Deep beneath the geysers and hot springs of Yellowstone Caldera lies a magma chamber produced by a hot spot in the earth’s mantle.
As the magma moves towards the Earth’s surface, it crystallizes to form young, hot igneous rocks.
The heat from these rocks drives groundwater towards the surface.
As the water cools, ions precipitate out as mineral crystals, including quartz crystals from silicon and oxygen, feldspar from potassium, aluminum, silicon, and oxygen, galena from lead and sulfur.