POTD October 20, 2015: Roosevelt Hot Springs Geothermal Area, Beaver County, Utah

Someone dropped a box of yellow crayons in this hot water. Now, the algae and sulfur crystals can’t stop coloring! Just kidding, there’s no crayons in this natural color field.

10-20-15

Roosevelt Hot Springs Geothermal Area, Beaver County, Utah
Photographer: Mark Milligan; © 2015

Yellow sulfur crystals and various colors of bacteria and algae give these hissing steam vents and bubbling pools an otherworldly look. This landscape is a recent and evolving phenomenon resulting from changing groundwater levels associated with nearby geothermal power generation.