Way Above Norris - Aerial Photography of the Norris Geyser Basin

In September 2005, USGS/YVO Postdoctoral Fellow Brita Graham Wall used a radio-controlled camera, attached to a helium-filled balloon to take photos from the sky above the Norris Geyser Basin. Brita used these photos to gain insight into the distribution of cracks and fractures that feed the hot springs at Norris. Some of the photos are truly spectacular, and we hope you enjoy them.

Norris Basin Aerial Photography

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Looking northwest from the south end of the Norris Back Basin. The Gallatin Range is in the distance.

Boardwalk near Echinus Geyser. Two tethers attach the balloon to the ground.

Oxidized iron helps color the rocks at Echinus Geyser.

Fine particles of colloidal silica, color the otherwise clear waters of a pool at Porcelain Basin.

New trees grow in a forest of downed timbers.

Two streams converge near "The Gap".

A 100-m-diameter lake fills a hydrothermal explosion crater (Holocene age) north of "The Gap".

Tantalus Creek braids its way through the Norris Geyser Basin. Its green color is due to photosynthetic bacteria.

Near Hundred Springs Plain. Cinder Pool is visible in the bottom right.

The Reservoir is a warm lake near Hundred Springs Plain.

View east over The Reservoir toward Hundred Springs Plain.

Tantalus Creek exits The Reservoir on its way to the Gibbon River.

Porkchop Geyser erupted explosively in 1989, forming a 5-m-diameter pool within the Norris Back Basin.

The YVO balloon flies high over Norris.

Brita and Kathryn Flynn prepare to deploy the balloon.

Tantalus Creek, which carries about 95% of the surface flow at Norris, flows north into the Back Basin.

Porcelain Basin and Whirlgig Geyser. The green color of the stream is due to photosynthetic bacteria.



Additional information about Norris can be found in the following YVO articles and resources.