Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park

Congratulations to Americans, everywhere! That was a pretty tense evening yesterday, waiting to see if President Obama would be elected to serve another four years, or if the US would have a brand new President. Actually, I knew the result before anyone else, lol! How? Because I fell asleep in front of the TV part way through the evening and had a great dream in which I watched Michelle Obama reacting with joy at the announcement that her husband had won, ha, ha. I woke with a start, maybe 30 seconds before the very final predictions were announced on TV, saying that Obama was in.

Another view of the beautiful patterns and formations around the Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, US. You can see the steam rising from the huge spring at the top of the image. In some places, the colours were more vibrant and orange, as in my photo below. I think the photo in the comment box is perhaps my favourite photo from around the Grand Prismatic Spring.

"The Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park 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. It is located in the Midway Geyser Basin.

Grand Prismatic Spring was noted by geologists working in the Hayden Geological Survey of 1871, and named by them for its striking coloration. Its colors include blue, green, yellow, orange, red and brown, and recall the rainbow disperson of white light by an optical prism.

The vivid colors in the spring are the result of pigmented bacteria in the microbial mats that grow around the edges of the mineral-rich water. The bacteria produce colors ranging from green to red; the amount of color in the microbial mats depends on the ratio of chlorophyll to carotenoids and on the temperature of the water which favors one bacterium over another. In the summer, the mats tend to be orange and red, whereas in the winter the mats are usually dark green. The center of the pool is sterile due to extreme heat.... The spring is approximately 250 by 300 feet (80 by 90 m) in size and is 160 feet (50 m) deep. The spring discharges an estimated 560 US gallons (2,100 L) of 160 °F (70 °C) water per minute." From Wikipedia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Prismatic_Spring