USGS Volcano Notice - DOI-USGS-YVO-2023-07-01T05:25:22-07:00

Recent Work and News

Steamboat Geyser experienced an eruption on June 9, bringing the total number of eruptions for the year to five.

The thermal features near Doublet Pool on Geyser Hill, not far from Old Faithful, that formed and became more active in late May continued their elevated activity into the start of June.  Activity diminished through the course of the month, but a small section of boardwalk between Sponge Geyser and Doublet Pool remains closed due to the proximity of thermal features that had been spattering hot water and some debris onto the pathway.  The activity is occurring in the same area as, and strongly resembles, that which occurred in 2018, and is common in Yellowstone National Park, providing an example of the dynamic nature of Yellowstone’s thermal areas.

Summer field work by Yellowstone Volcano Observatory scientists during June included maintenance on semi-permanent GPS sites, water sampling, and geological studies of hydrothermal explosion craters.  Field studies of the geological history of the Yellowstone region will continue throughout the month of July.

Seismicity

During June 2023, the University of Utah Seismograph Stations, responsible for the operation and analysis of the Yellowstone Seismic Network, located 78 earthquakes in the Yellowstone National Park region. The largest event of the month was a minor earthquake of magnitude 2.8 located about 17 miles north-northeast of Moran, Wyoming, on June 17 at 11:58 AM MDT.  

There were no swarms in the Yellowstone region during the month.

Yellowstone earthquake activity is currently at background levels.

Ground Deformation

During the month of June, continuous GPS stations in Yellowstone Caldera recorded a pause in long-term ground subsidence, which has been ongoing since 2015 at rates of a few centimeters (about 1–2 inches) per year. A small amount of seasonal uplift (less than 1 cm, or a small fraction of an inch) has been recorded as water from snowmelt and runoff percolates into the subsurface, causing the ground to swell like a wet sponge—a style of deformation that occurs each summer.  A GPS station near Norris Geyser Basin has recorded steady subsidence totaling about 3 cm (slightly more than 1 inch) since October 2022.

An example of GPS data can be found at http://www.unavco.org/instrumentation/networks/status/pbo/data/NRWY (click on Static Plots / Cleaned)