On July 23rd, a boardwalk was damaged as several park visitors rushed to safety after a hydrothermal explosion jolted the Biscuit Basin in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. The explosion was recorded and shared on social media.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the explosion started at around 10 a.m. near the Black Diamond Pool in the Biscuit Basin thermal region. No injuries were recorded.
Park geologists are now investigating what happened, meaning that Biscuit Basin is closed for visitor safety, according to the USGS. Biscuit Basin is two miles north of the popular Old Faithful geyser. The US Geological Survey reports that the Yellowstone region’s volcanic activity is still within the normal range.
Lisa Morgan, an emeritus research geologist at the US Geological Survey, claims that hydrothermal explosions, which occur when hot water inside a volcanic system suddenly turns into steam in a narrow space, do not indicate that magma is rising to the surface or that an eruption is imminent. Among the most little-understood geologic dangers are these explosions, which cause crater-forming eruptions by rapidly expanding high-temperature liquids or vapors caused by abrupt pressure.
According to observatory scientist-in-charge Michael Poland, Yellowstone is the global geologic hazard hub and explodes two to three times a year.
There is a vast 30 by 45 mile Yellowstone supervolcano called the Yellowstone Caldera. The last eruption was 640,000 years ago.
Three of the world’s biggest hydrothermal explosion craters are located in the region northeast of Yellowstone Lake. The most massive crater is the 13,000-year-old Mary Bay, which is 1.5 miles wide. Next is Turbid Lake, which is 1 mile across and developed 9,400 years ago, and the smallest is Elliott’s Crater, which is around .05 mile wide and formed 8,000 years ago.
Every few hundred years, there will likely be an explosion large enough to create a depression about the dimensions of a football field.
According to Poland, the vast majority of explosions are small and go unnoticed. In the Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone, for instance, scientists have found a crater that is several feet wide, which was created by an explosion that occurred on April 15, 2024.
