Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Seltzer.” You could stir the water with a stick for the same result. Please remember that throw-
ing anything into a thermal feature not only destroys its beauty but is illegal. The phenomen-
on happens because any disturbance causes a bubbling reaction in superheated water, that is,
water whose temperature is hotter than the boiling point.
The small creek flowing from the east under the road near Surprise Pool is named White
Creek for the white sinter deposits lining it. Geologists have found that no cold water flows
into the creek, since any rainwater in the area must percolate through hot ground before it
reaches the stream. The White Creek thermal area is now closed to visitation due to excessive
use of this sensitive area.
DNA Fingerprinting Started Here!
A team of biologists led by Dr. Thomas Brock found an extremely important
thermophilic,
or heat-loving, bacterium in a hot spring near here in 1965. The bacterium is
hermus
aquaticus.
An enzyme called
Taq polymerase
derived from this bacterium has contributed
to medical diagnosis and to DNA fingerprinting. This enzyme is useful specifically because
of its unusually high heat stability.
Now many researchers are bioprospecting throughout Yellowstone's
hydrothermal
areas
for other thermophiles that may prove useful or even help to solve the mystery of the
origin of life on earth.
(1.0)
Great Fountain Geyser**
ranks today as one of the four highest-spouting active gey-
sers in Yellowstone and in the world. While eruptions of the others—Steamboat Geyser at
Norris Geyser Basin and Giant and Beehive Geysers at Upper Geyser Basin—are unpredict-
able, Great Fountain is fortunately quite predictable. Eruptions usually range between 100 and
150 feet (30-45 m) high, but may go higher in an occasional superburst. The average interval
between eruptions is now about 12 hours. The next predicted eruption time is usually listed at
Old Faithful Visitor Education Center as well as at the geyser.
