Archive of Features About the Yellowstone Volcanic System

The Fall 2006 issue of Yellowstone Science includes two articles on the Norris Geyser Basin. The first article (downloadable pdf is 1380KB), by Yellowstone National Park geologist Cheryl Jaworowski and co-authors, relates how natural fractures are a crucial control on the distribution and behavior of thermal features at Norris. The second article (downloadable pdf is 700KB), by Geological Society of America intern David Shean, uses historical aerial photographs as a tool to detect changes in thermal activity at Norris. Both articles can be downloaded off the Yellowstone Science website.

Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO) has developed a monitoring plan for the period 2006-2015 to increase our ability to provide timely information during seismic, volcanic, and hydrothermal crises and to anticipate hazardous events before they occur. Upgrades to the monitoring network will provide high-quality data for scientific study and interpretation of one of the largest active volcanic systems in the world. Equipment additions and upgrades will bring the seismic network up to modern standards and add stations in areas that lack adequate station coverage. Borehole strainmeters and tiltmeters will be added to measure crustal movements and stream gages and gas-measuring instruments will allow YVO to compare geophysical phenomena, such as earthquakes and ground motions, to hydrothermal events, such as anomalous water and gas discharge. Please see the Volcano and Earthquake Monitoring Plan for the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, 2006-2015 for more information.

Images from the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory photogallery are now available as a kml file! To check out the images in their geographic locations, download the kml file and click on it to open it in Google Earth. If you do not already have a copy of Google Earth, visit http://earth.google.com/ to download a copy. Thanks to John Bailey of the Alaska Volcano Observatory & Arctic Region Supercomputing Center for creating the file.

YVO coordinating scientists Jacob Lowenstern and Robert Smith together with Long Valley Scientist-in-Charge David Hill recently published an article, Monitoring super-volcanoes: geophysical and geochemical signals at Yellowstone and other large caldera systems", that summarizes current knowledge about monitoring geological unrest at large calderas such as Yellowstone. The article is part of a group of papers that formed a Discussion Meeting on Extreme Natural Hazards organized through the Royal Society in October 2005. For more information about other papers from the meeting, please see the Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A Web site.

The American Museum of Natural History joined Yellowstone Volcano Observatory scientists in the field last September (2005) and have just posted a video, articles, and two interactive slide shows about the geology of the area. The video, Yellowstone: Monitoring the Fire Below includes interviews with Jake Lowenstern, YVO's Scientist-in-Charge, Hank Heasler, YVO Coordinating Scientist and Yellowstone Park Geologist, and USGS geologist Lisa Morgan. The articles, Yellowstone National Park is a Volcano and Signs of Restlessness expand on the information in the video whereas the article, Volcanic Witness: An Interview with Bob Smith provides information from Bob Smith's, YVO's Coordinating Scientist from the University of Utah, four decades of work on Yellowstone. For more information and to view the video, please see American Museum of Natural History Science Bulletins, Yellowstone: Monitoring the Fire Below.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is adopting a common system nationwide for characterizing the level of unrest and eruptive activity at volcanoes. YVO is the first volcano observatory to implement the new standard alert-level system. Our Monthly Updates, Status Reports, and Information Releases will now include both an alert level and an aviation color code. Yellowstone is currently at the alert level, NORMAL (Typical background activity of a volcano in a non-eruptive state), and Aviation Color Code GREEN (Volcano is in normal, non-eruptive state.). For more information, please see the article on the Volcano Hazards Website "USGS to Adopt a Common Alert-Level System to Inform Public of Volcanic Activity at U.S. Volcanoes".

This March 2006, the journal Nature published a paper by YVO scientist Charles Wicks and colleagues about a period of uplift in the northern part of the Yellowstone caldera. For more information about the recent findings, please see Satellite Technologies Detect Uplift in the Yellowstone Caldera.

A new website devoted to Yellowstone geologic data has just been launched by YVO coordinating scientist Bob Smith and University of Utah graduate student Jamie Farrell, with support from the National Science Foundation's GEON program. The site provides a variety of maps, figures and GIS (geographic information system) datasets of interest to both scientists and the general public.

The June 2005 issue of Geotimes magazine includes an article by YVO Scientist-in-Charge Jake Lowenstern. The article, Truth, fiction and everything in between at Yellowstone, presents Lowenstern's views on public and media interest in Yellowstone and its volcanic potential.

On April 29, 2005, The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) released the first ever comprehensive and systematic review of all 169 volcanoes in the United States. The report, An Assessment of Volcanic Threat and Monitoring Capabilities in the United States: Framework for a National Volcano Early Warning System, establishes a framework for a National Volcano Early Warning System (NVEWS), "which calls for a 24-hour seven-day-a-week Volcano Watch Office and enhanced instrumentation and monitoring at targeted volcanoes". Each of the 169 volcanoes were divided into five threat groups: Very High, High, Moderate, Low, and Very Low. The USGS press release on NVEWS summarizes the 37 volcanoes in the Very High threat group and mentions an additional 21 under-monitored volcanoes. Yellowstone is one of the 21 under-monitored volcanoes in the High threat group. This does not mean that the geologic conditions at Yellowstone have changed. The activity at Yellowstone remains consistent with historical levels.

BBC and the Discovery Channel produced a new docudrama and documentary about Yellowstone. For more information on the docudrama and documentary see our docudrama question and answer page.

Yellowstone has experienced several giant volcanic eruptions in the past few million years, as well as many smaller eruptions and steam explosions. To improve our understanding of the volcanic, seismic, and hydrothermal hazards, scientists study and monitor activity at Yellowstone. Check out our new fact sheet that describes Yellowstone's past and potential future activity.

In April 2004 there was an increase in earthquake activity, called a swarm, at Yellowstone National Park that drew interest from scientists and the public. Swarms can occur on volcanoes or in tectonically active areas. There have been many swarms recorded over the past 40 years at Yellowstone. For more information see the Earthquake Swarms at Yellowstone article.

Over the past ten years scientists have been applying new satellite-based surveying techniques to monitor changes in the land surface elevation within Yellowstone Caldera. These new measurements add to monitoring data collected over the past 25 years and help increase our understanding of the slow up and down ground movements of the Yellowstone caldera above the subterranean magma and hydrothermal systems. For more information see the Tracking Changes in Yellowstone's Restless Volcanic System fact sheet.

On August 2, 2004, a new boardwalk opened in the Norris Geyser Basin. The new route reopened access through the Back Basin area.

On March 10, 2004, Yellowstone Park biologists discovered 5 dead bison along the Gibbon River near Norris geyser basin. The bison appeared to have died about one week earlier due to inhalation of toxic geothermal gases. The gases, most probably CO₂ and/or H₂S, likely accumulated in a low area due to very cold windless conditions. Though such events are rare, over the Park's 132-year history similar animal kills have occurred several times. Visitors can safely view Yellowstone's thermal areas by staying on designated trails and boardwalks.

In 2003, articles in the press reported a "bulge" beneathYellowstone Lake that generated some concern about possible dangers for residents or visitors to the area. Click herefor answers to some of the questions we were asked by the public and press.

There were were notable changes in thermal activity at Norris Geyser Basin in 2003. These changesresulted in the closure of the Back Basin Trail and temporarydeployment of a monitoring network by YVO. Learn more.

On October 9, 2003, portions of Norris Geyser Basin reopened to the public. Read the National Park ServiceNews Release.