If you thought things were wild in the political realm right now, the earth would like to have a little chat with you. As the boys from Bachman-Turner Overdrive said, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
According to a report from Fox Weather, there was a massive hydrothermal explosion within Yellowstone National Park. Rocks shot into the sky, along with other debris and rained down all over the place, doing significant damage to a pedestrian boardwalk and forcing the closure of the whole area, officials with the U.S. Geological Survey stated on Tuesday.
Fox Weather reported the eruption took place at 10 in the morning local time at the area of Yellowstone known as Biscuit Basin. And now I want biscuits. Thanks, Yellowstone. Thanks a lot. A videos that captured the incident have been shared on social media, showing folks that were close by when the explosion took place, however, as of this writing, there are no reports of injuries.
According to the USGS, the Biscuit Basin parking lot and boardwalks are now temporarily closed for visitor safety. They noted that geologists are investigating the event. Hydrothermal explosions occur when water suddenly flashes to steam underground, and they are relatively common in Yellowstone, USGS officials said.
“It’s sort of an underappreciated hazard in the Yellowstone region,” Michael Poland, scientist-in-charge with the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory and geophysicist with the USGS, went on to say concerning the explosion.
He noted that Tuesday’s event was not connected to volcanic activity, which is often associated with the park.
“People focus on the volcanism there, but there’s no sign of any volcanic activity involved in this,” he added. “It was simply a geyser system, a hydrothermal system, that experienced changes underground that caused a lot of water to flush the heat.”
Worried this might be a sign of an impending volcanic eruption? Fear not, good citizens. The USGS says this incident does not indicate that we are about to be Pompeiied.
Staff from the park and the USGS are going to continue monitoring conditions and make an announcement when it’s safe to open the area back up to visitors.
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“Located about two miles northwest of Old Faithful, Biscuit Basin is named after what were biscuit-like features surrounding Sapphire Pool, according to the NPS. The USGS said an explosion similar to that of today also occurred in Biscuit Basin on May 17, 2009,” the report finished.
According to information contained on a website for Yellowstone National Park, the reason the area is called Biscuit Basin is because sinter deposits that were shaped like biscuits used to line the edge of Sapphire’s crater. It was given its name in the 1880s. During an earthquake in 1959, Sapphire erupted, which then dislodged the “biscuits.”
“Biscuit Basin contains a small collection of thermal features. Many, however, are small, gem-like encrusted pools and geysers, including Silver Globe Spring, Sapphire, and Black Opal pools, Jewel, Cauliflower, and Black Pearl geysers. The Firehole River and a highway divide the basin. A smaller group, located east of the river, contains mainly hot springs. Cauliflower Geyser is the main feature of this group, and it is identified by the cauliflower or biscuit-like sinter masses surrounding the crater,” the website said.