WHY ARE THE WARM WATERS OF YELLOWSTONE PARK SO COLORFUL?

Hot springs

Hot springs form when heated water emerges through cracks in the Earth’s surface. Unlike geysers, which have obstructions near the surface (hence the eruptions), the water in hot springs flows unobstructed, creating an unbroken cycle of hot water that rises, cools, and falls. In the Great Prismatic Spring, this constant cycle creates rings of distinct temperatures around the center: very, very hot water gushes out from the center and gradually cools as it spreads across the massive surface of the spring.

Color visualization

Inside these rings live different organisms, including bacteria that obtain their energy by photosynthesis.
The primary pigment of photosynthesis is chlorophyll, which we see in green. But chlorophyll levels can sometimes be overwhelmed by an accessory pigment known as carotenoids. Carotenoids are red, orange, or yellow; the yellow in Synechococcus is the exact same pigment, beta-carotene, which in high concentrations gives the orange we see in carrots.

As you move outward from the yellow band, the temperature of the hot spring begins to cool, and as the temperature cools, a more diverse set of bacterial life can flourish. The orange color, like the yellow in the ring next to it, comes from carotenoids, which these bacteria produce to protect themselves from the harsh light of the Yellowstone summer sun.
The outermost ring is the coolest, at about 131°F, and hosts the most diverse community of bacteria.

WHY ARE THE WARM WATERS OF YELLOWSTONE PARK SO COLORFUL?

Color visualization

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