Skip Links

USGS HomeContact USGSSearch USGS

Professional Paper 1717

Pubs Warehouse

## Integrated Geoscience Studies in the Greater Yellowstone Area—Volcanic, Tectonic, and Hydrothermal Processes in the Yellowstone Geoecosystem

#### Edited by Lisa A. Morgan

| *Professional Paper 1717*              Table of Contents              PDF (1.8 MB)              Right-Click to 'Download' or 'Save As'*Professional Paper 1717*            Table of Contents              PDF (1.8 MB)              Right-Click to 'Download' or 'Save As'
The volume comprises text chapters (listed below and in column at right).

Yellowstone National Park, rimmed by a crescent of older mountainous terrain, has at its core the Quaternary Yellowstone Plateau, an undulating landscape shaped by forces of volcanism, tectonism, and later glaciation. Its spectacular hydrothermal systems cap this landscape. From 1997 through 2003, the United States Geological Survey Mineral Resources Program conducted a multidisciplinary project of Yellowstone National Park entitled Integrated Geoscience Studies of the Greater Yellowstone Area, building on a 130-year foundation of extensive field studies (including the Hayden survey of 1871, the Hague surveys of the 1880s through 1896, the studies of Iddings, Allen, and Day during the 1920s, and NASA-supported studies starting in the 1970s—now summarized in USGS Professional Paper 729 A through G) in this geologically dynamic terrain. The project applied a broad range of scientific disciplines and state-of-the-art technologies targeted to improve stewardship of the unique natural resources of Yellowstone and enable the National Park Service to effectively manage resources, protect park visitors from geologic hazards, and better educate the public on geologic processes and resources. This project combined a variety of data sets in characterizing the surficial and subsurface chemistry, mineralogy, geology, geophysics, and hydrothermal systems in various parts of the park.

The sixteen chapters presented herein in USGS Professional Paper 1717, *Integrated Geoscience Studies in the Greater Yellowstone Area—Volcanic, Tectonic, and Hydrothermal Processes in the Yellowstone Geoecosystem*, can be divided into four major topical areas: (1) geologic studies, (2) Yellowstone Lake studies, (3) geochemical studies, and (4) geophysical studies. The geologic studies include a paper by Ken Pierce and others on the influence of the Yellowstone hotspot on landscape formation, the ecological effects of the hotspot, and the human experience and human geography of the greater Yellowstone ecosystem as influenced by the Yellowstone hotspot. Another paper by Paul Carrara describes the recent movement of a large landslide block dated by tree-ring analyses in the Tower Falls area. The section under Yellowstone Lake studies begins with a classic paper by J. David Love and others on ancestral Lake Yellowstone. Other papers in this section include results and interpretation of the high-resolution bathymetric, seismic reflection, and submersible studies by Lisa Morgan and others. Ken Pierce and others describe results from their studies of shorelines along Yellowstone Lake and their interpretation of inflation-deflation cycles, tilting, and faulting in the Yellowstone caldera. The influence of sublacustrine hydrothermal vent fluids on the geochemistry of Yellowstone Lake is described by Laurie Balistrieri and others. In Pat Shanks and others’ chapter, hydrothermal reactions, stable-isotope systematics, sinter deposition, and spire formation are related to the geochemistry of sublacustrine hydrothermal deposits in Yellowstone Lake. The geochemical studies section considers park-wide geochemical systems in Yellowstone National Park. In Bob Rye and Alfred Truesdell’s paper, the question of recharge to the deep thermal reservoir underlying the geysers and hot springs of Yellowstone National Park is discussed. Irving Friedman and Dan Norton report on the chloride flux emissions from Yellowstone in their paper questioning whether Yellowstone is losing its steam. Wildlife issues as addressed by examining trace-element and stable-isotope geochemistry are discussed in a chapter by Maurice Chaffee and others. In another chapter by Chaffee and others, natural and anthropogenic anomalies and their potential impact on the environment using geochemistry is reported. Pam Gemery-Hill and others present geochemical data for selected rivers, lake waters, hydrothermal vents, and subaerial geysers for the time interval of 1996–2004. The life cycle of gold deposits near the northeast corner of the park is discussed by Brad Van Gosen. Under the geophysical studies segment, Ray Kokaly and others use AVIRIS (Airborne Visible and Infrared Spectroscopy) data to map vegetation cover and microbial communities in Yellowstone National Park. Eric Livo and others report their results using AVIRIS data on hydrothermally altered rock and hot-spring deposits. In his final paper following a half century of scientific research, Irving Friedman presents data on monitoring changes in geothermal activity at Norris Geyser Basin using satellite telemetry. These papers summarize a near-decade-long effort by the USGS from the late 1990s to mid-2000s. 

In 2001, the USGS in cooperation with the National Park Service (Yellowstone National Park) and the University of Utah established the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, the 5th volcano observatory in the United States.           | Version 1.0

Posted December 2007
-  **Table of Contents** PDF (1.8 MB)  The Table of Contents includes links to the chapters. 
- **Chapter A** PDF (10 MB)
- **Chapter B** PDF (601 kB)
- **Chapter C** PDF (2.8 MB)
- **Chapter D** PDF (8.8 MB)
- **Chapter E** PDF (2.6 MB)
- **Chapter F** PDF (3.8 MB)
- **Chapter G** PDF (11.7 MB)
- **Chapter H** PDF (1.3 MB)
- **Chapter I** PDF (1.6 MB)
- **Chapter J** PDF (1.6 MB)
- **Chapter K** PDF (4.8 MB)
- **Chapter L** PDF (4.6 MB)
- **Chapter M** PDF (2.6 MB)
- **Chapter N** PDF (2.1 MB)
- **Chapter O** PDF (2.3 MB)
- **Chapter P** PDF (4.3 MB) |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

----

**Suggested citation:**

Morgan, L.A., ed., 2007, Integrated geoscience studies in the greater Yellowstone area—Volcanic, tectonic, and hydrothermal processes in the Yellowstone geoecosystem: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1717, 532 p.

----

Front Matter (1.8 MB)—incudes a Volume Contents of PDF links, which is defined below:

### Volume Contents

#### Geologic Studies

Chapter A. The Yellowstone Hotspot, Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, and Human Geography 

Chapter B. Movement of a Large Landslide Block Dated by Tree-Ring Analysis, Tower Falls Area, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

#### Yellowstone Lake Studies

Chapter C. Reconnaissance Study of Pleistocene Lake and Fluvial Deposits In and Near Ancestral Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming

Chapter D. The Floor of Yellowstone Lake is Anything but Quiet—New Discoveries from High-Resolution Sonar Imaging, Seismic-Reflection Profiling, and Submersible Studies

Plate 1. Series of maps showing the evolution of mapping Yellowstone Lake over the past 130 years

Plate 2. Bathymetric map of Yellowstone Lake

Plate 3. High-resolution bathymetric images in the northern part of Yellowstone Lake

Chapter E. Postglacial Inflation-Deflation Cycles, Tilting, and Faulting  in the Yellowstone Caldera Based on Yellowstone Lake Shorelines

Chapter F. The Influence of Sublacustrine Hydrothermal Vent Fluids on the Geochemistry  of Yellowstone Lake

Chapter G. Geochemistry of Sublacustrine Hydrothermal Deposits in Yellowstone Lake— Hydrothermal Reactions, Stable-Isotope Systematics, Sinter Deposition, and Spire Formation

#### Geochemical Studies

Chapter H. The Question of Recharge to the Deep Thermal Reservoir Underlying the Geysers and Hot Springs of Yellowstone National Park 

Chapter I. Is Yellowstone Losing Its Steam?—Chloride Flux Out  of Yellowstone National Park

Chapter J. Applications of Trace-Element and Stable-Isotope Geochemistry to Wildlife Issues, Yellowstone National Park and Vicinity

Chapter K. Environmental Geochemistry in Yellowstone National Park— Natural and Anthropogenic Anomalies and Their Potential Impact on the Environment

Chapter L. Geochemical Data for Selected Rivers, Lake Waters, Hydrothermal Vents, and Subaerial Geysers in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming and Vicinity, 1996–2004

Chapter M. The Life Cycle of Gold Deposits Near the Northeast Corner of Yellowstone National Park—Geology, Mining History, and Fate

#### Geophysical Studies

Chapter N. Spectral Analysis of Absorption Features for Mapping Vegetation Cover and Microbial Communities in Yellowstone National Park Using AVIRIS Data

Chapter O. Hydrothermally Altered Rock and Hot-Spring Deposits at Yellowstone National Park— Characterized Using Airborne Visible- and Infrared-Spectroscopy Data

Chapter P. Monitoring Changes in Geothermal Activity at Norris Geyser Basin by Satellite Telemetry, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

----

Download the latest version of Acrobat Reader, free of charge
access.adobe.com

AccessibilityFOIAPrivacyPolicies and Notices

U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey	URL: *http://pubsdata.usgs.gov/pubs/pp/1717/index.html*	Questions or Assistance: Contact USGS	Last modified: Thursday, 01-Dec-2016 16:15:55 EST