The carbon dioxide makes the water slightly acidic allowing it to dissolve and carry large amounts of limestone in solution as it flows underground to Mammoth. Once the water reaches the surface, the carbon dioxide is released and the limestone falls out of solution and is deposited as travertine terraces. This deposition can be quite rapid, sometimes being measured in feet per year. By comparison, sinter deposits in the Upper Geyser Basin are measured in inches per hundred years. As might be expect from such rapid deposition, water flows at Mammoth are constantly being redirected.
Water is the life blood of the terraces.
When the water stops, they dry up and disintegrate. Thus, the activity at Mammoth changes quickly. There are few places that geologic changes occur so quickly. As of July 1997, the best activity at Mammoth was at Minerva Terrace and at Canary Spring . Both of these must-see attractions are located on the Main Terrace.