“Kabului!”
That’s the word U.S. Geological Survey volcano experts used to describe Saturday morning’s mud eruption at Black Diamond Pool in Yellowstone National Park.
Video shared by the U.S. Geological Survey on social media showed mud gushing from the pool at Cracker Basin, located between the park’s popular Old Faithful spring and the Grand Prism, around 9:23 a.m.
Other recent volcanic eruptions have been mostly audible but invisible because they either occurred at night or when cameras were obscured by ice.
The agency said Black Diamond Pool had a hydrothermal explosion in July 2024 that sent rocks and mud hundreds of feet high and damaged the boardwalk. The area has been closed to visitors due to damage and potential additional hazardous activity.
Since then, so-called dirty volcanic eruptions as high as 40 feet (about 12 meters) have occurred.
Researchers installed a new camera and a seismic and acoustic monitoring station this summer, saying the instruments, along with temperature sensors maintained by the Yellowstone National Park Geology Program, could better detect and characterize volcanic eruptions.
The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory webcam at Black Diamond Pool did not disappoint on Saturday.
“We have a clear view of one of these dirty eruptions under bright blue skies and surrounded by snow (ah, winter in Yellowstone!),” the USGS Volcano Division said on social media, noting that it was a good example of the kind of activity that has occurred at the site over the past 19 months.
Experts say there is no real pattern to the pool’s eruptions or any precursors.
Park officials say Yellowstone preserves some of the most extraordinary hot springs, geysers, mud pots and fumaroles on Earth. More than 10,000 hydrothermal features are found in the park, including more than 500 geysers.