Chemical analyses of hot springs, pools and geysers from Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming and vicinity, 1980-1993

Thompson, John; Demonge, J

Waters from hot springs, pools, and geysers have been analyzed by numerous investigators throughout the history of Yellowstone National Park. The chemistry of the more easily accessible major geyser basins and a significant number of Yellowstone thermal waters on the eastern side of the Yellowstone River has been compiled by Gooch and Whitfield (1888), Alien and Day (1935), Rowe and others (1973), Thompson and others (1975), Thompson and Yadav (1979), and Kharaka and others (1992). The first comprehensive study of Shoshone Geyser Basin was made by A.H. Truesdell in 1972-73 (Truesdell and Thompson, 1982). Many of the concepts presented in that report are applicable to other Yellowstone thermal areas. Locations of the major thermal water basins mentioned in this report can be found in Figure 1. The collection of data on the hot and cold springs of Yellowstone National Park is important in understanding the geothermal chemistry of this system. Geochemical changes that occur over time, the disappearance of existing springs, the appearance of new ones and geochemical changes in spring waters prior to earthquakes, can be monitored. Especially important are those springs for which there is little or no data. Shortly after the release of Thompson and Yadav (1979), a major effort, in cooperation with the National Park Service, was made to visit many of the back-country thermal areas. This report contains analyses from Hot Spring Basin and nearby Rainbow Hot Springs, Ponuntpa Hot Springs, Fern Lake thermal area and Astringent Creek thermal area in the more remote eastern part of Yellowstone. Extensive collections also were made in the southwestern part of Yellowstone: the Three Rivers Junction area (Ferris Fork, Gregg Fork, and Philips Fork) and the Bechler River and the Boundary Creek thermal areas (Southern, Central, and Northern Boundary Creek and the Silver Scarf thermal area). These hot spring areas, located at the base of the Madison Plateau, as well as the numerous springs along the south and east sides of the Pitchstone Plateau may be related chemically to the Hillside Springs group near Upper Geyser Basin. Also, it is unknown if the Three Forks Hot Springs are related chemically to the Pitchstone Plateau or the Madison Plateau. On the eastern side of Yellowstone, it is uncertain if Joseph Coats Hot Springs, Ponuntpa Hot Springs, and Rainbow Hot Springs are related chemically to Hot Spring Basin. The former hot springs are all at least 65 m lower than Hot Spring Basin and are neutral, chloride-containing waters as opposed to the acidic, low-chloride waters of Hot Spring Basin. The northeast-trending Yellowstone hotspot may be the heat source of the boiling acidic waters of Hot Spring Basin unless it has shifted and is migrating along the Mammoth Corridor. Because most pH-neutral, high-chloride waters lie inside the Yellowstone Caldera, the significance of the pH-neutral, high-chloride waters from Norris Geyser Basin, Geyser Creek Geyser Basin and Heart Lake Geyser Basin, all which lie outside the caldera, is unknown.

Chemical analyses of hot springs, pools and geysers from Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming and vicinity, 1980-1993

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