General View of Norris Geyser Basin, Yellowstone Nat. Park, Wyo.

Publication

General View of Norris Geyser Basin, Yellowstone Nat. Park, Wyo.

Description

GENERAL VIEW OF NORRIS GEYSER BASIN, YELLOWSTONE NAT. PARK, WYO. Perhaps the most awe-inspiring spectacle we have yet seen is the Norris Geyser Basin as we look upon it from the low hills surrounding it. Over acres of level ground extend shallow expanses of hot waters, broken here and there by the boiling, bubbling and spouting of manay geysers and active springs and pools whose steam ascends in clouds toward the heavens. Individually they are not as imposing as many of the monsters in the Upper and Lower Basins, but collectively they are quite impressive enough for a beginning to the visitor who has never seen geysers in action before. The Norris Basin is of quite recent origin and its activity, in general, is steadily increasing. In the comparatively few decades during which it has been under observation some of its geysers have become extinct or at least temporarily inactive, but others, sometimes more powerful, have replaced them. There are between 35 and 40 principal geysers and active springs and pools in the Norris Basin, the ones best known including the Constant, Whirligig, Minute Man, Monarch, New Crater and Vixen Geysers; Congress and Iris Pools; the Grindstone and Opal Springs, the Mud Geyser and Black Growler steam vent. Black Growler is by far the hottest vent in the Park, with the temperature of 284° F. Steam and sulphur fumes from new vents have killed many trees, whose whitened skeletons still stand in their vicinity and the sinter crust on the ground is so thin in places that it is safest for visitors to keep on the board walks laid over the basin. (View looking S. W. Elev. 7,500 ft. Lat. 45° N.; Long. 111° W.)