Yellowstone Reveals A Stunning New Blue Thermal Pool

• New thermal feature at Norris Basin In Yellowstone National Park
• The water comes in around 109 degrees
• The water is light blue

Yellowstone National Park Geologists Find a New Thermal Feature

In April 2025, geologists from Yellowstone National Park were doing routine maintenance at the North Geyser Basin when they discovered something brand new: a whole new blue water pool.

The geologists had not visited the North Geyser Basin since fall 2024. On this visit, they discovered a new pool in the Porcelain Basin sub-basin of Norris Geyser Basin. It is located west of Tree Island in Yellowstone.

There Wasn’t One Event That Caused the Pool

Yellowstone’s geologists have concluded that this new pool was not formed by one big event, like the one last year at Biscuit Basin.

Get our free mobile app

They believe it most likely formed due to a series of smaller events occurring over a short period of time: first rocks were thrown, then silica mud, and eventually the pit filled with silica-rich water.

Geologists believe the pool began to form around December 25, 2024, with the ground continuing to change into February 2025.

via GIPHY

Some Pools Are Formed by One Explosive Event

Some of Yellowstone’s well-known features were formed by single, dramatic events, such as:

• A new thermal feature in North Geyser Basin formed by an explosion on April 15, 2025

• The feature at Biscuit Basin near Old Faithful, caused by an explosion on July 23, 2024, famously witnessed by a large crowd of tourists

Source: USGS, USGS

More from this author