Grand Prismatic Spring, Rainbow Color Hot Springs in the United States

This hot spring pool is named The Grand Prismatic Spring, according to its color that resembles the color of a rainbow, such as red, orange, yellow, green, and blue.

INDEPHEDIA.com - The Grand Prismatic Spring is a rainbow-colored hot spring that attracts many world tourists because of its uniqueness. This beautiful colorful rainbow pool part of Yellowstone National Park, located in Wyoming, United States.

Grand Prismatic Spring has an area ranging from 250 to 300 feet. The depth reaches 160 feet. This hot spring pool is named The Grand Prismatic Spring, according to its color that resembles the color of a rainbow, such as red, orange, yellow, green, and blue.

Every year the hot spring releases at least 560 gallons of hot water at a temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit every minute. The water boils every time because of the heat that comes from underground vents which are part of the Yellowstone volcanic channel. But instead of forming geysers like in other parts of the Yellowstone region, the hot water here actually forms a giant pool.

According to City Data, this hot spring was first discovered by European explorers in 1839. One explorer noted in his journal that in the area there was a lake with boiling water. Meanwhile, according to Wikipedia, the Grand Prismatic Spring began to attract the attention of researchers when geologists working at the Hayden Geological Survey discovered it in 1871.

The Grand Prismatic Spring is the largest hot spring in the United States and the third largest in the world after Frying Pan Lake in New Zealand and Boiling Lake in Dominica.

Visitors who came to the place probably wondered what caused the rainbow colors in the hot spring. The center is bright blue, looks like a deep sea. The outside is green and yellow. While the outer side is red like volcanic lava fluid.

The red color comes from certain bacteria whose body secretes red pigments. These bacteria form a microbial layer around the lake. Even though it often produces red, these bacteria can also produce green and yellow pigments. the colors produced depend on the content of chlorophyll and carotenoids contained in the body.

The changing lake water temperature also affects the color pigments they produce. In summer, the outer layer of the lake will tend to be orange or red. While in winter the color will turn dark green. These bacteria do not affect the color of water in the middle part of the lake because in that section the temperature is very high, so that the bacteria cannot live in it.

The blue color itself can occur because the central part of the lake's water is very clear and deep, so it can absorb and reflect blue from the color spectrum in the atmosphere. This blue water phenomenon is the same as you find in the sea and Lake Baikal, the lake with the clearest water in the world.

Because the temperature is very high, visitors cannot approach the lake, let alone swim in it. So, they can only enjoy the beauty of the Grand Prismatic Spring from a path built next to it or from around the pine trees on a small hill. (WS.IN/ENG/*)