Epic Nature Judy Lehmberg | Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park @JudyLehmbergEpicNature | Uploaded November 2019 | Updated October 2024, 19 hours ago.
The water emerging from Mammoth Hot Springs comes from Norris Geyser Basin. It follows a fault line that roughly follows the road from Norris to Mammoth. About 95% of the water emerging from Mammoth Hot Springs originated as rain and snow, not from underground magmas. We know this because the hydrogen and oxygen isotopes are distinctive of rain and snow, not water from deep in the earth. As the water moves along the fault line from Norris to Mammoth it is heated by partially molten magma and becomes saturated with calcium carbonate. Once it is released in the various springs at Mammoth it forms travertine, a mineral high in calcium carbonate with other impurities that result in various colors. It is estimated that the amount of Mammoth travertine deposited each year is between 2.8 to 56.5 cm per year, roughly between 1 and 24 inches each year.
Mammoth Hot Springs began releasing hot water in the late Pleistocene and continues to this day. To give that some perspective the Hoodoos, south of Mammoth, are the travertine remnants of a former “Mammoth” that has been dated at around 65,000 years old. The USGS did core sampling of Mammoth in the 1960s and found the travertine is at least 113 meters, 368 feet, deep.
#yellowstonenationalpark #yellowstonepark #hotspring
To see more of the almost 200 wildlife videos on my channel please visit: youtube.com/c/JudyLehmbergEpicNature
To license footage please contact me at: judy@judylehmberg.com.
The water emerging from Mammoth Hot Springs comes from Norris Geyser Basin. It follows a fault line that roughly follows the road from Norris to Mammoth. About 95% of the water emerging from Mammoth Hot Springs originated as rain and snow, not from underground magmas. We know this because the hydrogen and oxygen isotopes are distinctive of rain and snow, not water from deep in the earth. As the water moves along the fault line from Norris to Mammoth it is heated by partially molten magma and becomes saturated with calcium carbonate. Once it is released in the various springs at Mammoth it forms travertine, a mineral high in calcium carbonate with other impurities that result in various colors. It is estimated that the amount of Mammoth travertine deposited each year is between 2.8 to 56.5 cm per year, roughly between 1 and 24 inches each year.
Mammoth Hot Springs began releasing hot water in the late Pleistocene and continues to this day. To give that some perspective the Hoodoos, south of Mammoth, are the travertine remnants of a former “Mammoth” that has been dated at around 65,000 years old. The USGS did core sampling of Mammoth in the 1960s and found the travertine is at least 113 meters, 368 feet, deep.
#yellowstonenationalpark #yellowstonepark #hotspring
To see more of the almost 200 wildlife videos on my channel please visit: youtube.com/c/JudyLehmbergEpicNature
To license footage please contact me at: judy@judylehmberg.com.
