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Monthly Archives: July 2014
Geothermal
With half of the earth’s geothermal features, Yellowstone holds the planet’s most diverse and intact collection of geysers, hot springs, mudpots, and fumaroles. More than 300 geysers make up over one half of all those found on earth. Combine this with more than 10,000 thermal features comprised of brilliantly colored hot springs, bubbling mudpots, and steaming fumaroles, and you have a place like no other. Geyserland, fairyland, wonderland–through the years, all have been used to describe the natural wonder and magic of this unique park that contains more geothermal features than any other place on earth.
Yellowstone’s hydrothermal features would not exist without the underlying magma body that releases tremendous heat. They also depend on sources of water, such as from the mountains surrounding the Yellowstone Plateau. There, snow and rain slowly percolate through layers of permeable rock riddled with cracks. Some of this cold water meets hot brine directly heated by the shallow magma body. The water’s temperature rises well above the boiling point but the water remains in a liquid state due to the great pressure and weight of the overlying water. The result is superheated water with temperatures exceeding 400°F.
The superheated water is less dense than the colder, heavier water sinking around it. This creates convection currents that allow the lighter, more buoyant, superheated water to begin its journey back to the surface following the cracks and weak areas through rhyolitic lava flows. This upward path is the natural “plumbing” system of the park’s hydrothermal features.
As hot water travels through this rock, it dissolves some silica in the rhyolite. This silica can precipitate in the cracks, perhaps increasing the system’s ability to withstand the great pressure needed to produce a geyser.
At the surface, silica precipitates to form siliceous sinter, creating the scalloped edges of hot springs and the seemingly barren landscape of hydrothermal basins. When the silica rich water splashes out of a geyser, the siliceous sinter deposits are known as geyserite.
For more info on Yellowstone’s geothermal areas, please visit here….
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Summer-time Farms…
A canola field and barn in the smokey Flathead Valley…
A wheat field and barn…
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Mountain High…
Pink Daylilies….
Red Currants…
Fiery…
Smokey days block our beautiful view of the mountains….
 A smokey view of the Flathead Valley…
 
The kids and their normal everyday behavior…
He and I
More normalness…
My beautiful girls…
The boys….
Picking out landmarks….
Silliness…
By that evening the smokey atmosphere makes for a great sunset…
    
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Indian Paintbrush…
Castilleja species…
Indian paintbrush is a member of the figwort family, a perennial, having a cluster of stems that grow upward from the base, to 60 cm. tall. Indian Paintbrush is found throughout most of British Columbia. The interesting point is that, the top of the flower looks as if they have been dipped in bright red paint, hence the name Indian Paintbrush.
The Indian Paintbrush is a semi-parasitic plants. Indian Paintbrush plants are attached to the tubes of host plants by their roots. Indian paintbrushes suck their nutreints and even water from the host plants. The Indian paintbrush is propagated by dividing rhizomes, tubers, corms or bulbs (including offsets). The Indian paintbrush is grown from seed, when sown directly in fall.
For more information please visit here…
Macro Monday
Today’s Flowers
The Loner…
New Life…
We spotted this little Mountain Goat on a little walk at Logan Pass, GNP….
Another doe and her yearling…
BASIC FACTS ABOUT MOUNTAIN GOATS
Despite its name, the mountain goat is actually a member of the antelope family. It has a long face, long black horns and a short tail. Both males and females have beard-like hair on their chins. The mountain goat sports a coat of wooly, white fur that keeps it warm at high elevations. This coat has a double layer for added warmth during winter—the overcoat molts, or falls off, during summer time.
Known for their agility, mountain goats are most often seen scaling steep, rocky ledges. This extreme alpine environment provides them with adequate protection from predators. Strong muscular forequarters and pliable hooves with soft rubbery pads help them maintain traction on craggy rock surfaces and survive in harsh conditions.
Diet
Mountain goats eat grasses, sedges, herbs, shrubs, ferns mosses and lichen.
Population
Did You Know?
From around the age of 22 months, it is possible to tell the age of a mountain goat by counting the number of rings on its horns!
There are an estimated 100,000 Mountain Goats in North America.
Range
The Rocky Mountain and coastal ranges of northwestern North America, including southwestern Alaska.
Behavior
Mountain goats are active both during the day and night, but take time to rest under overhanging cliffs. They mostly live in herds and move around according to season. In the summer, smaller groups will travel to salt licks. Females, called nannies, spend most of the year in herds with their kids, while males either live alone or with 2 – 3 other males. Nannies can be protective of their territory and food, and so will fight other nannies in their herds. During mating season, males will fight each other using their horns for the right to mate with females.
Reproduction
Mating Season:Â November and December.
Gestation:Â 150-180 days.
Litter size:Â Typically one kid; twins rarely.
At birth, the kid weighs around 6 lbs and are able to move along the rocks with its mother within a day or so after
To learn more on Mountain Goats please visit here….
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