• Lower Falls of the Yellowstone.

    Yellowstone

    National Park ID,MT,WY

Hot Spot Theories

Two Hotspot Theories

MOLTEN ROCK, or magma, rises in convection cells, like water boiling in a pot. The left side of this illustration shows the traditional view of a hotspot as a plume of magma rising from the earth's core. The right side shows another theory that the Yellowstone hotspot originates at a much shallower depth.

View Caldera | Caldera Rim |Track the Hotspot | Eruptions

 
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Did You Know?

Upper Geyser Basin Hydrothermal Features on a Winter Day.

Yellowstone contains approximately one-half of the world’s hydrothermal features. There are over 10,000 hydrothermal features, including over 300 geysers, in the park.