travertine terraces
This collection features the iconic but ever changing travertine terraces of Mammoth - Hot Springs in Yellowstone. “Travertine” - a form of limestone deposit (calcium carbonate) unique to Mammoth Hot Springs - forms as the result of a local chemical-thermal oddity. The oddity occurs when the rising hot-springs water releases carbon dioxide at the moment it emerges from the subsurface causing the soluble limestone in the water to immediately precipitate into a chalky white rock. The coloring comes from algae growing in the runoff area.
Near surface channels that bring water to the surface, are, over time, weakening the overlying travertine terraces, leading to their eventual collapse and destruction. Some of the iconic structures present for hundreds of years, and photographed here, sadly, no longer exist, having recently collapsed of their own weight.
