Canary Springs, Yellowstone National Park.
Credit: John Veysey and Nigel Goldenfeld.
Click here to download high-resolution image.

MOVIES

Download time-lapse movie of hot-spring growth in avi format.

Download time-lapse movie of hot-spring growth in Windows Media format.

Download time-lapse movie of hot-spring growth in mpeg format.

Credit: Photography by Brian Suderman of the Yellowstone National Park service. Image processing and analysis by John Veysey and Nigel Goldenfeld.

Download movie of computer simulations in avi format.

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Credit: Simulations and theory by John Veysey and Nigel Goldenfeld with rendering assistance from Nicholas Guttenberg.

This page accompanies a Letter that appears in Nature Physics. View the Letter ...
Background to our work can be found in this News & Views commentary by Øyvind Hammer.

Our project, in collaboration with Bruce Fouke in the Department of Geology at UIUC and Alison Murray at the Desert Research Institute, seeks to understand the origin of the unusual landscape at geothermal hot springs: why is the landscape so characteristically architectured, and not just a pile of rock? What determines the size and shape of the features, such as ponds and terraces? What is the role of thermophilic microbes in the formation of these patterns? More information ...

Based on research supported by the National Science Foundation Biocomplexity in the Environment Program, through grant number NSF-EAR-02-21743.  (c) 2006-8.  Nigel Goldenfeld, Pak Yuen Chan, Nicholas Guttenberg and John Veysey.  All rights reserved.