Lyrics Learn English via Listening - Level 4 - Yellowstone National Park

The Rocky Mountains of North America are quite old. Even though they were very
volcanic millions of years ago, only a couple was still active today. In Yellowstone
National Park, however, there is a large area of land, which indicates recent volcanic
activity. This area contains hot springs, geysers and mud springs.
Hot springs, like geysers, are caused by underground water being heated by hot rocks
down in the earth. This hot water is then forced to the surface. When the surface rock is
soft or porous, then the hot water bubbles up like a spring. When the surface rock is hard,
then the hot water shoots up through any hole in the rock that it can find. These spurts of
hot water are called geysers. Yellowstone also contains mud pots or mud springs. These
happen when the hot water is turned to steam, and the steam carries mud and clay to the
surface.
Yellowstone Park is high up in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming. Very few white people
went there until the 1860s. It is said that Indians avoided the area because they thought
that evil spirits lived there.
In 1869, three men from Montana decided to explore this remote area. They were very
impressed with its natural wonders and talked about it to others. Two other exploring
expeditions followed in the next two years. These visitors were so enthusiastic about the
beauty and majesty of Yellowstone that they asked that it be made a national park. At that
time, there was no national park system in America. Nonetheless, in 1872, the American
government agreed to set aside these lands as a public park.
Why were the early visitors to Yellowstone so impressed? First, the scenery is
spectacular. The Yellowstone River has created its own Grand Canyon through years of
eroding its rocky banks. It is the yellow colour of these canyon walls that gave
Yellowstone its name. The area has many waterfalls, including the 308-foot high Lower
Falls in the Yellowstone River. There are many beautiful lakes, and the largest is
Yellowstone Lake.
The area is rich in wildlife. Among the mammals are black bears, grizzly bears, elk,
moose, mule deer, bison, bighorn sheep, coyotes, pronghorn antelope, beaver and
wolves. Birds, especially waterfowl, are common all year. These include the trumpeter
swan, blue heron, cormorants, bald eagles, osprey, pelicans, Canada geese and many
kinds of ducks. Sport fish are also plentiful.
About 80% of the forests consist of lodge pole pine, but there are many other evergreens.
Wild flowers are numerous and varied.
But the chief attractions are the geysers and hot springs. They occur in what was a very
volcanic area a million years or so ago. Here, hot molten lava from the center of the earth
has remained close to the surface of the earth. This lava heats the surface rocks, which
in turn, heats the underground water. The heated water shoots up to the surface as
geysers, or bubbles up as hot springs.
The most famous geyser is Old Faithful which shoots its plume of water 150 feet into the
air every 65 minutes or so. The eruption lasts up to five minutes. There are 200 geysers
in Yellowstone Park and about 50 of them are spectacular. Some shoot their spray over
200 feet high.
Visitors from all over the world are delighted that this region has been preserved as a
national park!