Week 4 - Volcanoes - Peter Hoffman

    The first time I visited Yellowstone National Park, volcanoes were the furthest thing from my mind.  In fact, I thought it was just another camp ground with some hot springs that you couldn't go in because they were too hot or filled with caustic chemicals.

Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park courtesy of www.pexels.com

However, having now been educated by this class I see how oblivious I was to the very obvious factors that clearly show that it is a place of volcanic activity.  The most obvious of these is the caldera which our textbook, Lutgens, F. K, Tarbuck, E. J., & Tasa, D. (2016). Essentials of Geology (13th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall (Pearson); points out.  The massive scope of this caldera(s) is also shown in this image courtesy of Wikipedia:

Map of Yellowstone's calderas courtesy of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_Caldera

As well, the geysers, hot springs, and mud pots are also indicators of some sort of heating from below that points to volcanic activity.

Old Faithful Geyser, courtesy of Yellowstone National Park

Some of the others factors were things that would not be obvious to someone who hadn't taken a course in geology perhaps, such as Tuff Cliff, which at this point should be obvious in it's ties to volcanic activity.

The impact of another eruption would appear to be very devastating according to Lutgens and Tarbuck, as the reach of previous eruptions has been widespread.