The Emergence of a New Thermal Area in Yellowstone
Abstract
Yellowstone National Park contains a multitude of thermal areas that are the surface expression of the deeper magmatic system; and they are always changing. They heat up, they cool down, and they can move around. Recently, we discovered a new example of these routine thermal changes - the emergence of an entirely new thermal area. The new thermal area is located near the northeast margin of the Sour Creek Dome, between Tern Lake and a previously mapped thermal area, conveniently called the Tern Lake thermal area. It is currently about 8 acres in size and located deep in the backcountry, about 0.8 km (0.5 mi) from the nearest trail, and about 18 km (11.2 mi) from the nearest trailhead, which is likely one of the reasons it had never been mapped. It was discovered in 2018 as a spatially anomalous area of warm pixels in a Landsat 8 nighttime thermal infrared image that was acquired in April 2017. The thermal anomaly did not coincide with any other previously mapped thermal features or lakes. A high resolution airborne visible image from August 2017 acquired by the National Agriculture Imagery Program revealed a large area of recently felled trees devoid of vegetation, and bright soil, similar to other thermal areas nearby. Archived satellite and airborne remote sensing data going back to the mid 1990s revealed that this thermal area started emerging around 2001. The identification of this emerging thermal area is a nice example of the importance of satellite thermal infrared imaging, especially data acquired at night, combined with high-resolution remote sensing for mapping, measuring, and monitoring Yellowstone's thermal areas. It is also an example of the dynamics we expect to observe within Yellowstone's hydrothermal system. This presentation will cover the analysis and interpretation of various remote sensing data sets used to discover and characterize this new thermal area and determine the timing of its emergence, as well as the results of the first field mapping excursion to this area in the summer of 2019.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFM.V24B..03V
- Keywords:
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- 4302 Geological;
- NATURAL HAZARDS;
- 7280 Volcano seismology;
- SEISMOLOGY;
- 8424 Hydrothermal systems;
- VOLCANOLOGY;
- 8488 Volcanic hazards and risks;
- VOLCANOLOGY