Morning Glory Pool

The delicate blue water is created by thermophilic bacteria, which thrive in the pool's searing heat. Long a major tourist stop in Yellowstone National Park, the Morning Glory Pool suffers from inconsiderate visitors who have thrown coins, bottles, and trash into the pool for over a century. The trash has slowly built up and blocked some of the thermal vents and reduced the heat of the pool, allowing other bacteria to begin working their way in at the edges, creating a red and yellow ring around the pure blue center. While this rainbow hue is indeed beautiful, it is a fragile beauty, as the invasive yellow bacteria continues to close in. Occasionally, often following seismic activity, the pool erupts in a geyser. There is hope that these eruptions may clear the pool of trash. Attempts have been made to artificially induce geysers, but have met with mixed results.