Today was the field trip to Yellowstone. We had to leave Ollie alone at camp, but I was allowed to bring Cara along. It’s about 2 hours from Bozeman to Yellowstone, so we all piled in the big vans and were on our way. The trip down was fairly uneventful. When we got there, we were surprised to see how much had grown back since the 88 fires. If you’ve been watching the news you’ve probably seen 20 year retrospectives on what’s happened over the years.
(Fair falls, where we had lunch)
The focus of the trip wasn’t botany though, so we didn’t investigate fire damage much. Instead we concentrated on the Archaea living in the thermal pools. I’ll post pictures when I have a chance, but until then I’ll briefly describe. The center of the pools are clear and blue; the area a little further out is yellow, followed by red, and finally green. For a long time people thought that the pools were too hot for organisms to live, so the bright colors must be minerals dissolved in the water. But in the 70’s scientists questioned the assumption and found a host of organisms living in the pools. I don’t have my lab notebook in front of me, but briefly the orange/red color is Xanthophyll, a protective pigment made by certain species to prevent “sunburn” (UV protection). The green color is where the water is cool enough for the regular algae to live. The clear blue water at the center of the pool is where it truly is too hot for anything to live.
(Top and bottom of the same algal mat. Notice that the top is red, for UV protection, while the bottom is still green because it's shaded.)
The hike was 6 or 7 miles, at 7000 feet, so we were pretty tired by the end. Just before we got back to the parking lot we crossed a river. The water came in part from hot springs, so it was warm enough to swim in! I swam for a while, getting close to the outflow of a hot spring so it felt like a hot tub. It was a good way to finish off a long hike!
When we got back to Bozeman, we started getting nervous. There was evidence of a storm—leaves and branches in the street , and even trees fallen down. When we got back to camp we found out there had been hail the size of golf balls and 80 mph winds. Our tarp (which had been tied down through 8 eyelets) was ripped to shreds, and the plastic dishes we had left on the table were shattered from the force of the hail. Everything was soaked, including the cat. He was pretty scared, but fortunately he was ok. He was REALLY glad to get back in the back of the truck! The most serious damage we sustained was the brand new tent, which got 4 or 5 rips 2” long. We’ll have to get that repaired or replaced when we get back to MA.
(Fair falls, where we had lunch)The focus of the trip wasn’t botany though, so we didn’t investigate fire damage much. Instead we concentrated on the Archaea living in the thermal pools. I’ll post pictures when I have a chance, but until then I’ll briefly describe. The center of the pools are clear and blue; the area a little further out is yellow, followed by red, and finally green. For a long time people thought that the pools were too hot for organisms to live, so the bright colors must be minerals dissolved in the water. But in the 70’s scientists questioned the assumption and found a host of organisms living in the pools. I don’t have my lab notebook in front of me, but briefly the orange/red color is Xanthophyll, a protective pigment made by certain species to prevent “sunburn” (UV protection). The green color is where the water is cool enough for the regular algae to live. The clear blue water at the center of the pool is where it truly is too hot for anything to live.
(Top and bottom of the same algal mat. Notice that the top is red, for UV protection, while the bottom is still green because it's shaded.)The hike was 6 or 7 miles, at 7000 feet, so we were pretty tired by the end. Just before we got back to the parking lot we crossed a river. The water came in part from hot springs, so it was warm enough to swim in! I swam for a while, getting close to the outflow of a hot spring so it felt like a hot tub. It was a good way to finish off a long hike!
When we got back to Bozeman, we started getting nervous. There was evidence of a storm—leaves and branches in the street , and even trees fallen down. When we got back to camp we found out there had been hail the size of golf balls and 80 mph winds. Our tarp (which had been tied down through 8 eyelets) was ripped to shreds, and the plastic dishes we had left on the table were shattered from the force of the hail. Everything was soaked, including the cat. He was pretty scared, but fortunately he was ok. He was REALLY glad to get back in the back of the truck! The most serious damage we sustained was the brand new tent, which got 4 or 5 rips 2” long. We’ll have to get that repaired or replaced when we get back to MA.
(This is a biology joke, for those so inclined, on a t-shirt.)
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