The First Instrumentally Detected Hydrothermal Explosion in Yellowstone National Park

Abstract

Hydrothermal explosions are one of the geological hazards most likely to impact people in Yellowstone National Park, but their frequency is poorly known. Infrasound and seismic sensors identified an explosion in Norris Geyser Basin on 15 April 2024, at 14:56 MDT (20:56 UTC)—the first instrumentally detected hydrothermal explosion in the Yellowstone region. The event affected an area tens of meters across, resulting in fractured ground, a shallow explosion crater, and a field of ejecta. There were no immediate geophysical precursors, but in the preceding years elevated discharge of thermal water altered the color, temperature, and level of a nearby small lake. Expanded seismo-acoustic monitoring in Yellowstone National Park could be useful for detecting small hydrothermal explosions and constraining their frequency, magnitude, energy release, and locations—information that could be used to better assess and mitigate hazards for the millions of people that visit the park each year.