Horrible Today: USGS Sends Devastating Warn | Something bad is happening beneath Yellowstone Volcano

A team of scientists visited a new thermal region near Tern Lake to take gas samples and measure temperatures. The results of their work provide a picture of how the thermal regions in Yellowstone developed. Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators from the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week's contribution comes from Sara Peek, a geochemist with the U.S. Geological Survey.
Thermal areas, where heat from Yellowstone's magmatic system meets the Earth's surface, are part of Yellowstone's dynamic landscape. Some of these thermal areas are old and cooling, such as the Brimstone Basin on the southeastern edge of Yellowstone Lake, but others are quite young and robust, such as the new thermal areas near Tern Lake. This thermal region was first identified using satellite thermal data, and its evolution can be seen in aerial photos and satellite imagery.
Yellowstone Volcano Observatory scientists made initial visits to the newly discovered thermal area in 2019, identifying zones of dead trees and hot fields, but also noting vegetation regrowth in some areas. The team also noted steam coming out of the ground across thermal areas and areas of surface sulfur deposition, so follow-up expeditions are planned to characterize the gas emissions. There were two objectives for this visit: measuring the total amount of volcanic gas released from the thermal area, and determining the composition of the gas.