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Orange Mound Spring is one of the several
The Orange Mound Spring is thermally cooler (~170˚F) than most springs in Yellowstone and at the Mammoth Hot Springs themselves, allowing the orange-tinted cyanobacteria to thrive and color the spring a darker shade of orange than the rest of the Mammoth Terraces. Depending on the nutrients that the bacteria receive, the color may change throughout the year.
The Spring is said to be very old due to the shape and size of the mound as well as how little water flows out of the spring itself. It has created other nearby cone-shaped springs from itself due to the travertine deposits wearing away.
Often in the Mammoth Hot Springs, flow will turn on and off, so on some days it may have no flow at all, and others it may have a lot.
hot springs
A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by c ...
in Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming
Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is border ...
. The name comes from its dark orange appearance caused by orange cyanobacteria living on the travertine
Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a pro ...
, the rock that it is made of. The Orange Mound Spring is part of the Mammoth Hot Springs
Mammoth Hot Springs is a large complex of hot springs on a hill of travertine in Yellowstone National Park adjacent to Fort Yellowstone and the Mammoth Hot Springs Historic District. It was created over thousands of years as hot water from the ...
area of the park. The Orange Mound Spring is arguably most notable for its prominence above the ground, compared to the rest of the Mammoth Hot Springs, which are mostly flat and leveled terraces.
Flow, age and color
The Orange Mound Spring is thermally cooler (~170˚F) than most springs in Yellowstone and at the Mammoth Hot Springs themselves, allowing the orange-tinted cyanobacteria to thrive and color the spring a darker shade of orange than the rest of the Mammoth Terraces. Depending on the nutrients that the bacteria receive, the color may change throughout the year.
The Spring is said to be very old due to the shape and size of the mound as well as how little water flows out of the spring itself. It has created other nearby cone-shaped springs from itself due to the travertine deposits wearing away.
Often in the Mammoth Hot Springs, flow will turn on and off, so on some days it may have no flow at all, and others it may have a lot.
References
Yellowstone National Park Geysers of Wyoming Yellowstone Caldera Geothermal features of Yellowstone National Park Geothermal features of Park County, Wyoming Landforms of Park County, Wyoming {{Wyoming-geo-stub