Q 01/05

Which US president signed the 1872 act creating Yellowstone, the world's first national park?

A) Abraham Lincoln

B) Rutherford B. Hayes

C) Andrew Johnson

D) Ulysses S. Grant

Answer · why

D) Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant signed the act on March 1, 1872, but Congress attached no money: the park's first superintendent drew no salary and had to earn his l...

Q 02/05

Yellowstone lies mostly in which US state?

A) Montana

B) Idaho

C) Wyoming

D) Colorado

Answer · why

C) Wyoming

Wyoming holds 96% of Yellowstone, yet the park is older than the state: it was created in 1872, when Wyoming was still a territory 18 years away from ...

Q 03/05

What do Yellowstone's geysers have that its quiet hot springs lack, making them erupt?

A) Shallower magma

B) Constricted plumbing

C) Saltier water

D) Thicker bedrock

Answer · why

B) Constricted plumbing

Constricted plumbing traps superheated water until the pressure blasts it skyward, while a hot spring's open channels let the heat escape. Yellowstone...

Q 04/05

Old Faithful got its name from an 1870 expedition that noticed the geyser did what?

A) Never stopped steaming

B) Erupted only at dawn

C) Erupted at regular intervals

D) Erupted every time it rained

Answer · why

C) Erupted at regular intervals

Erupted at regular intervals: the 1870 party named it on the spot for exactly that. The gap between eruptions has lengthened since, partly after earth...

Q 05/05

Which feature in Yellowstone's Norris Basin is the world's tallest active geyser?

A) Castle

B) Steamboat

C) Grand

D) Beehive

Answer · why

B) Steamboat

Steamboat can hurl water more than 300 feet, but nobody can predict it: it lay dormant for 50 years until 1961, then erupted a record 48 times in both...