PROJECT GOALS AND THEMES

Goal
To help visitors understand and appreciate the hydrothermal features of Yellowstone; the volcanic forces that fuel them; and the microbial life within them.

Primary Theme
Yellowstone National Park protects the rarest collection of geysers and hot springs on Earth.

Sub-Themes
1. At Yellowstone, hot water helps shape an extraordinary landscape of rare hydrothermal features-geysers, mudpots, fumaroles, and hot springs.

2. Yellowstone's hydrothermal features exist here because of past and ongoing volcanic activity.

3. Yellowstone's thermal waters are habitat for diverse thermophilic microbial life forms that we are only beginning to understand.

4. America's fascination with and pride in Old Faithful Geyser has transformed it into a cultural icon, a place of pilgrimage, and a shared legacy.

5. Yellowstone is a rare living laboratory that draws scientists who want to explore the interplay between the volcano, the hydrothermal features, and the diversity of life found here.

6. Yellowstone's thermophiles are being studied by the NASA Astrobiology Institute, which believes that these heat-loving microscopic organisms might be similar to life forms that may one day be found on other planets with extreme environments.

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