Anatomy of siliceous hot springs: Examples from Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA

Sedimentary Geology

Volumn 157, Issue 1-2, 2003, Pages 71-106

  Guidry, Sean A ^a   Chafetz, Henry S ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON   (United States)

Author keywords

Chalcedony; Hot springs; Microbes; Siliceous sinter; Yellowstone

Indexed keywords

BIOTA; DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENT; FACIES ANALYSIS; GEOMETRY; PRECIPITATION (CHEMISTRY); SILICEOUS DEPOSIT; THERMAL SPRING;

UNITED STATES; WYOMING; YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK;

EID: 0037451787     PISSN: 00370738     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/S0037-0738(02)00195-1     Document Type: Article

References (105)

1. Allen, C.A., Albert, F.G., Chafetz, H.S., Combie, J., Graham, C.R., Kieft, T.L., Kivett, S.J., McKay, D.S., Steele, A., Taunton, A.E., Taylor, M.R., Thomas-Keprta, K.L., Westall, F., 2000. Microscopic physical biomarkers in carbonate hot springs. Implications in the search for life on Mars. Icarus 147, 49-67.
2. Ball, P., 1999. Brances, In: Ball, P. (Ed.), The Self-Made Tapestry: Pattern Formation in Nature. Oxford Univ. Press, New York, pp. 110-139.
3. Bargar, K.E. 1978. Geology and Thermal History of Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park. U.S. Geol. Surv. Bull. 1444, 1-33.
4. Bargar, K.E., Beeson, M.H., 1981. Hydrothermal alteration in research drill hole Y-2, Lower Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Am. Mineral. 66, 473-490.
5. Bargar, K.E., Beeson, M.H., 1985. Hydrothermal alteration in research drill hole Y-3, Lower Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. U.S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Paper 1054-C, C1-C23.
6. Ben-Jacob, E., 1997. From snowflake formation to growth of bacterial colonies: Part II. Cooperative formation of complex colonial patterns. Contemp. Phys. 38, 205-241.
7. Ben-Jacob, E., Levine, H., 1998. The artistry of microorganisms. Sci. Am. 279, 82-87.
8. Ben-Jacob, E., Schochet, O., Tenenbaum, A., Cohen, I., Czirok, A., Vicsek, T., 1994. Generic modeling of cooperative growth patterns in bacterial colonies. Nature 368, 46-49.
9. Beveridge, T.J., Fyfe, W.S., 1985. Metal fixation by bacterial cell walls. Can. J. Earth Sci. 22, 1893-1898.
10. Beveridge, T.J., Murray, R.G.E., 1980. Sites of metal deposition on the cell wall of Bacillus subtilis. J. Bacteriol., 876-887.
11. Birnbaum, S.J., Wireman, J.W., 1984. Bacterial sulfate reduction and pH: implications for early diagenesis. Chem. Geol. 43, 143-149.
12. Birnbaum, S.J., Wireman, J.W., 1985. Sulfate-reducing bacteria and silica solubility: a possible mechanism for evaporite diagenesis and silica precipitation in banded iron formations. Can. J. Earth Sci. 22, 1904-1909.
13. Birnbaum, S.J., Wireman, J.W., Borowski, R., 1989. Silica precipitation induced by the anaerobic sulfate reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio desulfuricans: effects upon the cell morphology and implications for preservation. In: Crick, R.E. (Ed.), Origin, Evolution, amd Modern Aspets of Biomineralization in Plants and Animals. Plenum, New York, 289-298.
14. Bove, D.J., Hon, K., 1990. Compositional changes induced by hydrothermal alteration at the red mountain alunite deposit, Lake City, CO. U.S. Geol. Surv. Bull. 1936, 1-21.
15. Brock, T.D., Brock, M.L., 1971. Life in the Geyser Basins Yellowstone Library and Museum Association, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
16. Brock, T.D., Freeze, H., 1969. Thermus aquaticus gen. nov. and sp. nov., a non-sporulating extreme thermophile. J. Bacteriol. 98, 289-297.
17. Brock, T.D., Madigan, M.T., 1988. Biology of Microorganisms, 5th edn. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
18. Bryan, T.S., 1995. The Geysers of Yellowstone, 3rd edn. University of Colorado Press, Niwot, CO.
19. Castenholz, R.W., 1984. Composition of hot spring microbial mats: a summary. In Cohen, Y., Castenholz, R.W., Halvorson H.O. (Eds.), Microbial Mats: Stromatolites. Alan A. Liss, New York, pp. 101-119.
20. Chafetz, H.S., Folk, R.L., 1984. Travertines: depositional morphology and the bacterially constructed constituents. J. Sediment. Petrol. 54, 289-316.
21. Chafetz, H.S., Guidry, S.A., 1999. Bacterial shrubs, crystal crusts, and ray-crystal shrubs: bacterial vs. abiotic precipitation. Sediment. Geol. 126, 57-74.
22. Chafetz, H.S., Meredith, J.C., 1983. Recent travertine pisoliths (Pisoids) from Southeastern Idaho, USA. In Peryt, T.M. (Ed.), Coated Grains. Springer, Berlin , pp. 450-455.
23. Craig, H., Boato, G., White, D.E., 1956. Isotopic geochemistry of thermal waters. Nucl. Sci. Serv. Rep. 19, 29-38.
24. Cunneen, R., Sillitoe, R.H., 1989. Paleozoic hot spring sinter in the Drummond Basin, Queensland. Austr. Econ. Geol. 84, 135-142.
25. Eaton, G.P., Christiansen, R.L., Iyer, H.M., Pitt, A.M., Mabey, D.R., Blank, H.R., Zietz, I., Gettings, M.E., 1975. Magma beneath Yellowstone National Park. Science 188, 787-796.
26. Eugster, H.P., 1980. Lake Magadi, Kenya, and its precursors. In Nissenbaum, A. (Ed.), Hypersaline Brines and Evaporitic Environments. Dev. Sediment., vol. 28, pp. 195-232.
27. Ewers, G.R., 1991. Oxygen isotopes and the recognition of siliceous sinters in epithermal ore deposits. Econ. Geol. 86, 173-178.
28. Folk, R.L., Chafetz, H.S., 1983. Pisoliths (Pisoids) in quaternary travertines of Tivoli, Italy. In: Peryt T.M. (Ed.), Coated Grains. Springer, Berlin, pp. 474-487.
29. Folk, R.L., Pittman, J.S., 1971. Length-slow chalcedony: a new testament for vanished evaporites. J. Sediment. Petrol. 41, 1045-1058.
30. Fouke, B.W., Farmer, J.D., DesMarais, D.J., Pratt, L., Sturchio, N.C., Burns, P.C., Discipulo, M.K., 2000. Depositional facies and aqueous-solid geochemistry of travertine-depositing hot springs (Angel Terrace, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, USA). J. Sediment. Res. 70, 565-585.
31. Fournier, R.O., 1989. Geochemistry and dynamics of the Yellowstone National Park Hydrothermal System. Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci., 13-51.
32. Fournier, R.O., White, D.E., Truesdell, A.H., 1976. Convective heat flow in Yellowstone National Park. In: Fournier R.O. (Ed.), U.N. Symp. Dev. Use Geotherm. Res., vol. 2, pp. 731-739.
33. Fournier, R.O., Thompson, J.M., Hutchinson, R.A., 1986. Fluctuations in composition of Cistern Spring, Norris Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming-variable boiling and mixing 1962-1985. In: Hitchon B. (Ed.), Int. Symp. Water-Rock Interact., vol. 5, pp. 206-209.
34. AFournier, R.O., Thompson, J.M., Hutchinson, R.A., 1992. The geochemistry of hot spring waters at Norris Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, USA. In: Kharaka, Y.K., Maest, A.S. (Eds.), Int. Symp. Water-Rock Interact., vol. 7, 1289-1292.
35. Fournier, R.O., Christensen, R.L., Hutchinson, R.A., Pierce, K.L., 1994. A field-trip guide to Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho-Volcanic, hydrothermal, and glacial activity in the region. U.S. Geol. Surv. Bull. 2099, 1-46.
36. 4He in hot spring waters of Yellowstone National Park. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 58, 5401-5419.
37. Goldie, R., 1985. The sinters of Ohaki and Champagne Pools, New Zealand: possible modern analogues of the Hemlo gold deposits. Geosci. Can. 12, 60-64.
38. Grotzinger, J.P., Rothman, D.R., 1996. An abiotic model for stromatolite morphogenesis. Nature 383, 423-425.
39. Guo, L., Riding, R., 1998. Hot-Spring travertine facies and sequences, Late Pleistocene, Rapolano Terme. Sedimentology 45, 163-180.
40. Hardie, L.A., Ginsburg, R.N., 1977. Layering; the origin and environmental significance of lamination and thin bedding. Studi. Geol. 22, 50-123.
41. Harris, A.G., Tuttle, E., Tuttle, S.D., 1997. Geology of National Parks, 5th edn. Kendall-Hunt Publishing, Dubuque, IA.
42. Hinman, N.W., Lindstrom, R.F., 1996. Seasonal changes in silica deposition in hot spring systems. Chem. Geol. 132, 237-246.
43. Ichikuni, M., 1970. Incorporation of aluminum and iron into siliceous sinters. Chem. Geol. 6, 273-279.
44. Iler, R.K., 1979. The Chemistry of Silica. Wiley, New York.
45. Jones, B., Renaut, R.W., 1997. Formation of silica oncoids around geysers and hot springs at El Tatio, northern Chile. Sedimentology 44, 287-304.
46. Jones, B., Renaut, R.W., Rosen, M.R., 1997. Biogenicity of silica precipitation around geysers and hot-spring vents, North Island, New Zealand. J. Sediment. Res. 67, 88-104.
47. Jones, B., Renaut, R.W., Rosen, M.R., 1998. Microbial biofacies in hot spring sinters: a model based on Ohaaki Pool, North Island, New Zealand. J. Sediment. Res. 68, 413-434.
48. Jones, B., Renaut, R.W., Rosen, M.R., 2000. Stromatolites forming in acidic hot-spring waters, North Island, New Zealand. Palaios 15, 450-475.
49. Jones, B., Renaut, R.W., Rosen, M.R., 2001a. Microbial construction of siliceous stalactites at geysers and hot springs: examples from the Whakarewarewa Geothermal Area, North Island, New Zealand. Palaios 16, 73-94.
50. Jones, B., Rosen, M.R., Renaut, R.W., 2001b. "Geyser Eggs" from Te Whakarewarewatangaoteopetauaawahiao, North Island, New Zealand. J. Sediment. Res. 71, 190-204.
51. Kastner, M., 1979. Length-slow chalcedony: the end of the new testament (abst.). EOS-Trans. 61, 399.
52. Kharaka, Y.K., Mariner, R.H., Ambats, G., Evans, W.C., White, L.D., Bullen, T.D., Kennedy, B.M., 1990. Origins of water and solutes in the north of the Norris-Mammoth corridor, Yellowstone National Park. Geotherm. Resour. Counc., Trans. 14, 705-714.
53. Klein, C., Hurlbut, C.S., 1977. Manual of Mineralogy, 20th edn. Wiley, New York
54. Knauth, L.P., 1994. Petrogenesis of Chert. In: Heaney, P.J. Prewitt, C.T. Gibbs G.V. (Eds.), Physical Behavior, Geochemistry, and Material applications. Rev. Mineral, Vol. 29. Mineral. Soc. Am., pp. 233-258.
55. Konhauser, K.O., Ferris, F.G., 1996. Diversity of iron and silica precipitation by microbial mats in hydrothermal waters, Iceland; implications for Precambrian iron formations. Geology 24, 323-326.
56. Krainer, K., Spotl, C., 1998. Abiogenic silica layers within a fluvio-lacustrine succession, Bolzano Volcanic Complex, northern Italy: a Permian analogue for Magadi-type cherts?. Sedimentology 45, 489-506.
57. Krumbein, W.E., Werner, D., 1983. The microbial silica cycle. In: Krumbein W.E. (Ed.), Microbial Geochemistry. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, pp. 125-157.
58. Labrenz, M., Druschel, G.K., Thomsen-Ebert, T., Gilbert, B., Welch, S.A., Kemner, K.M., Logan, G.A., Summons, R.E., De Stasio, G., Bond, P.L., Lai, B., Kelly, S.D., Banfield, J.F., 2000. Formation of sphalerite (ZnS) deposits in natural biofilms of sulfate-reducing bacteria. Science 290, 1744-1747.
59. Leeman, W.P., Doe, B.R., Whelan, J., 1977. Radiogenic and stable isotope studies of hot-spring deposits in Yellowstone National Park and their genetic implications. Geochem. J. 11, 65-74.
60. Leo, R.F., Barghoorn, E.S., 1976. Silicification of wood. Bot. Mus. Leafl., Harv. Univ. 25, 1-47.
61. Lewis, A.J., Palmer, M.R., Sturchio, N.C., Kemp, A.J., 1997. The rare earth element geochemistry of acid-sulphate-chloride geothermal systems from Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 61, 695-706.
62. Morgan, L.A., Shanks, W.C., Lovalvo, D., Johnson, S.Y., Stephenson, W.J., Harlan, S.S., White, E.A., Waples, J., Klump, J.V., 1999. New discoveries from the floor of Yellowstone Lake: results from sonar imaging, seismic reflection, and magnetic surveys. Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Prog. 31, A-207.
63. Morgan, L.A., Shanks, W.C., Johnson, S.Y., Stephenson, W., Harlan, S.S., Pierce, K.L., White, E., Lovalvo, D., Waples, J., Klump, J.V., 2000. New discoveries from the floor of Yellowstone Lake. Yellowstone Sci. 8, 20-21.
64. Muffler, L.J., White, D.E., Truesdell, A.H., Fournier, R.O., 1982. Geologic map of Lower Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. U.S. Geol. Surv. Misc. Invest. Ser.
65. Murata, K.J., Friedman, I., Gleason, J.D., 1978. Oxygen isotope relation between diagenetic silica minerals in the Monterey Shale, Temblor Range, CA. Am. J. Sci. 277, 259-272.
66. Nickel, E., 1983. Environmental significance of freshwater oncoids, Eocene guarga formation, Southern Pyrenees, Spain. In: Peryt T.M. (Ed.), Coated Grains. Berlin: Springer, pp. 308-329.
67. Peryt, T.M., 1983. Classification of coated grains. In: Peryt T.M. (Ed.), Coated Grains. Springer, Berlin, pp. 3-6.
68. Phoenix, V.R., Adams, D.G., Konhauser, K.O., 2000. Cyanobacterial viability during hydrothermal biomineralisation. Chem. Geol. 169, 329-338.
69. Pittman, J.S., Folk, R.L., 1971. Length-slow chalcedony after sulphate evaporite minerals in sedimentary rocks. Nat. Phys. Sci. 230, 64-65.
70. Prescott, L.M., Harley, J.P., Klein, D.A., 1996. Microbiology, 3rd edn. William C. Brown Publishers, Boston.
71. Pursell, V.J., 1985. The Petrology and Diagenesis of Pleistocene and Recent Travertines from Gardiner, Montana, and Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Unpubl. M.S. thesis, Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX.
72. Renaut, R.W., Jones, B., Rosen, M.R., 1996. Primary silica oncoids from Orakeikorako Hot Springs, North Island, New Zealand. Palaios 11, 446-458.
73. Renaut, R.W., Jones, B., Tiercelin, J.J., 1998. Rapid in-situ silicification of microbes at Loburu Hot Springs, Lake Bogoria, Kenya Rift Valley. Sedimentology 45, 1083-1104.
74. Renaut, R.W., Jones, B., Le Turdu, C., 1999. Calcite lilypads and ledges at Lorusio Hot Springs, Kenya Rift Valley: travertine precipitation at the air-water interface. Can. J. Earth Sci. 35, 649-666.
75. Renaut, R.W., Jones, B., Rosen, M.R., 1999. Role of microbes in the formation of gold-bearing siliceous sinter at Champagne Pool, Waiotapu, New Zealand. Geol. Soc. Am. Abstr. Progr. 31, A-392.
76. Rimstidt, J.D., Cole, D.R., 1983. Geothermal mineralization: I. The mechanism of formation of the Beowawe, Nevada, siliceous sinter deposit. Am. J. Sci. 283, 861-875.
77. Rinehart, J.S., 1974. Geysers. EOS-Trans. 55, 1052-1062.
78. Rona, P.A., 1984. Hydrothermal mineralization of seafloor spreading centers. Earth-Sci. Rev. 20, 1-104.
79. Rowe, J.J., Fournier, R.O., Morey, G.W., 1973. Chemical analysis of thermal waters in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 1960-5. U.S. Geol. Surv. Bull. 1303.
80. Sandbeck, K.A., Ward, D.M., 1982. Temperature adaptations in the terminal processes of anaerobic decomposition of Yellowstone National Park and Icelandic hot spring microbial mats. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 44, 844-851.
81. Schopf, J.W., Fairchild, T.R., 1973. Late Precambrian microfossils; a new stromatolitic biota from Boorthana, South Australia. Nature 242, 537-538.
82. Schopf, J.W., Packer, B.M., 1987. Early Archeaen (3.3-billion to 3.5-billion-year-old) microfossils from Warrawoona Group, Australia. Science 237, 70-73.
83. Schultz-Lam, S., Ferris, F.G., Konhauser, K.O., Wiese, R.G., 1995. In situ silicification of an Icelandic hot spring microbial mat: implications for microfossil formation. Can. J. Earth Sci. 32, 2021-2026.
84. Shanks, W.C., Alt, J.C., Meier, A.L., Klump, J.V., 1997. Geochemical studies of hydrothermal deposits related to sublacustrine hydrothermal vents in Yellowstone Lake. EOS-Trans. 78, 808-809.
85. Shanks, W.C., Morgan, L.A., Johnson, K.M., Lovalvo, D., Johnson, S.Y., Stephenson, W.J., Harlan, S.S., White, E.A., Waples, J., Klump, J.V., 1999. The floor of Yellowstone Lake is anything but quiet: new discoveries from sonar imaging, seismic reflection, and magnetic surveys. EOS-Trans. 80, F-1162.
86. Stoner, D.L., Burbank, N.S., Miller, K.S., 1994. Anaerobic transformation of organosulfur compounds in microbial mats from Octopus Spring. Geomicrobiol. J. 12, 195-202.
87. Thompson, J.M., Presser, T.S., Barnes, R.B., Bird, D.B., 1975. Chemical analyses of the waters of the Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, from 1965-1973. U.S. Geol. Surv. Open-File Rep., 1-53.
88. Trewin, N.H., 1996. The Rhynie cherts: an early Devonian ecosystem preserved by hydrothermal activity. In: Bock, G., Goode J. (Eds.), Evolution of Hydrothermal Ecosystems on Earth (and Mars?).Wiley, New York, pp. 131-145.
89. USGS, 2001. Integrated geoscience studies of the Greater Yellowstone Area: bathymetric, seismic, and magnetic surveys of Yellowstone Lake: http://minerals.cr.usgs.gov/projectpages/yellowstone/task7.html.
90. Walter, M.R., 1976a. Hot-spring sediments in Yellowstone National Park. In: Walter M.R. (Ed.), Stromatolites. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 489-498.
91. Walter, M.R., 1976b. Geyserites of Yellowstone National Park: an example of abiogenic "stromatolites". In: Walter M.R. (Ed.), Stromatolites. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 87-112.
92. Walter, M.R., Bauld, J., Brock, T.D., 1976. Microbiology and morphogenesis of columnar stromatolites (Conophytan, Vacerrilla) from hot springs in Yellowstone National Park. In: Walter M.R. (Ed.), Stromatolites. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 273-310.
93. Walter, M.R., Desmarais, D., Farmer, J.D., Hinman, N.W., 1996. Lithofacies and biofacies of mid-Paleozoic thermal spring deposits in the Drummond Basin, Queensland, Australia. Palaios 11, 497-518.
94. Ward, D.M., Weller, R., Shiea, J., Castenholz, R.W., Cohen, Y., 1989. Hot spring microbial mats: anoxygenic and oxygenic mats of possible evolutionary significance. In: Cohen, Y., Rosenberg E. (Eds.), Microbial Mats: Physiological Ecology of Benthic Microbial Communities.Am. Soc. Microbiol., Washington, DC, pp. 3-15.
95. Weed, W.H., 1889. Formation of travertine and siliceous sinter by the vegetation of hot springs. U.S. Geol. Surv. Ann. Rep. 9, 613-676.
96. Weller, R., Weller, J.W., Ward, D.M., 1991. 16S rRNA sequences of uncultivated hot spring cyanobacterial mat inhabitants retrieved as randomly primed cDNA. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 57, 1146-1151.
97. Westall, F., Boni, L., Guerzoni, E., 1995. The experimental silicification of microorganisms. Paleontology 38, 495-528.
98. White, D.E., 1967. Some principles of geyser activity, mainly from Steamboat Springs, Nevada. Am. J. Sci. 265, 641-684.
99. White, D.E., 1992. The Beowawe Geysers, Nevada, before geothermal development. U.S. Geol. Surv. Bull. 1998, 1-19.
100. White, D.E., Brannock, W.W., Murata, K.J., 1956. Silica in hot-spring waters. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 10, 27-59.
101. White, D.E., Fournier, R.O., Muffler, L.J., Truesdell, A.H., 1975. Physical results of research drilling in thermal areas of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. U.S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Pap. 892, 1-75.
102. White, D.E., Hutchinson, R.A., Keith, T.E., 1988. The geology and remarkable thermal activity of Norris Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. U.S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Pap. 1456, 1-84.
103. White, N.E., Wood, D.G., Lee, M.C., 1989. Epithermal sinters of Paleozoic age in north Queensland, Australia. Geology 17, 718-722.
104. White, D.E., Heropoulos, C., Fournier, R.O., 1992. Gold and other minor elements associated with the hot springs and geysers of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, supplemented with data from Steamboat Springs, Nevada. U.S. Geol. Surv. Bull. 2001.
105. Zimmerman, B.S., Larson, P.B., 1994. Epithermal gold mineralization in a fossil hot spring system, Red Butte, Oregon. Econ. Geol. 89, 1983-2002.