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Mammoth Hot Springs Grand Prismatic Morning Glory Pool Handkerchief Pool Hot Spring Colors

The bedrock underlying the Mammoth area is limestone, deposited here millions of years ago by a vast inland sea. Hot water with dissolved carbon dioxide makes a weak carbonic acid. As the solution rises through underground channels, it dissolves calcium carbonate, the primary ingredient of limestone. At the surface, the calcium carbonate is deposited in the form of travertine, the mineral that forms the terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs.

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