Old Faithful banner

Lobby > Exhibits > Hot Water Treasures > Types of Thermal Features > Hot Springs > Hot Spring Colors

Hot Spring Colors

  • Mammoth Hot Springs
  • Grand Prismatic
  • Morning Glory Pool
  • Handkerchief Pool
  • Hot Spring Colors
  • Many of the bright colors found in Yellowstone’s hydrothermal basins come from “thermophiles” — microorganisms that thrive in hot temperatures. So many individual microorganisms are grouped together—trillions!—that they appear as masses of color.

    Different types of thermophiles live at different temperatures within a hot spring and cannot tolerate much cooler or warmer conditions. Yellowstone’s hot water systems often show distinct gradations of living, vibrant colors where the temperature limit of one group of microbes is reached, only to be replaced by a different set of thermophiles.

    Bright colors in this hot spring are attributed to trillions of microorganisms

    Thermophilic microorganisms in hot spring runoff channels
    Open Larger Image Open Larger Image Open Larger Image

    Next Section: Mudpots

    drawing of the OFVEC
    Explorations
    Exhibits Ddrawing of the outside of the OFVEC
    Maps
    Multimedia
    Young Scientists
    Bookstore
    Resources
    Yellowstone Express
    Webcams
    Why Geysers Erupt
    Hot Water Treasures
    Hot Spring Ecology
    Scientific Research

    This work is supported by

    National Science Foundation    Yellowstone Park Foundation

    Last Updated: 00/00/00; Make an email comment or suggestion