Spectacular nature: World Yellowstone National Park -14

 

^{Spectacular nature: World Yellowstone National Park - 14}

^{Remember the movie 2012? And the character of Charlie Frost, the freak scientist cum radio show host, played by Woody Harrelson, who gives the running update from Yellowston Caldera and the eruption of the super-volcano?}

^{View of the 'Grand Prismatic' hot spring with its unique colours caused by brown, orange and yellow algae-like bacteria called Thermophiles, that thrive in the cooling water turning the vivid aqua-blue to a murkier greenish brown, in the Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.}

^{Well that was just fiction but it did give some insight into the beauty of the National Park and the catastrophe it could bring. Established by the US Congress and signed into law by President Grant on March 1, 1872, The Yellowstone National Park is located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, though it also extends into Montana and Idaho. It is known for its wildlife and its many geothermal features, especially the Old Faithful Geyser. The caldera is considered an active volcano. It has erupted with tremendous force several times in the last two million years.}

^{Here's a pictorial ode to the first national park in the world}

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^{View of the 'Grand Prismatic' hot spring. The Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park is the largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world, next to those in New Zealand.}

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^{Tourist walk beside the partially frozen Yellowstone Lake. The Yellowstone Lake is the largest body of water in National Park and is one of the largest high-altitude lakes in North America.}

^{Approximately 5% of park is covered by water; 15% is grassland; and 80% is forested.}

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^{Tourists walk beside a hot spring and the partially frozen Yellowstone Lake. The National Park is a designated World Heritage Site and a designated Biosphere Reserve Site.}

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^{View of the partially frozen Yellowstone Lake at the West Thumb Geyser Basin. Yellowstone is one of the world's largest calderas, measuring 55 kms by 72 kms. Yellowstone, like Hawaii, is believed to lie on top of an area called a hotspot where light, hot, molten mantle rock rises towards the surface.}

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^{View of the 'Sunset Lake' hot spring with its unique colours caused by brown, orange and yellow algae-like bacteria. Yellowstone National Park spans an area of 8,983 km2, comprising lakes, canyons, rivers and mountain ranges}

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^{View of the 'Sunset Lake' hot spring. The caldera is considered an active volcano. It has erupted with tremendous force several times in the last two million years.}

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^{View of the Lower Falls at the Yellowstone Grand Canyon in the Yellowstone National Park. There are approximately 10,000 thermal features and more than 300 geysers in the park.}

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^{View of the 'Crested Pool' hot spring with its unique colours caused by brown, orange and yellow algae-like bacteria.}

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^{View of the 'Morning Glory' hot spring at the Yellowstone National Park}

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^{American Bison (also known as Buffalo) and their calves, forage for food at Yellowstone National Park.}

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^{American Bison join the morning commute on Highway 89 at Yellowstone National Park. Hundreds of species of mammals, birds, fish and reptiles have been documented, including several that are either endangered or threatened in the park.}

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^{Tourists watch the 'Old Faithful' geyser which erupts on average every 90 minutes in the Yellowstone National Park. Eruptions can shoot 314,000 to 32,000 ltrs of boiling water to a height of 106 to 185 feet lasting from 1.5 to 5 minutes. This is the most famous geyser in the park, and perhaps the world.}

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^{A Chipmunk begs for food in the Yellowstone National Park. There are almost 60 species of mammals in the park, including the gray wolf, the threatened lynx, and grizzly bears.}

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Source: India Syndicate