# Man dies in Yellowstone hot spring. How does the water get so acidic? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 17, 2016, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-in-yellowstone-hot-spring-how-does-the-water-get-so-acidic/772274 "2016-11-17T18:51:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-in-yellowstone-hot-spring-how-does-the-water-get-so-acidic/772274/1 "2016-11-17T18:51:59Z")
Man goes off path in search of hot bath. Slips into acidic pool and [dies](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/11/17/man-who-dissolved-in-boiling-yellowstone-hot-spring-slipped-while-checking-temperature-to-take-bath/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_yellowstone-12pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory). Park officials did not expect there would be much left of him to recover. How does the water become so naturally acidic? ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-in-yellowstone-hot-spring-how-does-the-water-get-so-acidic/772274/2 "2016-11-17T19:00:29Z")
There are lots of acidic volcanic compounds, especially sulfur compounds like hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide. Both dissolve in water to produce acidic results. Sulfuric acid is one of the strongest acids around. The fact that the water is hot also means a lot of potential for water to boil off and concentrate dissolved minerals/acids. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-in-yellowstone-hot-spring-how-does-the-water-get-so-acidic/772274/3 "2016-11-17T19:00:41Z")
It’s bubbling though fractured volcanic rock, loaded with sulfur. That makes various sulfur acids, like sulfuric. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-in-yellowstone-hot-spring-how-does-the-water-get-so-acidic/772274/4 "2016-11-17T19:03:25Z")
From [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanic_gas#Magmatic_gases_and_high-temperature_volcanic_gases): > [@](#): > > Magma contains dissolved volatile components, as described above. The solubilities of the different volatile constituents are dependent on pressure, temperature and the composition of the magma. As magma ascends towards the surface, the ambient pressure decreases, which decreases the solubility of the dissolved volatiles. Once the solubility decreases below the volatile concentration, the volatiles will tend to come out of solution within the magma (exsolve) and form a separate gas phase (the magma is super-saturated in volatiles). Most of those volatile compounds evaporate as gases (carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, etc) which are acidic when dissolved in water. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-in-yellowstone-hot-spring-how-does-the-water-get-so-acidic/772274/5 "2016-11-17T19:06:03Z")
> [@](#): > > Mudpots: Mudpots such as Fountain Paint Pots are acidic hot springs with a limited water supply. Some microorganisms use hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg smell), which rises from deep within the earth, as an energy source. They convert the gas into sulfuric acid, which breaks down rock into clay. > > … > > The Basin consists of three main areas: Porcelain Basin, Back Basin, and One Hundred Springs Plain. Unlike most of other geyser basins in the park, the waters from Norris are acidic[10] rather than alkaline (for example, Echinus Geyser has a pH of ~3.5). The difference in pH allows for a different class of bacterial thermophiles to live at Norris, creating different color patterns in and around the Norris Basin waters. > **[Geothermal areas of Yellowstone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal_areas_of_Yellowstone)** > > Download coordinates as: > The geothermal areas of Yellowstone include several geyser basins in Yellowstone National Park as well as other geothermal features such as hot springs, mud pots, and fumaroles. The number of thermal features in Yellowstone is estimated at 10,000. A study that was completed in 2011 found that a total of 1,283 geysers have erupted in Yellowstone, 465 of which are active during an average year. These are distributed among nine geyser basins, with a few geysers found in s... ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2016, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-in-yellowstone-hot-spring-how-does-the-water-get-so-acidic/772274/6 "2016-11-18T09:48:58Z")
The chemical reaction may create an ingredient (which know…) that makes it dissolve flesh faster than either the sulfuric acid or that ingredient , on their own… ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2016, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-in-yellowstone-hot-spring-how-does-the-water-get-so-acidic/772274/7 "2016-11-18T11:08:53Z")
Or maybe the bacteria in the hot spring helped things along by munching on the 200 or so pounds of organic material dumped in their laps? I dunno, would sulphur-eating extremophiles find a person to be tasty and nutritious? Plenty of life in Yellowstone hotsprings, even if the environment in them is incompatible with human life. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2016, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-in-yellowstone-hot-spring-how-does-the-water-get-so-acidic/772274/8 "2016-11-18T12:23:48Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I dunno, would sulphur-eating extremophiles find a person to be tasty and nutritious? Probably not. We contain minimal sulphur and they’re not evolved to dig into corpses and would likely only benefit from the increased level of solubles after the guy was soup. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2016, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-in-yellowstone-hot-spring-how-does-the-water-get-so-acidic/772274/9 "2016-11-18T13:18:21Z")
As discussed at length in the other current geyser thread [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=800137](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=800137), the water’s not \*that \*acidic. It’s acidic like lemon juice or vinegar is acidic. Not like battery acid is acidic. What destroys the body is simply simmering it in a large stock pot for a day or so. The lemon juice level of acidity just adds some tang to the soup. As do the sulphur compounds. The boiling-ish water does all the work. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2016, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-in-yellowstone-hot-spring-how-does-the-water-get-so-acidic/772274/10 "2016-11-18T14:09:55Z")
Who’s hungry? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2016, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-in-yellowstone-hot-spring-how-does-the-water-get-so-acidic/772274/11 "2016-11-18T14:54:15Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > What destroys the body is simply simmering it in a large stock pot for a day or so. The lemon juice level of acidity just adds some tang to the soup. As do the sulphur compounds. The boiling-ish water does all the work. Yup. He’d be no better off falling into pH neutral boiling water. With the delay in reaching the area everyone’s better off with a body that disintegrated instead of stewed. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2016, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-in-yellowstone-hot-spring-how-does-the-water-get-so-acidic/772274/12 "2016-11-18T16:25:01Z")
Anyone who is interested in this topic should read _Colour Scheme_ by Ngaio Marsh, which features a murder by hot-pot, including a discussion of body disintegration. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2016, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-in-yellowstone-hot-spring-how-does-the-water-get-so-acidic/772274/13 "2016-11-18T19:52:09Z")
Remember the grade-school experiments where you put an egg in a jar with some vinegar and water for a few days - after which point there’s no shell left? I assume the same would apply for bones in a mildly acidic environment, aided by the heat. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2016, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-in-yellowstone-hot-spring-how-does-the-water-get-so-acidic/772274/14 "2016-11-18T20:20:34Z")
Another top ten username/thread title combo. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2016, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-in-yellowstone-hot-spring-how-does-the-water-get-so-acidic/772274/15 "2016-11-18T20:31:04Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > As discussed at length in the other current geyser thread [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=800137](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=800137), the water’s not \*that \*acidic. > > It’s acidic like lemon juice or vinegar is acidic. Not like battery acid is acidic. > > What destroys the body is simply simmering it in a large stock pot for a day or so. The lemon juice level of acidity just adds some tang to the soup. As do the sulphur compounds. The boiling-ish water does all the work. There are a few different things that turn a lump of flesh into “soup”. Some proteins are soluble, and pretty much become “soup” right away. Others, like collagen and just about everything in connective tissue, are insoluble at normal body temperature but melt at cooking/hot spring temperatures. Yet other proteins are denatured, or what we call “cooked”. That’s basically all that’s relevant on a time scale of normal cooking. However, with even longer times and higher temperatures, peptide bond hydrolysis becomes significant. And peptide hydrolysis can be catalyzed by either high pH or low pH. So yeah, this aspect of soupification will be faster in an acidic environment, though I don’t know how much of a difference this makes practically speaking. (How much do normal amounts of lemon juice or vinegar actually change the pH of a pot of soup? You’re really not adding much – one whole cup of vinegar in a 12-quart stock pot makes a ~20 mM solution, and IME more typical quantities would be on a mM scale. I’d expect that most pots of soup are fairly well buffered by proteins, free amino acids, and whatever else contribute to normal physiological pH. If so, adding normal quantities of vinegar or lemon juice will lower the pH below ~7, but not all the way to ~2.) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2016, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-in-yellowstone-hot-spring-how-does-the-water-get-so-acidic/772274/16 "2016-11-18T20:53:19Z")
> [@lazybratsche](#): > > … > However, with even longer times and higher temperatures, peptide bond hydrolysis becomes significant. And peptide hydrolysis can be catalyzed by either high pH or low pH. So yeah, this aspect of soupification will be faster in an acidic environment, though I don’t know how much of a difference this makes practically speaking. > … Thanks for the good chemistry. I was rebutting what I read as the OP’s implied statement that the body was “dissolved” by strong acid the way things do in cartoons. You know the trope: dip the fish in halfway, see some roiling fumes for a few seconds, then pull out the fish: bottom half a skeleton with the top half intact. Not real. At all. Rather the reality was that the guy was simply cooked unto soup. With, as you say, some contribution from acidic protein destruction. The heavier chunks sank, the lighter ones are dispersed in the soup, and some small fraction of the total volatilized away on the wind. Ahh, the aroma of freshly made Darwin Winners. With a soupçon 🙂 of sulphur. Mmm, mmm, good! ---
**Author:** ![Terry\_Kennedy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@Terry\_Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terry_Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-in-yellowstone-hot-spring-how-does-the-water-get-so-acidic/772274/17 "2016-11-19T07:23:59Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > As discussed at length in the other current geyser thread [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=800137](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=800137), the water’s not \*that \*acidic. > > It’s acidic like lemon juice or vinegar is acidic. Not like battery acid is acidic. The placard at Sulphur Cauldron (not in the Norris Geyser Basin, so I don’t know if the same applies there) says: > [@NPS Informational Placard](#): > > Ten times more acidic than lemon juice, Suplhur Cauldron sits on the edge of one of the most active areas of Yellowstone’s buried volcano. Photograph of placard [here](https://www.glaver.org/transient/6F5S5931-s.jpg). Whether or not this contributed, I don’t know. I’m also not sure which is more unpleasant, being boiled or being dissolved. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-in-yellowstone-hot-spring-how-does-the-water-get-so-acidic/772274/18 "2016-11-19T14:05:44Z")
In that case we’re approaching stomach acid, pH ~1, which does a number on the proteins I eat. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-in-yellowstone-hot-spring-how-does-the-water-get-so-acidic/772274/19 "2016-11-19T14:42:35Z")
The placard should have added “No swimming, diving, bathing, or wading!” ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-in-yellowstone-hot-spring-how-does-the-water-get-so-acidic/772274/20 "2016-11-19T17:09:10Z")
This reminds me of a very sad incident that occurred on the Big Island the last time I lived in Hawaii. A young lady attempting to take a steam bath in a vent of the Kilauea Volcano slipped farther into the vent, became stuck and was scalded to death by the steam. Her boyfriend tried in vain to save her. Her screams were reportedly horrendous. People, don’t play around with this stuff. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-in-yellowstone-hot-spring-how-does-the-water-get-so-acidic/772274.md?page=2)