The following is an encore presentation of Everything Everywhere Daily.

Located in the state of Wyoming and a little bit of Montana and Idaho

lies one of the greatest national parks on earth, Yellowstone.

In the 19th century, Yellowstone was declared the first national park in the world.

However, what really makes Yellowstone special actually the first national park in the world. However, what really

makes Yellowstone special actually dates back millions of years. The geologic circumstances that

led to the creation of Yellowstone today make it one of the most visited parks in the world. Learn

more about Yellowstone, its history, and possible future on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

If you've been fortunate enough to visit Yellowstone, you know just how special of a place it is.

And if you haven't yet been to Yellowstone, you still probably know enough about it to realize its significance.

To understand why Yellowstone is so special, you have to understand the geology behind its creation.

The thing that makes Yellowstone what it is is known as a mantle plume, or a hot spot.

The earth is largely made up of three parts, the crust, the mantle, and the core.

The crust is very thin and cool, whereas the mantle is very thick and hot.

For the most part, the mantle is very thick and hot. For the most part,

the mantle and the crust are separate. However, there are a few places on the planet where a hot mantle plume will come up and poke through the crust. This is known as a hotspot. You're probably

familiar with other hotspots. When they occur in the ocean, they usually

create a chain of islands as the oceanic tectonic plate passes over the hotspot. The two most

famous ones are the Hawaiian Islands and the Canary Islands. However, when it occurs over a continental

tectonic plate, you obviously don't get a chain of islands.

The mantle plume will melt the continental crust, and instead of a chain of volcanic islands,

you just get a chain of volcanoes. In the case of Yellowstone, this movement created a track of

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