YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — Hydrothermal activity is often changing in Yellowstone National Park (YNP), reminding us that the earth is not just a giant, stagnant and unchanging space rock. The Caldera Chronicles follows the movements of the park ecologically and otherwise, and gave a roundup of the top happenings in YNP in 2025.
A new thermal pool emerged last April, likely as a result of a number of smaller explosive events instead of the initially purported consideration that it was part of a larger event similar to the Biscuit Basin explosion in 2024 that damaged a boardwalk in YNP.
Other features have seen reduced or paused activity, like the Steamboat Geyser in Norris Geyser Basin. The geyser has been erupting regularly since 2018, but in 2025 there were only three eruptions.
That doesn’t mean the park was quiet in 2025, but it was quieter than normal. Over the course of the year there were 1,119 earthquakes in and around the park when typically there are between 1,500 and 2,500 seismic events in YNP every year.
In 2025, a webcam was installed to view eruptions occurring in the Black Diamond Pool that bubbled up as a result of the hydrothermal explosion in 2024. Some of those explosions threw water and mud around 10 meters into the air.
Eruptions aside, there were also hats lost and rumors flying that animals were leaving YNP. The Caldera Chronicles mentions that the story of animals leaving “pops up every few years but is never true.” While untrue, it certainly caused a small social seismic event in its own right.
