The story behind the photo: Here we have a close up of a part of Minerva Terrace at Mammoth Hot Springs. As was often the case in 1998 when this photograph was taken, Loree took the photo while I took notes on the thermal feature. The ridge on top with the white icicle-like formations is what grabbed our attention. It looked like a steamy overflowing chemist's brew, or a frothy beer. The orange you see in the terrace is algae. Different colors of algae live at different temperatures of water. In the Mound Terrace that is gray behind you can see that there is no color, evidence that the terrace is currently inactive. One of the wonders of Mammoth Hot Springs, like so many thermal features in Yellowstone is that what you see one year, or even one month, will be quite different from what you see the next month. So, what you see here may already be quite different.
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