Oxygen, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Carbon, Calcium, Phosphorus. Just 6 elements make up 99% of all living organisms. Each of these 6 atoms comes with a set of natural laws that govern how they can combine with each other. Once atoms bond, each differing molecule will have it’s own emergent property – new natural laws for how each molecule will interact and how they can join to other molecules. Made of molecules, each organelle has it’s own emergent property influencing it’s shape and function within the cell. Cells –> tissue –> organs –> bodies –> communities –> ecosystems… each emergent property defining new boundaries and possibilities.
In Yellowstone, thermal features are rich with calcium and bicarbonate. When concentrations of each are reached in the presence of low magnesium levels, they will crash out of solution to form calcium carbonate (CaCO3). CaCO3 is slowly deposited and in time builds up the terraced pools of Mammoth Springs. This same crystal also is the hardened framework for coral and our own bones and teeth.
The most interesting organisms in Yellowstone give each hot spring it’s color. Chlorobium and Chloroflexus bacteria form green mats, Oscillatoria is a rust colored cyanobacteria, Sulfurihydrogenibium make cream colored fillaments, and Thermochromatium is usually deep purple or reddish brown. They’ve all evolved to live under pressure at high temperatures between 90-185 degrees F–they’re always in either the frying pan or the fire.
Oil & Acrylic on Canvas, 2017
