Three mountain peaks, one geyser basin, and one pass in Yellowstone are names after Norris.
It is home to half of the world's total number of geysers in its nine geyser basins.
The phenomena of geyser basins are the product of hot ground water rising close to the surface, and occasionally bubbling through.
They eventually followed the western shoreline to West Thumb before moving west to the geyser basins.
The question remains whether the movement and the resulting unrest in the geyser basin was a one-of-a-kind event or part of a cycle.
Hot springs and mudpots dot the landscape between the geyser basin and the lake.
No one is sure exactly when the geyser basin was formed in the area, although it was probably present at the time of the last glaciation.
When the old geyser basin was active, the "cooking" of the rock caused chemical alterations in these iron compounds.
Rather smaller steam devils can form over small lakes, especially the warm water in the hot springs of geyser basins.
Steam devils over geyser basins were first reported by Holle in 1977.
