You're standing on the bank of a steaming, hot, brownish mixture of what appears to be mud and water. The breeze hits your face and you immediately smell a wretched stench equivalent to the permeating odor of week old rotten eggs. What could that be, you ask? Acid sulfate from a mud volcano. Volcano as in oozing lava? Not really, these mud volcanoes are different because heat and gas from deep in the old magma chamber rise up heating the ground water at the surface of the Earth. And if you think Geology is the only thing going on here, think again! Tiny micro organisms called extremophiles live in this high acidic, high temperature environment and convert the volcanic gases into Hydrogen Sulfide which in turn eats away at the Rhyolitic rocks turning them to clay which gives the water its brownish tint. Through Geology, Chemistry, and Biology, these mud volcanoes flourish in Yellowstone National Park.
How did these "chocolate volcanoes"get here, you ask?
Long ago, Yellowstone had a very gargantuan Rhyolitic eruption about six hundred and forty thousand years ago that covered two hundred square miles of debris and ash. That's the equivalent to two thirds of the United States! But don't think she's done yet! Deep below the Earths's crust,a very specific yet simple process is still occurring. Lots of heat and volcanic gases rise to the surface of the Earth through weak points in the thin crust. And what happens when water meats heat? The scientific term is called Hydrolysis but I would refer it to a bubbling cauldron of stinky Rhyolite micro organism soup! You want some? I wouldn't recommend it. This brown broth can sometimes reach temperatures of more than one hundred and fifty degrees Fahrenheit. Not to mention a few antacids wouldn't help the acidity or chemical burns you would get. If I were you, I'd stick to the picture taking.
Please view our educational video that features an active mud volcano in Yellowstone National Park
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