Скачать или смотреть Bacteria Mat & Silex Spring at Yellowstone National Park

The Bacteria Mat and Silex Spring are seen in the Lower Geyser basin of Yellowstone National Park in Teton County, Wyoming, USA on Aug. 12, 2013.

Copyright ©2014 Sanjib Dutta

Bacteria and other thermophiles (heat loving microorganisms) form the ribbons of color seen in Yellowstone. The green, brown and orange mats are cyanobacteria that can live in waters as hot as 167 F (73 C). At this temperature they are usually yellow-green. They become orange, rust, or brown as the water cools. In cooler water other thermophiles may appear that will modify the colors even more. Color may also change due to stress, such as the intense sunlight of mid summer.

Silex is Latin for silica. The spring's hot water dissolves large amounts of silica, the major component of volcanic rocks in the area. Silica, in the form of sinter, lines the bottom of Silex Spring. It forms terraces along the runoff channels and gives the spring its name Silex. Silex Spring overflows most of the year. This overflow creates a hot environment where thermophiles and bacteria thrive. Thermophiles become food different species of flies that live in and on the hot water. The flies then become food for mites, spiders, various insects and birds.

Yellowstone is the first and oldest national park in the world and is famous for its wildlife and geothermal features, especially Old Faithful Geyser. It has many types of ecosystems, but the subalpine forest is dominant. It is part of the South Central Rockies forests ecoregion.

With over 10,000 hydrothermal features that includes more than 300 geysers, Yellowstone is home to over one-half of the world's hydrothermal features.

Yellowstone National Park is located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872.

Yellowstone National Park: http://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm

http://www.nps.gov/features/yell/tour...

http://www.nps.gov/features/yell/tour...