Emerald Spring is a hot spring

Hot spring

A hot spring is a spring that is produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater from the Earth's crust. There are geothermal hot springs in many locations all over the crust of the earth.-Definitions:...

 located in Norris Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...

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History

Originally named Emerald Geyser by Philetus Norris

Philetus Norris

Philetus W. Norris was the second superintendent of Yellowstone National Park and was the first person to be paid for that position.- Early life :...

, park superintendent (1877–1882) because of its color, the name was later officially changed to Emerald Spring by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1930.

Characteristics

Emerald Spring is 27 feet (8.2 m) deep. The water temperature in the spring is around 83.3 °C (181.9 °F). The spring gets its name from the emerald green color of the water created by sunlight filtering through the water, giving the light a blue color, and reflecting off the yellow sulphur creating the green hue.

While Emerald Spring is a mostly calm pool, which usually only has a few bubbles rising to the surface, it does experience periods of turbidity and small 3-foot (1 m) high eruptions. In 1931, Emerald experienced a period of extremely vigorous activity with eruptions measuing 60 to 75 feet (18.2–22.9 m) in height.