The West Old & New Vol. III Issue III March 2014 | Page 15

Desert that triggered a swarm of quakes from more than 800 miles (1,300 km) away and
the 2002 7.9 magnitude Denali fault earthquake 2,000 miles (3,200 km) away in Alaska
that altered the activity of many geysers and hot springs for several months afterward.
The source of the Yellowstone hotspot is controversial. Some geoscientists hypothesize that the Yellowstone hotspot is the effect of an interaction between local conditions
in the lithosphere and upper mantle convection. Others suggest a deep mantle origin or
mantle plume. Part of the controversy is due to the relatively sudden appearance of the
hotspot in the geologic record. Additionally, the Columbia Basalt flows appeared at the
same approximate time, causing speculation about their origin.
Yellowstone National Park is a thermally active area with an extensive system of hot
springs, fumaroles, geysers, and mudpots. There are also several hydrothermal explosion
craters, which are not to be confused with calderas, which are collapse features. Eight of
these hydrothermal explosion craters are in hydrothermally cemented glacial deposits,
and two are in Pleistocene ash-flow. Each is surrounded by a rim composed of debris derived from the crater, 10 to 30 yards high.
More than 20 large hydrothermal explosions have occurred at Yellowstone, approximately one every 700 years. The temperature of the magma reservoir below Yellowstone
is believed to exceed 800° Celsius causing the heating of rocks in the region. If so, the
average heat flow supplied by convection currents is 30 times greater than anywhere in
the Rocky Mountains. Snowmelt and rainfall seep into the ground at a rapid rate and can
conduct enough heat to raise the temperature of ground water to almost boiling.
The phenomena of geyser basins are the product of hot ground water rising close to
the surface, and occasionally bubbling through. Water temperatures of 238° Celsius at 332 meters have been recorded at Norris
Geyser Basin. Pocket Basin was originally an ice-dammed lake over a hydrothermal system. Melting ice during the last glacial
period caused the lake to rapidly drain, causing a sudden change in pressure triggering a massive hydrothermal explosion.
Recent activity has stirred the interest of the media with the most recent being a release of helium 4 gas near the end of February, and a week prior to that a string of small earthquakes.

Excerpt from Madam Delacroix’s Diary
A thin patter of rain pelted the dark sheet of night driven by a gusting
wind that banged an unsecured window shutter into the weathered side
of the cottage. The lights were on inside, every pane brilliant with a
glow that reached beyond them touching the edges of Madame’s flower
beds tucked along the outside edge of the building. The nether light
striking the angular stalks of dead flowers bent in full seed over a wetted
earth. The late fall wind had scatter them and a periphery of color would
sprout in early spring, but not as usual, under the vigilant gaze of Madame, for Madame was dead.
Detective Henri Bernard stood in the bedroom of Colette Delacriox at
the end of the bed and beside him the young Officer Petit. “She is beautiful even in death,” the younger man said removing his hat and dropping his eyes to the floor.
Detective Bernard glancing sideways at Petit, stated in a dry voice,
“Your reference to her beauty would have irritated her.”
“But she’s dead,” Petit said putting his hat back on.
“That she is,” Detective Bernard sighed walking around the bed to look
down at the deceased woman. She lay inclined across a spray of thi