Installation of a broadband seismometer, Yellowstone National Park

Photograph of U of U students installing a broadband seismometer, Yellowstone National Park

Photograph by Bob Smith, University of Utah, 2000.

University of Utah and University of Oregon students install a broadband seismometer as part of the Yellowstone Hotspot Geodynamics project in a gravel pit near Lewis Lake in 2000. Data from these temporarily deployed seismographs are used to monitor Yellowstone's earthquakes and to create seismic "CAT scans" of Yellowstone's crust and mantle magma plumbing chambers.

The Yellowstone seismic network (YSN) is operated cooperatively by University of Utah, the U.S. Geological Survey's Volcano Hazards program, and the National Park Service. The network covers the seismically and volcanically active Yellowstone National Park and surrounding area. It is designed for the purpose of monitoring volcano and geyser-related earthquake activity and for studying the subsurface processes of Yellowstone.