Eruption unknown: The case of Yellowstone National Park’s newly recognized geologic unit

Eruption unknown: The case of Yellowstone National Park’s newly recognized geologic unit

This photo shows the exposure of the Mount Jackson Rhyolite Series vitrophyre at Gibbon River. Boulders of weathered, lichen-covered rock show how easy it is to overlook these new units. (Photo by Liv Wheeler/Montana State University)Yellowstone’s geological history is one of the most intensely studied in North America. From a map drawn on a bison pelt by Native American tribes to Bob Christiansen’s 1:125,000 scale map published in 2001, the res…