of travertine and Yellowstone

Our granddaughter Mikala had a trip to Borneo planned for this summer through the Houston Zoo to study elephants and other animals, but COVID-19 caused the trip to be canceled. As a consolation, her family booked a trip to Yellowstone National Park to view the many wild species there in their natural habitat.

I have never been there but have always wished to see the park, ever since seeing my great aunt Lucile’s Viewmaster reels from the National Parks. (I sketched the above bit of Mammoth Hot Springs from an online photo.) I also love bison — our daughter brought back this ceramic mug to give me as a house-warming gift for our new home.

While they were in Wyoming, I was reading up on Yellowstone. And I discovered that the travertine stone we chose for some of our barndominium floors was formed by the same process that is currently happening in the Mammoth terraces!

Here’s a very simplified version of what I read:
Water heated by the partially molten magma chamber deep below the ground rises through a system of small fissures, interacting with hot gases, including carbon dioxide, that are also rising from the magma chamber. As some of the carbon dioxide is dissolved, a weak carbonic acid is formed, which dissolves large quantities of the area’s limestone. Above ground, exposed to the air, some of the carbon dioxide escapes from the solution. Without it, the dissolved limestone reforms into a solid mineral — the chalky travertine that forms the terraces.

We were first introduced to travertine when a flooring guy suggested it for the bedroom floor of our log cabin. And we loved it! I have no idea what part of the world this particular travertine originated; we bought it from Floor & Decor in Houston.