Basin gradients
Heat transport
Thermal signature
Within the ancient active caldera, there are nine geyser basins situtated in Yellowstone Park. A mountain fur trader reported in 1830 that on a frozen winter morning the steam rising from the various geyser basins reminded him of emissions from industrial smokestacks.
“The whole country beyond was smoking with the vapor from boiling springs, and burning with gasses, issuing from small craters, each of which was emitting a sharp whistling sound.” – Joseph Lafayette Meek