright yellow color, Canary owes its
brilliance to sulfur dependent filamentous bacteria. The colors blend here in delicate tints on the
creamy rock face.

Bacteria and algae create the streaks of color seen at Mammoth hot spring terraces. Blue-green algae
 and cyano bacteria, in colors of green, yellow, orange and red, line the terrace run-off channels.
Cyno bacteria, flow of water, temperature and minerals decide the color and shape of terraces here.
There are many  unnamed springs and pools exist at Upper terrace area. Many trees seen here  on the
 hillside was engulfed by travertine and now stand as skeletons.  Many of the thermal features at
 Mammoth hot spring  changes from season to season depending on water flow  and temperature.
One can also find many other infamous terraces and springs like Angel springs, Aphrodite terrace,
 Baby terrace, Bath lake, Blue spring, Cavern terrace, Cedar tree spring, Cheops Mound, Dedolph
 springs, Devil's kitchen  spring and thumbs, Fan spring, Fissure ridge, Gelen spring at Mammoth Hot
 Springs. These individually named and unnamed features enriches the Mammoth hot spring area.
Due to the soft nature of limestone, travertine formations  grow much more rapidly  than the more
common sinter formations in the park. Due to the rapid deposition, these features constantly and
quickly change. Years of observation of the hot spring activity at Mammoth indicate that while
change is ongoing  and sometimes takes place literally overnight, the overall level of activity and
 water discharge has remained relatively constant throughout the decades. 
The Mammoth Terraces extend all the way from the hillside, across the Parade Ground, and down to
 Boiling River. Terrace Mountain at Mammoth Hot Springs is the largest known carbonate-depositing
 spring in the world. Maximum water temperature measured here is 163°F/73°C. For hundreds of
years, Shoshone and Bannock people collected minerals from Mammoth Hot Springs for white paint.
The volcanic heat source for Mammoth Hot Springs remains somewhat of a mystery. Scientists have
 proposed a number of sources, including the large magma chamber underlying the Yellowstone 
Caldera, or perhaps a smaller heat source closer to Mammoth. At Mammoth, a network of fractures 
and fissures form the plumbing system that allows hot water from underground to reach the surface. 
The water sources are  rain and snow falling on the surrounding mountains and seeping deep into the
 earth where it is heated. Small earthquakes may keep the plumbing open.
As the name suggest, Mammoth hot spring is very huge and gigantic with formations resembling
frozen waterfall .The minerals and bacteria contribute to  the beautiful terrace structures, along with
heat, natural plumbing system, water, and limestone. The Mammoth village area also contain several
thermal kames including Capitol Hill and Dude Hill.
Limestone was deposited here millions of years ago when a vast sea covered this area. Hot water with
 dissolved carbon dioxide makes a solution of weak carbonic acid. As the  solution rises through rock,
 it dissolves calcium carbonate, the primary compound in limestone. At the surface, the calcium
 carbonate is deposited in the form of travertine (rock) that  forms the terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs.
The Mammoth area exhibits much evidence of glacial activity from the  Pinedale glaciation . The
Pinedale (central Rocky Mountains) or Fraser (Cordilleran ice sheet) glaciation was the last of the
 major glaciations to appear in the Rocky Mountian in the United States. The Pinedale lasted from
 approximately 30,000 to 10,000 years ago .The summit of Terrace Mountain is covered with glacial
 till , thereby dating the travertine formation there  to earlier than the end of the Pinedale Glaciation.
The 2,990 feet Mt. Everts, seen at a distance borders the Mammoth hot spring. This mountain is
made up of distinctly layered sandstones and shales-sedimentary rocks which were deposited when
 this area was covered by a shallow inland sea around 70 to 140 million years ago.The majority of
Mt.Everts is  made of Cretaceous era sediments. Nearby is situated  the Washburn range made of
volcanic mud flow. The Washburn Range is  one of two mountains ranges completely within the
boundaries of Yellowstone.One of three  active  fire lookout towers in Yellowstone is located on the
  summit of Wash burn range while the  remaining two are placed on Mt. Holmes, and Mt. Sheridan.


Camera : Canon T5