I'm Jason Epperson. This is Parkography, and it's time for the latest in National Park and Public Lands News.

First up, a dramatic hydrothermal explosion at Yellowstone National Park's Biscuit Basin last summer

sent visitors scrambling and launched debris hundreds of feet into the air,

prompting a long-term closure of the area and a continuing

scientific investigation into ongoing geothermal hazards. Well, now a webcam has been

installed in the still-closed area, and it's already caught major activity. The original

explosion occurred on the morning of July 23, 2024, when Black Diamond Pool,

a hot spring located approximately two miles northeast of Old Faithful, unexpectedly erupted.

The explosion created a massive plume of steam and debris, rising an estimated 400 to 600 feet,

and scattered rocks across a wide area, destroying a section of the boardwalk

that brings visitors through the popular thermal feature. According to scientists with the

Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, the materials ejected included glacial debris, sandstone,

and siltstone, all of which are common in the basin's shallow subsurface geology.

The absence of deeper rhyolite bedrock among the debris suggests that the explosion

originated less than 100 feet below the surface. Also found were chunks of silica, a naturally

occurring mineral that can coat underground hot water conduits and trap pressure until it releases

explosively. In the months following the incident, scientists from multiple institutions

installed a network of temporary monitoring equipment, including trail cameras, seismometers,

acoustic sensors, and electromagnetic instruments. These tools have helped document at least

two smaller

eruptions since the main blast, one observed by researchers collecting gas

samples on November 5th and another seen by a tour group on January 3rd. Both

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