The first national park established anywhere in the world is Yellowstone National Park which was authorized in 1872 by the United States Congress. Its hot springs, ten-thousand (10,000) geysers and geyser basins, lava formations, lakes, waterfalls, rivers and river canyons make it a place of unrivalled beauty. It is also a place to study volcanic forces and heat flow within the earth. Yellowstone sits on top of a hot spot where a thermal plume or column of molten rock rises from deep within the earth and feeds into a large chamber 11,000 feet below the earth's surface. The 1,000F-degree heat from this molten rock in the chamber warms water from rain and snow that seeps down; the resulting steam and hot water rise again to the surface, forming hot springs and geysers such as Old Faithful. It is known that a similar chamber with molten rock burst forth in a volcanic eruption 600,000 years ago to form what is now Yellowstone. The question remains: When will Yellowstone erupt again? But, at present, it is a gentle and wondrous reminder of the volcanic forces that shape the earth. The park is a tribute to the foresight of those who created it and started a movement in conservation that has spanned the entire globe. (Inscribed in 1978).
Visit the Yellowstone National Park Home Page.
MLO
