The Yellowstone
River, is a tributary of the Missouri
River, approximately 692 miles (1,114 km) long, in the western United
States. In 1871, eleven years after his
failed first effort, Ferdinand V. Hayden was finally able to make another
attempt to explore the region. With government sponsorship, Hayden returned to
Yellowstone region with a second, larger expedition, the Hayden Geological
Survey of 1871. His report helped to convince the U.S. Congress to withdraw
this region from public auction. In Mar
1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed
The Act of Dedication law that created
Yellowstone National Park.
When
the train moves slowly nearer Rajahmundry over river Godavari – people would
throw coins as offerings in to the river.
This is quite a familiar scene in Krishna bridge, Rameswaram cantilever
bridge and in many other places over waters considered sacred. In a visit to the Golden temple, near Vellore
observed that the waters surrounding the main temple precincts had their floors
covered with coins put as offerings. One
can also find visiting cards inserted on the walls and other crevices of many
temples.
Hayden and his 1871 party recognized that
Yellowstone was a priceless treasure, which would become rarer with time. He
wished for others to see and experience it as well. Eventually the railroads
and, some time after that, the automobile would make that possible. Yellowstone National Park is a national park located primarily in the
U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho. Yellowstone, widely held to be the first
national park in the world, is known for
its wildlife and its many geothermal features, especially Old Faithful Geyser,
one of the most popular features in the park.
Hundreds of species of mammals, birds, fish and reptiles have been
documented, including several that are either endangered or threatened.
The Yellowstone
Park bison herd is the oldest and largest public bison herd in the United
States. In Sept. 14, there was news that
the Park has plans to reduce its bison population this winter by as many as 900
head, or a fifth of the herd, by killing off those animals that stray from the
park in what would be the largest such culling in seven years ! The plan was unveiled a day after conservationists
filed a legal petition demanding the Obama administration end annual culling
exercises that have resulted in thousands of Yellowstone bison being shipped
off to American Indian tribes for slaughter during the past decade. In recent years, wayward bison have been
removed through a combination of special round-ups and hunting. That would leave the size of last pure-bred band of free-ranging
bison, to 4,000 animals from an
estimated 4,900. Months later, now, Managers of Yellowstone National Park bison
said Monday they are considering changes to policies that have seen thousands
of purebred buffalo from the nation's last wild herd bison killed since 2000 to
stem transmission of a disease to cattle. Montana cattlemen fear wandering
bison exposed to brucellosis, a disease first brought to the park by domestic
livestock, will infect their cows, causing them to abort their young and
endangering the state's brucellosis-free status. Government and tribal managers
are considering six alternative management options submitted by agencies
including the state of Montana and the National Park Service.
This is
no post on culling but on the ‘luck coins’ now blamed for permanently
destroying Yellowstone hot spring turning it Green. It may look like a stunning rainbow of
colour, but the psychedelic hue of this hot spring in Yellowstone National
Park, is a result of years of unintended vandalism by visitors, reports
MailOnline.
Once
a brilliant shade of blue, the Morning Glory pool's appearance has altered
dramatically since the 1950s, thanks to an accumulation of coins, rubbish and
natural debris. The pool has been dubbed the Fading Glory, due to the
transformation from its original colour to the yellowy-green hue it has today.
The popular tourist attraction sees three
million visitors flock to gaze at its psychedelic waters in Wyoming, USA. The
site first gained popularity in the 1940s when a million tourists would visit
the site. The fierce colours are
influenced by how light interacts with the water’s depth, with yellow and
orange colours in the shallows and green in the deep waters. The rainbow hot spring has been clogged up
with debris, which block the heat vents, and affecting the water circulation in
the pool.
The first photo is of 1940 and the one above
is recent looks
It is estimated
that the destruction of the hot spring has been building up for decades. Research by Montana State University and
Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences in Germany helped to create a model
that could depict the hot spring's colours from over a century ago, when it was
less frequented by visitors. Now nearly three million tourists flock to
Yellowstone National Park, compared to the one million in the 1940s, which has
led to the build-up of debris in the pool. As the underwater vents started to get clogged
up, water circulation was affected, decreasing the temperature of the waters
and causing a migration of the orange-coloured bacteria towards the centre.
Adam Hoffman from
Science Friday said: 'Pigments produced by swaths of those microbes—called
microbial mats—are responsible, at least in part, for the brilliant yellows,
greens, and oranges that now tinge Morning Glory and other thermal pools in
Yellowstone.' The
pool received its name in 1883 from Mrs McGowan, who was the wife of Assistant
Park Superintendent, Charles McGowan. As a nod to its then crystal blue colour,
she named it after the blue flower, Morning Glory. Unless some subterranean shift happens where
more hot water can again flow to the surface, Morning Glory will never be fully
blue again !! The pool has warning signs
around it, in an attempt to reduce further vandalism to its waters. It has been
dubbed Fading Glory, now bearing little resemblance to the bright blue flowers
which gave it its name.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
17th Mar
2015.
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