What is the water temperature of Grand Prismatic Spring?

Grand Prismatic Hot Spring in the Midway Geyser Basin Its temperature is near boiling, ranging in different spots from 63 to 87 degrees Celsius (145.4 to 188.6 degrees Fahrenheit). The dramatic colors are an interplay of physics, chemistry and biology.



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It's all thanks to the heat-loving bacteria that call the spring home. Hot springs form when heated water emerges through cracks in the Earth's surface.

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1. Norris Geyser Basin, Yellowstone. This tallest geyser in the world set the highest temperature ever recorded in the park. It's so far above sea level that the boiling point is 199°F rather than the sea-level 212°, but a hole drilled by scientists to 1,087 feet deep found a temperature of 459°F.

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Abyss Pool is one of the deepest hot springs in the park, descending 53 feet (16 m).

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Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone's largest hot spring, is 200-330 feet in diameter and more than 121 feet deep. Limited parking, especially 10 am-6 pm. Located in Midway Geyser Basin.

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The colors of Grand Prismatic Spring come from thermophiles: microbes that thrive in scalding water. The green is chlorophyll they use to absorb sunlight.

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Frying Pan Lake (renamed Waimangu Cauldron in 1963 though not widely used) is the world's largest hot spring. It is located in the Echo Crater of the Waimangu Volcanic Rift Valley, New Zealand and its acidic water maintains a temperature of about 50 to 60 °C (122–140 °F).

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The largest, and one of the most spectacular, springs in the park is the Grand Prismatic Spring. It is 90 meters (300 feet) across and 50 meters (160 feet) deep.

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Photograph of the Old Faithful Geyser erupting in Yellowstone National Park. Waters from Old Faithful contain arsenic concentrations of about 1,500 µg/L. Arsenic is a geogenic, or naturally occurring, chemical element in surface- and groundwaters that is of great public-health concern.

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But Yellowstone's thermal features don't flow cold water like you're used to. Don't touch any water in or around thermal features. Never swim, soak, or wade in thermal features.

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