Minerals tint the mudpots with such a large palette of colors that the mudpots are sometimes called 'paint pots.' Iron oxides cause the pinks, beiges, and grays of the Fountain Paint Pot.Īs one early visitor described the Mammoth Hot Springs, 'No human architect ever designed such intricate fountains as these. After coming upon Mud Volcano during his 1871 expedition to Yellowstone, Ferdinand Hayden described the mudpot as 'the greatest marvel we have met with.' The result is a gooey mix through which gases gurgle and bubble. The microbes help convert the gas to sulfuric acid, which breaks down rock into clay. Some microorganisms use the hydrogen sulfide for energy.

Hydrogen sulfide gas is usually present, giving mudpots their characteristic odor of rotten eggs. Thermal water beneath the depression causes steam to rise through the ground, heating the collected surface water. Mudpots, like Red Spouter in Lower Geyser Basin shown here, are acidic features with a limited water supply.Ī mudpot is a natural double boiler! Surface water collects in a shallow, impermeable depression (usually due to a lining of clay) that has no direct connection to an underground water flow.

Fishing planet emerald lake raining