The Geologic Story of Yellowstone National Park

The book surveys the region's geologic history from ancient crystalline basement and sedimentary sea deposits through episodes of mountain building, intensive volcanism that produced a vast caldera and welded tuffs, and subsequent rhyolite and basalt lava flows. It details later glacial sculpting and stream erosion that carved canyons and waterfalls, and explains active hydrothermal systems—hot springs, geysers, mudpots, sinter and travertine terraces—together with faulting, seismicity, and thermal explosions that control them. Rock types, stratigraphy, maps, photographs, and diagrams support the narrative, and the text concludes with considerations of human use, park stewardship, and ongoing scientific study.