Critique Please Mammoth Hot Springs

[neuroanatomist]

1 thing though...it might be my crappy screen, but the whites in the ice don't seem to be truly white.

Might be because it's not ice? [A]



<div>

I took this picture at Mammoth Hot Springs on a trip to Yellowstone this summer.

It's mineral salts, so probably should not be snow-white...
</div>

[HDNitehawk]

<div>


It's mineral salts, so probably should not be snow-white...
</div>

Sheiky


If I understand right it is calcium carbonate that is pushed to the surface through limestone. The structue of the springs is continualy growing and changing and it has over taken this tree and others. It is also my understanding that the diffrent orange and brown colors in this photo, and other colers you see in formations at yellowstones springs and geysers, is the result of bacteria growing in the wet areas. The bacteria change color depending on how hot the water is. The orange you see in part of the picture is hotter than the brown in the lower areas, changing the color of the bacteria.


Thanks for the comments

[Sheiky]

<div>


It's mineral salts, so probably should not be snow-white...
</div>

True that, I thought it was normal ice. I saw the picture on another screen and my screen just is way too warm and has an annoying greenish hue about it.

If I understand right it is calcium carbonate that is pushed to the surface through limestone. The structue of the springs is continualy growing and changing and it has over taken this tree and others. It is also my understanding that the diffrent orange and brown colors in this photo, and other colers you see in formations at yellowstones springs and geysers, is the result of bacteria growing in the wet areas. The bacteria change color depending on how hot the water is. The orange you see in part of the picture is hotter than the brown in the lower areas, changing the color of the bacteria.

Thanks for the national geographic part [] I enjoy it.


Thanks guys

[neuroanatomist]

If I understand right it is calcium carbonate that is pushed to the surface through limestone. The structue of the springs is continualy growing and changing and it has over taken this tree and others. It is also my understanding that the diffrent orange and brown colors in this photo, and other colers you see in formations at yellowstones springs and geysers, is the result of bacteria growing in the wet areas. The bacteria change color depending on how hot the water is. The orange you see in part of the picture is hotter than the brown in the lower areas, changing the color of the bacteria.

Great info, thanks! Actually, a technique in nearly every biology lab (PCR) uses an enzyme first discovered in those thermophilic bacteria from Yellowstone hot springs...

[Alan]

Not trying to steal your thunder, HDNitehawk, but seeing your photo of the Mammoth Hot Springs reminded me of another place in Wyoming with these interesting formations. Located in Thermopolis, WY, it's the place with the largest hot springs in the world.


The formations are quite old. The one immediately below is about 100 years old. They call the deposits travertine. The town is mostly built around these tourist attractions. It smells heavily of sulfur dioxide and other volcanic-like gases.


[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/24/4743.travertine.jpg[/img]


[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/24/4532.thermopolis.jpg[/img]