Norris Geyser Basin, Spring 2017
My Master's and PhD advisor, Prof. Andreas Teske, came out to Montana to present research to the Thermal Biology Institute and my Postdoc advisor, Prof. Bill Inskeep, and I took Andreas to see some of Norris Geyser Basin.
There is a very precise temperature (between 73-74C, 163-165F) above which photosynthesis is no longer possible. Here you see a green algal mat in a stream that is lower than 70C on the left converging with a high temperature spring on the right that is above 75C. When the two streams touch, the green immediately stops because photosynthesis is inhibited.
