Yellowstone National Park - Norris Geyser Basin
Read More"This hillside is venting. Escaping sulfuric acid, gasses, and steam create a barren and very dangerous landscape called a 'solfatara'. Scalding mud and steam are often barely covered by crumbling, decomposing rock. Unlike other geothermal features, a solfatara's high concentration of sulfuric acid breaks down the surrounding rock making a confined 'plumbing system' unlikely so that the gasses and steam emerge less dramatically." -- Trail Interpretive Sign
Norris Geyser Basin (Porcelain Basin)
Overlooking the Pocelain Basin from the upper portion of the 0.9-mile boardwalk which circles through it...
"The hottest of Yellowstone's geothermal features are fumeroles (steam vents). Fumeroles in Norris Geyser Basin have measured up to 280'F. A plentiful water supply would help cool these features, however, steam vents are usually found on hillsides or higher ground, above the basin's water supply. They rapidly boil away what little water they contain, releasing steam and other gases forcefully from underground." -- Trail Interpretive Sign
"The hottest of Yellowstone's geothermal features are fumeroles (steam vents). Fumeroles in Norris Geyser Basin have measured up to 280'F. A plentiful water supply would help cool these features, however, steam vents are usually found on hillsides or higher ground, above the basin's water supply. They rapidly boil away what little water they contain, releasing steam and other gases forcefully from underground." -- Trail Interpretive Sign
Norris Geyser Basin (Porcelain Basin)
Looking north across the basin with the fumerole area seen to the right and the sulfatara area in the distant center...
Norris Geyser Basin (Porcelain Basin)
Same as the previous photo, just a bit more panoramic...looking north across the basin with the fumerole area seen to the right and the sulfatara area in the distant center...