The days of valuing a bear in the American West by its pelt or claws are long gone, but bears still hold economic value to humans. Simply seeing one in the wild is a life-changing moment for many, and bear sightings are a key reason for tourism in wilderness areas like Yellowstone National Park.

Now, a conducted in part by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has put a price tag on bear sightings in Yellowstone. Economists found each grizzly bear sighting is worth about $16, while a back bear is worth approximately $14. Across all visitors every year, grizzly bears and black bears generate roughly $6.9 million and $9.7 million, respectively.

The USGS explains that the study arose from a desire to understand the complex balance of costs and benefits that makes management of high-profile animals, such as bears, so complicated.

鈥淥n one hand, some species inflict costs on humans through conflicts like property damages, livestock depredations, and injuries,鈥� writes the USGS in an accompanying . 鈥淥n the other hand, the same species can generate immense value to society: people like viewing wildlife and benefit from wildlife contributions to ecosystem health.鈥�

As keystone species, bears are vital for a strong ecosystem, playing crucial roles in seed dispersal, species management, and soil enrichment. The apex predator, as any regular reader of 翱耻迟蝉颈诲别鈥檚 bear coverage will recall, also presents a danger to humans.

Understanding the economic value of species like grizzly bears helps inform wildlife management policies, allowing managers to more easily 鈥渃ompare costs and benefits in an apples-to-apples way,鈥� says the USGS. If a proposed policy would result in a significant change in the number of animals in the wild, how would humans be impacted? Would the benefits outweigh the costs?

For something like livestock, which has a clear market value, economic valuation is easy. For a bear, it鈥檚 more complex.

鈥淕oods and services that don’t have market prices tend to be undervalued, potentially even ignored altogether in things like benefit-cost analysis,鈥� said Aaron Enriquez, USGS research economist and study co-author, in the report.

Enriquez and Leslie Richardson, a research economist from the National Park Service, examined data from visitor surveys in Yellowstone. They took into account the values of experiences such as wildlife viewing trips, individual animal sightings, and the total number of sightings over the course of a year.

Enriquez noted that this number is just one slice of the pie.

鈥淲hat we’ve done is tried to quantify just one small piece of the total economic value of bears, by estimating a `use鈥� value from bear sightings,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he entire total value of bears would be higher, especially if one accounted for 鈥榥on-use鈥� values like existence value. As more types of values get filled in over time, we鈥檒l continue to have a better picture of how much society benefits from bears.鈥�

The idea of holistically calculating the economic value of a given species isn鈥檛 a new one. African elephants, for聽instance, are聽 at more than $1 million for their role in聽carbon sequestration. Kelp forests over $363,000 per acre, primarily due to the same reason.

At least in the case of the bears at Yellowstone, however, not everyone is in favor of putting a price tag on nature.

鈥淭his kind of exercise seems to be done by people who know the price of everything but the value of nothing,” retired wildlife expert Chuck Neal told Wyoming news outlet . 鈥淭here are certain individuals who would say if a bear is worth $46,000, we can easily afford to lose $46,000.鈥�

Kristin Combs, the executive director of nonprofit Wyoming Wildlife Advocates, noted that, 鈥測ou couldn’t put a value on a human’s life, and I feel like it’s the same way with this study.鈥� She also argued that the study was critical, 鈥渂ecause it tells the story about how beneficial it is to have these grizzlies around.鈥�

The USGS study comes at a time when there is a concentrated push to from the Endangered Species List, which would give states control over their management and may allow for their legal hunting.

Combs argued that having this concrete (and high) valuation of $46,000 per bear, as a reference, would help advocate for higher permit costs.

鈥淭he last time grizzly bear hunting was brought up, we were looking at $6,000 for an out-of-state hunting tag,鈥� Combs said. 鈥淚f a Yellowstone grizzly is worth $46,000, that’s a hell of a lot more money, and you can鈥檛 underestimate the economic value of having these animals on the landscape.鈥�

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All roads leading in and out of Yellowstone National Park were reopened on October 29 following a mass closure of roadways that occurred earlier this week. A snowstorm that blew through the area on October 26 caused a staggering 30 vehicular incidents in a single day inside the park, as drivers struggled to navigate ice, blowing snow, and extreme weather.

Mishaps included cars sliding off the road, stalling, and becoming stranded, reported Wyoming media outlet .

The outlet鈥檚 meteorologist, Don Day, explained that the park, which sits at roughly 8,000 feet, lies in a unique climatic zone. While weather events may be mild outside the park, within it, even seemingly minor storms can have a big impact.

鈥淭he whole park is on an elevated plateau,鈥� said Day. 鈥淓ven the ‘lower parts’ of the park, like Lake Yellowstone, are still at a high altitude. That elevated plateau makes Yellowstone a ‘high island’ that creates its own weather, in a sense.鈥�

The debacle was the first major winter event in Yellowstone National Park of the 2025 fall season, which may explain the many incidents, according to Day. He called it a 鈥渨ake-up call for a lot of people,鈥� adding that, 鈥渨e have to remember how to drive in this, maybe not go so fast, and assume that if a road might look wet, it might be ice. Little things like that make a big difference.鈥�

The winter weather system that caused the storm聽was especially well-suited to make the park鈥檚 interior roads particularly dangerous.

鈥淚t had a lot of moisture,鈥� said Day, 鈥渁nd the upper-level wind pattern was just right to focus in on the park, especially as you got up into the higher elevations.鈥�

Most of the vehicular mishaps were caused by black ice, according to Day. Many of 驰别濒濒辞飞蝉迟辞苍别鈥檚 roads are heavily shaded by tree cover, and even on sunny days, it can be cold enough for black ice to form.

鈥淏y 3:00 P.M., that sun angle is already low enough that the pavement may have already cooled off. What was wet an hour ago is now black ice, and that low sun angle plays a huge role,鈥� explained Day.

Julie Argyle, the postmaster at the Lake Village Post Office inside the national park, told Cowboy State Daily that the vehicle mishaps came at a bad time, due to staffing shortages in the park resulting from the federal government shutdown.

鈥淣ot even the rangers were at full staff,鈥� said Argyle. 鈥淚 don’t know how many people on the road crews are working.鈥� She recalled that during a previous snowstorm on October 12, 鈥渋t took them longer than normal to clear the roads because of the people who weren’t there.鈥�

The road closures came just days before the park was scheduled to shutter its East, South, and West entrances for the winter season. Most of the closed roads have since reopened, but on October 31, park officials will again block them off until late Spring 2026. Only the North and Northeast entrances of the park will remain open through the winter.

For current road conditions, visit 驰别濒濒辞飞蝉迟辞苍别鈥檚 webpage.

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At least 63 grizzly bears have died in the greater Yellowstone Ecosystem this year, according to preliminary numbers published by researchers in the area. That鈥檚 up from 56 at this same time last year, and on track to surpass the previous annual record of more than 70.

More than half of the deaths in 2025 were human-caused.

In 2024, 74 known or probable grizzly bear deaths were recorded, up from 68 in 2021 and 69 in 2018, according to published by the U.S. Geological Survey. By October 1 of last year, there were 57 reported grizzly bear deaths, putting this year鈥檚 provisional number already ahead of last year’s fall count.

Chris Servheen, the former national grizzly bear recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, told 国产吃瓜黑料 that it鈥檚 unclear why there were more deaths in 2025 than in years past.

鈥淭here may be a few more bears, but mortality numbers can vary from year to year,” Servheen said. “The long-term numbers are what are important, so year-to-year increases indicate ongoing levels of mortality rather than an unusually bad year. Most grizzly deaths are due to humans every year.”

Since 2015, the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team (IGBST) has been responsible for tracking grizzly bear mortalities in the . This region encompasses areas of Wyoming, Montana, and a small portion of Idaho鈥攊ncluding all of Yellowstone National Park, portions of Grand Teton National Park, and several national forests.

Whether it’s a case of mistaken identity by hunters, vehicular strike, or in response to livestock depredation, about 85 percent of all documented bear mortalities are human-caused, according to the IGBST. Tracking human-caused bear deaths helps researchers identify patterns and trends that may aid in reducing future bear deaths.

国产吃瓜黑料 combed through the data and found that of the 63 known grizzly deaths in 2025, 45 involved humans. Causes of another 10 deaths were still under investigation.

The figures come ahead of the opening of rifle hunting season in parts of the Rocky Mountains, a time when people in the woods are more likely to come into contact with a bear, and this worries Servheen.

Over the last decade, hunters killed more than a dozen grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone area after mistaking them for black bears, reported . Hunting is illegal in all national parks. Even so, mistakes and accidents happen鈥攁nd at times, grizzly deaths aren鈥檛 even recorded.

鈥淭here are always unknown unreported mortalities in addition to the known and probable mortalities,鈥� said Servheen, adding that IGBST data is limited to the minimum number of grizzly deaths.

Mortality data adds to an ongoing national debate over whether grizzlies should be removed from the Endangered Species List. At their peak, there were an in the Lower 48, but the species was hunted nearly to extinction. Grizzly bears were listed under the agreement in 1975 at a time when there were in the contiguous U.S. Aside from Alaska, today, there are , most of which are concentrated in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem.

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Geysers in Yellowstone National Park are facing a new, unassuming threat. Plus, a 30-year-old woman has just broken the speed record for the Grand Teton trail. 国产吃瓜黑料 has you covered in this edition of our news roundup for the week of September 8.

What鈥檚 the Latest Threat to 驰别濒濒辞飞蝉迟辞苍别鈥檚 Geysers? Hats.

Geologists in Yellowstone National Park are reporting an unusual threat to the area鈥檚 hydrothermal areas. According to a report from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) observatory, lost hats are infiltrating the park鈥檚 hot springs, geysers, mudpots and fumeroles.

These aren鈥檛 just dollar-store hats either. The USGS estimates that headwear collected this year is worth over $6,000.

The park鈥檚 specially trained Geology Program is charged with cleaning up more than 10,000 iconic hydrothermal areas in Yellowstone National Park, including Grand Prismatic Spring and Old Faithful. The team is constantly battling a daunting array of human litter鈥攊n 2025 alone, they have already collected 鈥渕ore than 13,000 pieces of trash, 4,000 rocks and sticks, and over 300 hats.鈥�

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A Man Is Dead After His Car Plunged into the Grand Canyon

On Sunday, September 7, Park Service officials received reports of a car driving over the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and then plunging 300 feet to the rocks below. According to a report, the driver was killed in the fall.

NPS identified the individual as Steven (Drew) Bradly, 27, of Federal Heights, Colorado. Authorities said that Bradley drove his car into the canyon near the South Kaibab Trailhead at approximately 12:40 P.M.

The NPS said it is investigating the incident alongside the local medical examiner. No additional information is currently available.

It鈥檚 not the first time this year that a driver has perished in a crash at the famed canyon.

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There鈥檚 a New Speed Record on the Grand Teton. This One Is Legit.

Let鈥檚 get this out of the way: runner Jane Maus avoided all shortcuts, cutoffs, and trail bypasses while breaking the speed record on Wyoming鈥檚 13,775-foot Grand Teton on August 22. She specifically avoided the shortcut that got trail runner Michelino Sunseri into trouble with the National Park Service in 2024.

Maus completed the entire journey in 3:45:34. Her time shaved 21 minutes from the previous fastest time, which was set just three days prior by a Canadian runner named Jazmine Lowther. Fastest Known Time (FKT), the body that scrutinizes record attempts, accepted Maus鈥� ascent as legitimate, making her the new record holder on the route, which is now called the Grand Teton Modern Route.

国产吃瓜黑料, chatted with Moss to learn more about her allure for chasing the speed record and her decision to go for speed.

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The post This Week in News: 驰别濒濒辞飞蝉迟辞苍别鈥檚 Latest Threats and a New Speed Record on the Grand Teton appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Geologists in Yellowstone National Park are reporting an unusual threat to the area鈥檚 hydrothermal areas. According to a from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) observatory, lost hats are infiltrating the park鈥檚 hot springs, geysers, mudpots and fumeroles.

The park鈥檚 specially trained Geology Program is charged with cleaning up more than 10,000 iconic hydrothermal areas in Yellowstone National Park, including Grand Prismatic Spring and Old Faithful. The team is constantly battling a daunting array of human litter鈥攊n 2025 alone, they have already collected 鈥渕ore than 13,000 pieces of trash, 4,000 rocks and sticks, and over 300 hats.鈥�

These aren鈥檛 just dollar-store hats either. The USGS estimates that headwear collected this year is worth over $6,000.

Trash floating in 驰别濒濒辞飞蝉迟辞苍别鈥檚 pristine pools is more than an eyesore. It also poses a serious risk to the delicate ecosystems inside these hydrothermal features.

鈥淒ebris thrown into a hot spring can irreversibly change its behavior, resulting in lower temperature, changes to color, and altered eruption behavior,鈥� wrote the USGS in a published on September 8.

Located just over a mile from the Old Faithful Visitor Center, the park鈥檚 famous Morning Glory Pool is one such example. It was named in the 1880s for its resemblance to the blue flower, but to shades of oranges, yellows and greens. Although features shift naturally over time, park officials have reason to believe that humans have caused the stark shift by throwing coins, trash, and other debris into it, blocking the movement of hot water into the pool and altering its temperature.

Removing all this trash isn鈥檛 an easy task. Staffers can鈥檛 simply swim into the boiling springs and pluck debris out with a net. Rather, the team uses a hodgepodge of tools, some of which are custom-made by the park with a 鈥渓ittle more than creativity and elbow grease.鈥� This array of trash-picker-uppers includes fishing rods, extra-long slotted spoons, and grabber poles up to 30 feet long.聽 The USGS added that in total, pool cleanup efforts this year have required the team to walk over 1,300 miles and drive more than 11,000 miles around the park to various hydrothermal areas.

驰别濒濒辞飞蝉迟辞苍别鈥檚 trash problem is largely accidental, according to the USGS. With more than 4.7 million visitors in 2024, it鈥檚 one of the most visited national parks in the United States. This large number of people, combined with the park鈥檚 frequently high winds, means that personal items often are blown into the park鈥檚 hydrothermal areas.

However, some of the litter is intentional, like biodegradable items such as sunflower seed shells and orange peels. While visitors may think these items are harmless, the USGS notes they are damaging to the pools and 鈥減articularly time-consuming for the team to remove.鈥�

USGS team members recover more than a few wacky items from the pools now and then.

鈥淔avorite finds from the team during the summer of 2025 include a Birkenstock sandal, a pizza box with slices still inside, a fake Louis Vuitton bucket hat, a stuffed koala toy, a ball cap with the phrase 鈥業 PEE IN THE LAKE,鈥� and a Polaroid picture of Excelsior Geyser鈥攚hich was found within Excelsior Geyser鈥檚 crater,鈥� wrote the USGS.

While these discoveries are sometimes humorous, the USGS hopes such items remain with their owners, and offers a few simple reminders for park visitors.

鈥淗old on tight to your hats, stay on marked boardwalks and trails, and make sure all your trash (even the food!) ends up in a trash can,鈥� wrote the USGS.

The post What鈥檚 the Latest Threat to 驰别濒濒辞飞蝉迟辞苍别鈥檚 Geysers? Hats. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Bill Hamilton鈥檚 chest freezer probably looks a lot different than yours. While most of us pack ours with groceries, Hamilton stores pounds upon pounds of bison dung in his.

, a professor of biology and research science at Washington and Lee University in Virginia, studies the role bison and other large herbivores play in ecosystems. In a new study published this month, Hamilton explains how bison, and their poop, are the key to a healthy environment in some parts of the U.S.

鈥淗umans have been applying dung as a fertilizer for millennia, so we know it鈥檚 an important fertilizer. Bison are a restoration story, and allowing their grazing in places like Yellowstone provides a 鈥榬eawakening鈥� of the landscape,鈥� Hamilton told 国产吃瓜黑料.

According to Hamilton鈥檚 study, freely roaming bison in Yellowstone National Park鈥攖he only place in the lower 48 where bison have continuously free-ranged since prehistoric times鈥攑lay a pivotal role in the ecosystem. Bison contribute to a healthier landscape by adding nitrogen to the soil, which supports the growth of nutrient-dense plants. The bison鈥檚 impact on the soil, in turn, supports the many animals that call Yellowstone home.

国产吃瓜黑料 of Yellowstone, most bison are domesticated and kept in confined areas, such as in zoos and conservation parks. The in the American West and Midwest could be healthier if bison were allowed to roam freely.

The study is the latest wrinkle in a simmering debate over whether bison herd size should be managed, and whether or not bison should be excluded from certain areas due to concerns about overgrazing. Hamilton鈥檚 research suggests that the eating habits鈥攁nd pooping鈥攐f large bison populations may actually help the landscape in ways previously not fully understood.

鈥淎nimals need to be able to move,鈥� Hamilton told 国产吃瓜黑料 in a phone interview. 鈥淔ree-roaming bison restore ecological processes across a long-distance migration.

A Keystone Species Returns

North America was once home to approximately 30 million grazing bison that ranged across the continent. By 1889, after being hunted nearly to extinction, that number dropped to under 1,000. In 1902, there were just 23 animals. Recent recovery efforts in areas like Yellowstone National Park have focused on returning the giant ungulates to specifically managed areas.

Bison are to Yellowstone National Park what African wildebeest are to the Serengeti, their influence on the land essential, says Hamilton. And like the wildebeest, bison dung packs a nutritional punch when deposited across the landscape.

In areas with heavy bison grazing, Hamilton found plants were denser, shorter, and more nitrogen-rich. Not only did these plants grow as much as they would have if they weren鈥檛 grazed, Hamilton’s team found them to be 150 percent more nutritious than plants growing in areas with no bison.

Weighing more than 2,000 pounds, one bison will poop enough in a typical day to fill a 3-gallon bucket. Annually, each Yellowstone bison will migrate around 1,000 miles, making back-and-forth movements over their route.聽The animals graze on grasses and other plants as they move, which the research team found helps speed up an area鈥檚 nitrogen cycle.

Nitrogen is one of the most essential nutrients found in fertilizers, and it鈥檚 also considered to be a fundamental building block of life. As bison graze, they speed up the nitrogen cycle by consuming plants and eventually returning nitrogen to the soil through their feces.

As bison contribute to the broader ecosystem of Yellowstone, Hamilton’s research team suggests these benefits might be seen elsewhere. With its diverse, largely undisturbed ecosystem, Yellowstone National Park serves as a living laboratory, providing researchers with a unique window into how North American landscapes appeared before the influence of western hunting efforts.

鈥淭his version is a glimpse of what was lost when bison were nearly wiped out across North America in the late 1800s,鈥� said Hamilton. 鈥淲hen we lost bison, we lost a different way that large grazers moved across and used landscapes.鈥�

According to Hamilton, Yellowstone grasslands are functioning better now with large herds of bison than they were in the animals鈥� absence.

The Latest Discovery From Yellowstone Living Laboratory

Since its establishment in 1872, Yellowstone National Park has served as a living laboratory for the examination of natural processes. Its preserved ecosystem allows researchers to study unique opportunities in a relatively undisturbed environment, including reintroduced species once on the verge of extinction. These population shifts can cause what鈥檚 known as a trophic cascade, an ecological process in which a change in the population of a top predator affects other species lower in the food chain, triggering a chain reaction.

Wolves are one such case. After wolves were exterminated from the Yellowstone region in the 1920s, the elk population more than doubled, causing significant damage to the area’s grasses, shrubs, and trees. Following the reintroduction of wolves in 1995, research suggests that elk populations have declined to a more sustainable level, thereby improving the overall health of the ecosystem.

Similarly, beaver populations dramatically declined in much of the park by the mid-20th century due to trapping. Without beavers in the watersheds, streams and river beds eroded. Upon their return鈥攑rimarily after the reintroduction of wolves鈥攂eavers built dams and ponds, slowing water flow and restoring river ecosystems.

鈥淵ellowstone has been a success story and example for ecosystem restoration, and the return of bison is another step towards bringing it back to what it may have been in the past. When bison are given room to roam, they reawaken the Yellowstone ecosystem,鈥� said Hamilton.

The bison study contributes to a growing body of evidence that population control, whether by humans or through natural processes, is a complex and nuanced task.

For researchers like Hamilton, the next challenge lies in finding suitable locations large enough to reintroduce bison, which can then migrate in large numbers.

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Google has released its search data on the top queried national parks of all time, and the winner comes as no surprise to us. Of the 433 that exist, Americans seem to be obsessed with Yellowstone, and pop culture might be to blame.

The “Yellowstone effect” is real, Lucy Guthrie Beighle, director of communications at Western Montana鈥檚 Glacier Country, recently told 国产吃瓜黑料. Yellowstone, the wildly popular neo-Western that premiered in 2018, has been luring in large numbers of tourists since. The fictional Yellowstone Dutton Ranch is set in and filmed in Darby, Montana. The state saw a massive boom in 2021 when 2.1 million outsiders poured in bringing the local economy $730 million in spending. 鈥淧eople saw Yellowstone, and wanted a little piece of it,鈥� Beighle said. There鈥檚 been a huge interest from travelers seeking a taste of the West and cowboy culture.

Montana isn’t the only state that Yellowstone National Park exists in. Most of the park (95%) is situated in Wyoming. Only a fraction is located in Idaho and Montana.

Google’s recently released data was pulled from a time span of January 1, 2004, to August 13, 2025. Here鈥檚 what was found.

Other Winners Are Location-Specific

Yellowstone is unique in that the interest is country-wide. It is the most-searched national park in 32 of 50 states, while the other winners are location specific. For example, Alaskans search Denali National Park the most, Washingtonians and Oregonites search Mount Rainier National Park most, queries around the Grand Canyon and Rocky Mountains hail from Nevada, Arizona, and Colorado, and Acadia National Park, is being sought out by those in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine.

Most Searched Does Not Equal Most Visited

Yellowstone may be the most-searched national park, but it isn’t the most visited. The most recent number coming from Yellowstone is 4.1 million visitors last year, 国产吃瓜黑料 previously reported, but Great Smoky Mountains National Park saw 12.1 million, The Grand Canyon attracted 4.9 million, and Yosemite National Parks drew in around the same as Yellowstone.

Yellowstone is home to the world鈥檚 tallest active geyser and America鈥檚 biggest supervolcano. As iconic as that is, the trend of cowboy core travel鈥� wide-open landscapes and small-town vibes, matched with the fantasy of living out your personal episode of Yellowstone, may also be driving the lure.

See Also: 7 of the Wildest Cowboy Core Vacations in the U.S.

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According to wildlife filmmaker Casey Anderson, the grizzly bear might be the greatest forager. Having closely observed the Yellowstone grizzly鈥檚 diet and eating habits, he鈥檚 seen them dig up caraway roots in the meadows, graze on pine nuts from whitebark pine trees, and raid squirrel caches. Now, Anderson is sharing his insights with chef Kevin O鈥機onnor as they explore the varied terrain of grizzly country with a little help from Yellowstone Bourbon.

Established in 1872,聽聽was crafted to honor the sprawling wonder of America鈥檚 first national park. It鈥檚 what first inspired us to create approachably smooth whiskey for the benefit and enjoyment of the people, and why we still do it today.

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On May 31, 2025, a webcam in Yellowstone National Park detected a small explosion in the Biscuit Basin Area鈥攖he same zone that suffered an unexpectedly destructive hydrothermal eruption less than a year ago.

On July 23, 2024, steam exploded from the ground beneath Black Diamond Pool in the area, destroying a park boardwalk and launching water, mud, rocks, and other debris up to 600 feet into the air. Some of the stones were up to three feet in diameter and weighed hundreds of pounds, and the event was visible for miles in all directions. No one was injured, but the surrounding area has remained closed to tourists since the incident.

The webcam that captured the most recent eruption was 鈥攁long with seismometers, acoustic sensors, electromagnetic instruments, and other cameras鈥攖o monitor hydrothermal activity in the area.

YELLOWSTONE ERUPTION: The U.S. Geological Survey is reporting a small eruption occurred at the Black Diamond Pool in the Biscuit Basin, which was the site of a hydrothermal explosion last summer. Video Credit: United States Geological Survey

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Although last week鈥檚 eruption is the first caught on video since the major explosion last year , the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that 鈥渢here is evidence from other monitoring data and some eyewitnesses that sporadic eruptions have occurred several times since the July 2024 event.鈥� These include eruptions in January and November, both of which shot debris 20 to 30 feet into the air.

Like the 2024 eruption, last week鈥檚 smaller incident is not necessarily a sign of increased volcanic activity or hydrothermal volatility for the area, but more likely indicative of a continued resettling in the wake of the 2024 blast. 鈥淚t is likely that these small eruptions are a result of the hydrothermal plumbing system for the pool adjusting after the major disruption of the larger explosion last summer,鈥� USGS Scientist-in-Charge Michael Poland

Hydrothermal explosions occur when water underground is rapidly heated by a geothermal source, such as magma. Because the water is in a confined space, trapped under overlying rock, it鈥檚 pressurized, which means its boiling point can be much higher than the typical 100掳C/212掳F. That means the water can get significantly hotter before converting into steam. This is a process known as 鈥渟uperheating.鈥�

Once a pressurized body of water is superheated, any sudden drop in pressure (due to a fracturing of the surrounding rock, for example), will cause the water to rapidly convert into steam, resulting in instant and dramatic pressure expansion. Steam’s volume is over 1,500 times greater than that of liquid. This leads to a violent explosion, often strong enough to shatter the surrounding rock and send debris flying up to hundreds of feet into the air.

Hydrothermal explosions aren鈥檛 uncommon in Yellowstone. They occur in the park a few times each year. However, these typically take place in the backcountry, where they aren鈥檛 often detected and don鈥檛 pose a threat to park visitors.

The Black Diamond Pool/Biscuit Basin webcam can be viewed by the public round the clock on the , but although it records footage constantly, the camera does not upload footage live. Instead, fixed images are uploaded to the website at 15 minute intervals. If an event, such as last week鈥檚 explosion, does occur, the USGS plans to post video clips online.

The post Woah! A Dangerous Geyser in Yellowstone National Park Erupted Again. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Madison Junction is a special spot for anglers visiting Yellowstone National Park. It鈥檚 where the Gibbon and Firehole rivers meet, marking the beginning of the renowned Madison River. For Joe Moore, founder of Big Sky Anglers, and Austin Campbell, a Colorado-based fly-fishing guide, it鈥檚 also the perfect wild habitat to seek out Yellowstone cutthroat trout and bask in the beauty of the park over a glass of bourbon.

Established in 1872,聽聽was crafted to honor the sprawling wonder of America鈥檚 first national park. It鈥檚 what first inspired us to create approachably smooth whiskey for the benefit and enjoyment of the people, and why we still do it today.

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