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Why is Yellowstone called Yellowstone? Contrary to popular belief, Yellowstone was not named for the abundant rhyolite lavas in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone that have been chemically altered by reactions with steam and hot water to create vivid yellow and pink colors.
- Overview
- Geology
Yellowstone National Park, the oldest, one of the largest, and probably the best-known national park in the United States. It is situated principally in northwestern Wyoming and partly in southern Montana and eastern Idaho and includes the greatest concentration of hydrothermal features in the world. The park was established by the U.S. Congress on...
Yellowstone is situated in a region that has been volcanically and seismically active for tens of millions of years. Tectonic movement of the North American Plate has thinned Earth’s crust in the area, forming a hot spot (a place where a dome of magma, or molten rock, comes close to the surface). About 2.1 million years ago a subsurface magma dome that had been building up in the Yellowstone area blew up in one of the world’s most cataclysmic volcanic eruptions. Some 600 cubic miles (2,500 cubic km) of rock and ash were ejected, equivalent to about 6,000 times the amount of volcanic material that was released during the eruption of Mount Saint Helens in 1980. (Observations made in the early 21st century indicated that this single eruption actually consisted of two events about 6,000 years apart: one very large and a second much smaller one. Subsequent massive eruptions occurred about 1,300,000 and 640,000 years ago—the last event (consisting in large part of lava flows) producing about two-fifths as much material as the first one.
Each of those eruptions caused the magma dome that had built up to collapse as its contents were released, leaving an enormous caldera. The present-day Yellowstone Caldera, the product of the third eruption, is a roughly oval-shaped basin some 30 by 45 miles (50 by 70 km) that occupies the west-central portion of the national park and includes the northern two-thirds of Yellowstone Lake. Two resurgent magma domes—one just north of and the other just west of Yellowstone Lake—have been forming in the caldera, and the western dome underlie many of the park’s best-known hydrothermal features.
The Yellowstone region is also extremely active seismically. A network of faults associated with the region’s volcanic history underlies the park’s surface, and the region experiences hundreds of small earthquakes each year. The great majority of those quakes are of magnitude 2.0 or less and are not felt by people in the area, but occasionally a more powerful temblor will strike in the region and have effects in the park. One such event, a deadly quake that struck in 1959 in southern Montana just outside the northwestern corner of the park, affected a number of hydrothermal features in Yellowstone, including its iconic geyser, Old Faithful.
Britannica Quiz
Jun 24, 2024 · Read ET's complete timeline of the behind-the-scenes drama with series star Kevin Costner and details of season 5B. Yellowstone is inching closer to its triumphant return on TV in November, but...
2 days ago · The first photos of Yellowstone season 5, part 2 have arrived; When will Yellowstone season 5, part 2 premiere? Who is in the cast of Yellowstone season 5 part 2?
Yellowstone: Created by John Linson, Taylor Sheridan. With Kevin Costner, Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley. A ranching family in Montana faces off against others encroaching on their land.
- (230K)
- 2018-06-20
- Drama, Western
- 60
Yellowstone is an American neo-Western drama television series created by Taylor Sheridan and John Linson that premiered on June 20, 2018, on Paramount Network. The series stars Kevin Costner, Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley, Cole Hauser, Kelsey Asbille, and Gil Birmingham.
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Sep 1, 2022 · IDAHO FALLS – It had been 66 years since Lewis and Clark traveled to the Yellowstone River when President Ulysses S. Grant signed a bill officially declaring the surrounding area as Yellowstone...
