YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — As my little family stood in the cold recently waiting for Old Faithful to erupt, during our first visit to Yellowstone, a small crowd gathered, filling most of the benches in a large semicircle facing the geothermal wonder.
Our toddler whined, and I couldn't help but wonder if the wait was worth it. Small amounts of water shot up, and we kept wondering, "Is this it?"
But then, it became clear what the big deal is and why a whole hub of tourism arose around it. If you haven't seen it in person, I would highly recommend a trip. Videos and words don't really do it justice.
Turns out Old Faithful has a significantly less graceful but still pretty amazing cousin.
The Black Diamond Pool in Yellowstone has been erupting with muddy-looking water ever since a hydrothermal explosion happened in July 2024, according to USGS Volcanoes. The agency shared a video of one of the eruptions that happened on Dec. 20 at 9:23 a.m.
The USGS said the eruptions reach 30-40 feet in the air and have been difficult to capture on video.
"This past summer, a new camera and seismic/acoustic monitoring station were installed in Biscuit Basin. These instruments, along with temperature sensors maintained by the Yellowstone National Park Geology Program, provide better ability to detect and characterize these eruptions," USGS said in the post.
Over the past few weeks there have been several such events, mostly at night or when the camera was obscured by ice — they were audible, but not visible," the agency said.
But on Dec. 20, the agency finally got a "nice clear view" of one of the "dirty eruptions."
"A great example of the style of activity that has been occurring at Black Diamond Pool over the past 19 months!" USGS said.
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Correction: A previous version incorrectly listed dates of the initial hydrothermal explosion and the one on Dec. 20.
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Ashley Imlay
