The receding waters of Nuphar Lake, near Norris Geyser Basin
Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week's contribution is from Michael Poland, geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey and Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. Nuphar Lake is a small, non-thermal body of water—more pond than lake, really—adjacent to the entrance road to Norris Geyser Basin. It was mostly unremarkable until the past few years, when some interesting changes began occurring. In 2021 and 2022, the lake level started to rise dramatically, by several feet (about a meter), and the water changed color from dark green to a