Knuckleheads scolded but not scalded...

Webcam Catches Tourists Walking on Old Faithful

Yellowstone magma plume...

bigger than thought.

Grizzly versus bison...

in Yellowstone National Park:  The Rest of the Story.

Hat tip:  RT.

The geology of Yellowstone...

explained in a terrific infographic.

Magma conduit beneath Yellowstone...

presented as a three-dimensional model by researchers at the University of Utah (click to enlarge). Here are general articles, here and here, that describe this recent work performed by the Seismology and Active Tectonics Research Group that used seismic and gravimetric data to create the plume model.

Amazingly, the conduit appears to be plumbed as deeply as 410 miles. The research also reveals this surprise:

"The study's of Yellowstone's plume also suggests the same "hotspot" that feeds Yellowstone volcanism also triggered the Columbia River "flood basalts" that buried parts of Oregon, Washington state and Idaho with lava starting 17 million years ago."

Image credit: UUSATRG.

Couldn't they hold it?

Yellowstone Workers Fired for Urinating in Old Faithful. Caught by an observant observer of this webcam!

You really can't make this stuff up.

RELATED: 1 in 5 Americans Admits Peeing in Pool

Signs along the trail...

at one of the geyser basins in Yellowstone National Park, pointing out the hazard of wandering off the boardwalk (click to enlarge.) Junior is cooked and Dad is oblivious to everything - he's on vacation.

Breaking news...

Minerva Terrace...

at Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park (click to enlarge,) is a picturesque example of travertine deposition resulting from the geothermal precipitation of calcium carbonate (calcite/limestone.) This is the type of mineral deposit that perhaps has been discovered on Mars, and if so, could be home to a microbial ecosystem. I snapped this image in August 2006.

Something else...

to worry about. Earlier this month it was reported that a flurry of earthquakes occurred at Yellowstone National Park. The press immediately seized upon the opportunity to speculate on the imminent eruption of the supervolcano.

Indeed, the Yellowstone caldera has a history of recurring eruptions on about a 600,000 year schedule, and we are about 640,000 years out from the Lava Creek event that created the present-day caldera and spewed tephra across a large part of the western US. A similar eruption would make the 1980 Mt. Saint Helen's event look like a diminutive firecracker for comparison.

I'm not losing any sleep over this, but then again, I don't live in Billings, Montana.