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Mammoth Hot Springs terraces. Hot water is the creative force of the terraces.Even though
Mammoth Hot Springs lie north of the caldera ring-fracture system, a fault trending north from Norris Geyser Basin, 21 miles (34 km) away, may connect
Mammoth Hot Springs to the hot water of that system. A system of small fissures carries water upward to create approximately 50 hot springs in the
Mammoth Hot Springs area. Another necessary ingredient for terrace growth is the mineral
calcium carbonate. Thick layers of
sedimentarylimestone, deposited millions of years ago by vast seas, lie beneath the Mammoth area. As ground water seeps slowly downward and laterally, it comes in contact with hot gases charged with
carbon dioxide rising from the
magma chamber. Some
carbon dioxide is readily dissolved in the hot water to form a weak carbonic acid solution. This hot, acidic solution dissolves great quantities of
limestone as it works up through the rock layers to the surface hot springs. Once exposed to the open air, some of the carbon dioxide escapes from solution. As this happens, limestone can no longer remain in solution. A solid mineral reforms and is deposited as the travertine that forms the terraces.Dead trees in the terraces of
Mammoth Hot Springs,
Yellowstone National Park grew during inactivity of the mineral-rich springs, and were killed when
calcium carbonate carried by spring water clogged the vascular systems of the trees.
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