RHH's photos with the keyword: minerva terrace

This photo was taken at Minerva Terrace in Yellowstone National Park and is of a Killdeer looking for food in the hot water of the terrace. We've seen this before and have wondered why the heat does not keep them away, though it probably ensures a constant food source.

Hot water seeping up through the ground and dissolving the underlying limestone and then depositing it as travertine (calcium carbonate) forms these terraces as Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park. The various terraces and springs are constantly changing, even going dry at times, but there is usually geothermal activity somewhere in the terraces and this spring is often active.

Minerva Terrace is one of the hot springs of the lower terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park. Like many of these features it changes and even goes dry at times. It was very beautiful, as the photo and insets show, when we were there recently.