Mud Volcano - Part I

North of the Lake district along the road to Canyon Village you'll find Mud Volcano.  It isn't the largest hydrothermal area in Yellowstone, but it definitely has some interesting features.

Explosive Episodes
The word "volcano" is more than the name of an explosive feature here.  Its significance goes much deeper.  Yellowstone itself is a volcano...[after one] eruption, the land collapsed and left a large depression in the earth--the Yellowstone Caldera.  This caldera filled with lava, creating the volcanic plateau that comprises much of the central part of the park. 

Here at Mud Volcano you are close to one of the major vents from which the lava flowed.  The areas surrounding this and the other major vent near Old Faithful remain active and are known as resurgent domes--the hills you see east of hear comprise Sour Creek Dome.  Scientists monitor these domes closely for information about future volcanic activity. 

Not surprisingly, many of the park's geysers, hot springs, mudpots, and fumaroles are also found near or within the caldera.
--from NPS pamphlet, Mud Volcano Trail Guide

Right next to the parking lot you can see Mud Caldron.  According to the guide the bubbling is caused by rising carbon dioxide and other gasses--not boiling water.

Next the path heads past Mud Geyser and up the hill.

We walked past Cooking Hillside next.  There are quite a few dead trees on the slopes from the late 70s after a number of earthquakes struck and "[s]oil temperatures increased to nearly 200 F."  Apparently with the ground so hot it was actually steaming as the trees died.

Sizzling basin is just up the hill, and right beside it flows a trail of hot water running from many of the hill's geothermal features.

Churning Caldron is just up the hill.  According to the guide it was a fairly cool spring covered with colorful mats of microorganisms" until the 1978-9 earthquake.  Now it is truly churning.  You can see the waves being generated in this picture--look on the right hand side of the pool.

Or watch this video to actually see them moving.


Here you can see the center of the disturbance.

And except for the interruptions as I foolishly took pictures mid-video you can see all of the roiling in live action in this video.


Next we saw Sour Lake which was "named for its acidi or 'sour' water."  As the guide notes it may look like a pleasant place to swim, but only if you want to experience what swimming in battery acid would be like.

This video shows you the whole breadth of the lake, and it does really look like an inviting swimming hole...


There were more features, but not quite enough room to cover them now.  Look for more about Black Dragon's Caldron and more in the next blog!

~Matt