The Forces Behind Hot Springs in the Rocky Mountains

The Forces Behind Hot Springs in the Rocky Mountains

By Amita Vadlamudi

A computer systems engineer with more than three decades of experience, Amita Vadlamudi has a longstanding interest in the environment. Amita Vadlamudi has a particular passion for learning about landforms, waterways, and the way the earth works.

One of the most distinctive natural features related to activity beneath the earth’s surface, hot springs are found throughout the United States and are common in the Rockies. Those found in Colorado’s mountains have their origin in rainfall that gradually descends through relatively porous sedimentary rocks.

The water takes on a number of materials such as sulphur and radium during its descent and is ultimately heated by energy radiating outward from the Earth’s core through the mantle. When the heated water comes in contact with a crack (thrust fault), it is forced back up along the fault line toward the surface. Not all water that rises up from below is hot when it reaches the earth’s surface. That which has taken a circuitous route simply bubbles up as a cold spring. The limestone formations prevalent in the Rockies provide the water with a direct conduit to the surface, preserving the water’s heat.