Diving into Yellowstone's Hidden Depths

A murky photo returned from a 1985 expedition is one of the few existing images of Yellowstone Lake's hydrothermal features. (Image: Bob Landis // Global Foundation for Ocean Exploration) 2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, a milestone that has set off a year of celebration for what historian Wallace Stegner called “the best idea we ever had.” The first park, Yellowstone, predates the Service itself, and despite its 4.1 million yearly visitors that are putting real stress on a highly interconnected ecosystem, certain portions of the park remain a nearly unadulterated wilderness. One of these sites is the floor of Yellowstone Lake, a 350 square-kilometer body of water that reaches depths of 120 meters. And while much of Yellowstone’s thermal activity manifests on the surface - think rainbow-colored hot springs, gooey mudpots that smell of sulfur, and spurting geysers - the same forces create heated water ...