Yellowstone Hydrothermal Blast Creates 6.5x5.3-Meter Boiling Pool After June 13 Explosion
Updated
Updated · USGS (.gov) · Jun 22
Yellowstone Hydrothermal Blast Creates 6.5x5.3-Meter Boiling Pool After June 13 Explosion
3 articles · Updated · USGS (.gov) · Jun 22
Summary
A 6.5-by-5.3-meter pool of boiling gray water formed in Biscuit Basin between June 14 and June 16, where geologists had walked two days earlier near the middle vent group.
At 5:09 a.m. MDT on June 13, monitoring instruments and a camera captured a small hydrothermal explosion north of Black Diamond Pool, after near-boiling subsurface water flashed to steam through newly opened vents.
Three vent areas fed water and sediment into the Firehole River; the largest active crack measured 18.5 meters long and up to 1.5 meters wide, with 90 C water still flowing the next day.
The new pool appears to have formed by collapse rather than a fresh blast, and by June 18 it was intermittently spouting 6 to 9 meters while otherwise roiling and thumping.
No one was hurt because Biscuit Basin has remained closed since the larger 2024 explosion, and scientists say the event's proximity to a 2025 monitoring station could help identify future warning signs.