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Yellowstone National Park - Minerva Terrace

Location of sign - Mammoth Hot Springs area trail at Yellowstone National Park.

Photo taken June 2008

Close-up view of sign

Wide view of sign

Text of sign:

Minerva Terrace

A Living Sculpture

The delicate travertine formations around you were all created by hot springs water.  Heated by Yellowstone's volcano, water

travels trough buried limestone, then bubbles to the surface to deposit travertine.

Named in the late 1800s for the Roman goddess of art, Minerva Spring sculpted Minerva Terrace.  The spring sometimes flows 

abundantly as show in this 1977 photograph.  At other times it is completely dry, illustrating the changing nature of Mammoth

Hot Springs.

Shifting Springs

Terrace Mountain, located two miles from here, is capped by more than one hundred feet of travertine.  Shaped by ancient hot 

springs, the mountaintop is now at rest, but new springs are reshaping neighboring hills.

Underground mysteries

Flowing through a complex network of underground channels, hot springs water often changes course.  New channels form and 

others become blocked as minerals accumulate or dissolve.  Earthquakes also open or close cracks in the system.

Mammoth Hot Springs is constantly changing.  New springs flow - or old springs may flow again - as others become dry.  But for

more than a century, the general level of activity has remained consistent. 

Graphics on the sign

In addition to the text there are several pictures of Minerva Terrace.

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