Yellowstone Officials Reveal Cause of Recent Explosion
After a dramatic blast witnessed by tourists at Yellowstone National Park, many were left questioning its cause. Was it volcano-related? Could it be a sign of the “next big one?” Park officials have now provided answers. Here’s what you need to know about the explosion.
On Tuesday morning, a hydrothermal explosion erupted, launching a towering column of boiling water, mud, and rock into the air at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. The blast destroyed a section of boardwalk and sent dozens of tourists running for safety. Fortunately, no injuries were reported, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), but the affected area remained closed to the public.
The explosion occurred around 10 a.m. in the Biscuit Basin area of the park. Several tourists captured the event on video, and in one clip, an adult, Vlada March, can be heard shouting at her two children to run.
Ms. March, a tourist who recorded the event on her cellphone, described the scene while on a guided tour with her family. The guide had pointed out steam rising from the ground, noting its unusual nature. “I took out my phone like everyone does,” she said. “Suddenly it became a huge, dark cloud full of rocks. It covered the sun; for a few moments, you couldn’t see the sun it was so dark.”
Ms. March, from Palm Desert, California, recalled shouting for her two young sons to run and frantically searching for her 70-year-old mother, who had temporarily disappeared from sight. When her mother reappeared, she was covered in ash from head to toe.
The explosion took place a couple of miles north of the Old Faithful Geyser, which regularly shoots steam into the sky. “This is quite a bit different than Old Faithful,” said Michael Poland, the scientist in charge at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. He explained that the hydrothermal event occurred near Black Diamond Pool in Biscuit Basin.
Explosions like this happen when water suddenly turns to steam in the underground "plumbing" of the park’s hydrothermal system, Mr. Poland said. Such changes can be triggered by major events like earthquakes, but that was not the case here. Instead, a very localized change in the plumbing system caused pressure to build and led to the explosion.
Similar explosions have occurred in the Norris Geyser Basin earlier this year and at Biscuit Basin in 2009.
In a statement, USGS officials assured that the incident was not connected to any change in volcanic activity. Hydrothermal explosions in the park are fairly common, occurring as often as twice a year, frequently in the backcountry, but they often go undetected except by monitoring equipment. This explosion, however, was fully documented by tourists with smartphones. “It’s really quite dramatic,” Mr. Poland said of the footage.
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