[Part 1 of 2] The travertine terraces of Yellowstone’s Palette Spring, part of Mammoth Hot Springs, reveal an exquisitely intricate, ever-evolving, fluid sculpture made solid by liquid, and in the process, constructing some of the most fascinating patterns in nature. Calcium carbonate, dissolved in the hot spring water, continually forms a solid at the surface as the water cools and depressurizes, dissolved carbon dioxide bubbles off, increasing the water’s pH, and crystallizing the carbonate, with precipitates out of the water loosely like snow out of air. This slowly grows layer after layer of a limestone known as travertine, colored by other dissolved minerals (mainly of iron). [Go to Part 2]
Yellowstone National Park WY (16 Sep 13) Looking SW
44.9726, -110.7054