Imaging Near-Surface Controls on Hot Spring Expression Using Shallow Seismic Refraction in Yellowstone National Park

Abstract:

We used shallow seismic refraction to image near-surface materials in the vicinity of a small group of hot springs, located in the Morning Mist Springs area of Lower Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Seismic velocities in the area surveyed range from a low of 0.3 km/s to a high of approximately 2.5 km/s. The survey results indicate an irregular surface topography overlain by silty sediments. The observed seismic velocities are consistent with a subsurface model in which sorted sands and gravels, probably outwash materials from the Pinedale glaciation, are overlain by silts and fine sands deposited in the flat-lying areas of the Morning Springs area. These findings are supported by published geologic maps of the area and well logs from a nearby borehole. The near-surface materials appear to be saturated with discharging hydrothermal fluids of varying temperature, and interbedded with semi-lithified geothermal deposits (sinter). We hypothesize that the relatively low-conductivity deposits of fines at the surface may serve to confine a shallow, relatively low-temperature (sub-boiling) hydrothermal aquifer, and that the distribution of sinter in the shallow subsurface plays an important role in determining the geometry of hydrothermal discharge (hot springs) at the land surface. Few studies of the shallow controls on hot spring expression exist for the Yellowstone caldera, and the present study therefore offers a unique glimpse into near-subsurface fluid flow controls.