Hydrothermal Explosion Causes Damage in Yellowstone National Park

A hydrothermal explosion in Yellowstone National Park damaged a boardwalk and sent debris several stories into the air on Tuesday morning in the Biscuit Basin area, northwest of Old Faithful, according to Michael Poland, Scientist-in-Charge at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.

The “small” explosion occurred around 10 a.m., approximately 2.1 miles northwest of Old Faithful, likely originating from the Black Diamond Pool in Biscuit Basin, Poland reported.

No injuries have been reported, Poland stated in an information release early Tuesday afternoon.

Videos posted online by witnesses showed several people on the boardwalk near the explosion site, with debris scattered across the area and a damaged boardwalk in the aftermath.

For safety, Biscuit Basin’s parking lot and boardwalks are temporarily closed. Yellowstone National Park geologists are investigating the explosion and have found no unusual volcanic activity.

“Monitoring data show no changes in the Yellowstone region. Today’s explosion does not reflect activity within the volcanic system, which remains at normal background levels of activity,” Poland said in a statement. “Hydrothermal explosions like today’s are not a sign of impending volcanic eruptions and are not caused by magma rising towards the surface.”

Poland explained that such explosions occur when water rapidly turns to steam underground and are “relatively common” in Yellowstone National Park. Similar explosions occurred in Biscuit Basin in May 2009 and in Norris Geyser Basin in April 2015 and 1989.

Hydrothermal explosions can send boiling water, steam, mud, and rock into the air, reaching heights up to 1.2 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. A 2018 report indicated that large hydrothermal explosions happen on average every 700 years, with at least 25 craters in the park measuring at least 328 feet wide.

“Although large hydrothermal explosions are rare events on a human timescale, the potential for future events in Yellowstone National Park is significant,” the report states. “Based on occurrences over the past 16,000 years, an explosion large enough to create a 328-foot wide crater might be expected every few hundred years.”

Following an earthquake in July 2006, Black Diamond Pool erupted black, murky water and experienced “several explosive eruptions” in the subsequent days, though eruptions have since been infrequent. Its average temperature is 148.5 degrees Fahrenheit.

Yellowstone National Park’s public affairs office referred the Daily Montanan to the news release from the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory and indicated that no further information was available early Tuesday afternoon.

The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory will release more information as it becomes available.