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Yellowstone Volcano Observatory

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Yellowstone
green NORMAL, 2025-07-01 16:27:58 UTC

The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO) is a consortium of nine state and federal agencies who provide timely monitoring and hazard assessment of volcanic, hydrothermal, and earthquake activity in the Yellowstone Plateau region. The USGS arm of YVO is also responsible for monitoring and reporting on volcanic activity in the intermountain west U.S. states.

News

Eruption Unknown: The case of the newly recognized geologic unit

Eruption Unknown: The case of the newly recognized geologic unit

In Yellowstone, even animals sometimes make mistakes

In Yellowstone, even animals sometimes make mistakes

Remembering the Gros Ventre Slide of 1925

Remembering the Gros Ventre Slide of 1925

Publications

The first instrumentally detected hydrothermal explosion in Yellowstone National Park The first instrumentally detected hydrothermal explosion in Yellowstone National Park

Hydrothermal explosions are one of the geological hazards most likely to impact people in Yellowstone National Park, but their frequency is poorly known. Infrasound and seismic sensors identified an explosion in Norris Geyser Basin on 15 April 2024, at 14:56 MDT (20:56 UTC)—the first instrumentally detected hydrothermal explosion in the Yellowstone region. The event affected an area tens...
Authors
M. Poland, Alexandra M. Iezzi, Jamie Farrell, R. Greg Vaughan

Magmatic volatiles in the Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field: The knowns, the unknowns, and the uncertainties Magmatic volatiles in the Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field: The knowns, the unknowns, and the uncertainties

The Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field has a large magmatic system supplying heat and mass into the overlying hydrothermal system. To interpret changes in the composition and/or emission rates of hydrothermal fluids as possible indicators of volcanic unrest requires discriminating between magmatic, crustal, hydrothermal, and hybrid sources and processes. Significant progress in...
Authors
Shaul Hurwitz, Jacob B. Lowenstern

Lithium from magma to mine in an early Yellowstone hotspot caldera Lithium from magma to mine in an early Yellowstone hotspot caldera

Renewable energy technologies rely on the extraction of metals not historically in high demand, such as lithium (Li), for which ore deposit models are incompletely understood. One of the world’s largest Li deposits is hosted in lake sediments of the 16.4 Ma McDermitt caldera, which formed during the early stages of Yellowstone hotspot volcanism in the western United States. Eruptive and...
Authors
Kathryn E. Watts

Multimedia

Grand Prismatic Spring: Boiling, colorful, and full of bacteria! Grand Prismatic Spring: Boiling, colorful, and full of bacteria! (Yellowstone Monthly Update - July 2025)
Grand Prismatic Spring: Boiling, colorful, and full of bacteria! (Yellowstone Monthly Update - July 2025)
Map of Yellowstone region with triangles, most of which indicate stations used to calculate AI magnitudes
Map of Yellowstone Seismic Network showing stations used to calculate earthquake magnitudes using various methods
Map of Yellowstone Seismic Network showing stations used to calculate earthquake magnitudes using various methods
Seismic wave form registering several small earthquakes
Example of Yellowstone seismic data showing sequence of small earthquakes for which a magnitude could not be determined
Example of Yellowstone seismic data showing sequence of small earthquakes for which a magnitude could not be determined
Mountainside with a tree-covered landslide scar in the background, a treed slope in the foreground, and partly cloudy skies
Gros Ventre landslide area in 2025
Gros Ventre landslide area in 2025
Yellowstone's Magma Chamber: A Hot Mess Yellowstone's Magma Chamber - A Hot Mess! (Yellowstone Monthly Update - June 2025)
Yellowstone's Magma Chamber - A Hot Mess! (Yellowstone Monthly Update - June 2025)
shaded relief map with topography indicating landslide scars along mountains that border a river valley
Oblique lidar shaded relief image of the Gros Ventre Slide, Wyoming
Oblique lidar shaded relief image of the Gros Ventre Slide, Wyoming
animated gif of satellite images showing development of a small hydrothermal pool between October 2024 and February 2025
Animated GIF of the development of a new hydrothermal feature during late 2024 to early 2024, Norris Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park
Animated GIF of the development of a new hydrothermal feature during late 2024 to early 2024, Norris Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park
map with shaded relief in grayscale, and water (ponds, streams, and springs) in blue
Shaded relief map of Norris Geyser Basin indicating new hydrothermal feature near "Tree Island"
Shaded relief map of Norris Geyser Basin indicating new hydrothermal feature near "Tree Island"
At sunset a small plume of muddy water erupts from an otherwise placid, steaming pool surrounded by barren rocky ground Black Diamond Pool (Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone National Park) eruption on May 31, 2025
Black Diamond Pool (Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone National Park) eruption on May 31, 2025
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