Some Like It Hot!

The reds, oranges, yellows, and greens in hot spring pools and streams come from heat-loving microscopic life forms called microbes, including algae, which become visible when vast numbers cluster together in mats on and in the water or in long, flexible strands called streamers. Dissolved minerals and high temperatures create an ideal environment for these colorful microbes, and as water flows away from the Big Spring and cools, the algal mats change color because different species of algae, each with its own color, have adapted to survive in specific temperature ranges. Many scientists believe life on Earth began roughly three billion years ago in watery, high-temperature environments and that the first life form may have been primitive thermophiles, a theory that informs ideas about the origin of life on Earth and the possibility of life on other planets. Heat-resistant enzymes in the algae are also being studied for biofuel production and have led to discoveries that advance medicine.

Wyoming · United States