What Happens if You Fall Into a Hot Spring at Yellowstone?

Part of a human foot and a shoe have been found in a hot spring in Yellowstone National Park.

The remains were uncovered by a park employee on August 16, at the Abyss Pool, located in the south of the national park. An investigation is now underway, according to a report from The Guardian.

The pool is located near the West Thumb Geyser Basin, which closed following the discovery. Officials have not released any details as to what happened at the hot spring.

Newsweek has reached out to the National Park Service for comment.

The hot spring is on the park's southern loop, near the West Thumb of Yellowstone lake.

Yellowstone has around 10,000 hydrothermal hot springs, geysers, mudpots, and fumaroles (surface holes or vents where hot volcanic gasses are emitted). It has the highest concentration of geysers in the world, making it a popular attraction for tourists. Hot springs, or geothermal springs, are sourced from geothermally heated water within the Earth. The circulation of hot rock within the Earth's crust, or magma, works to heat the water.

The hot springs in Yellowstone are one of the park's most dangerous features. So what happens if you fall in?

What happens if you fall into a hot spring?

Falling into a hot spring can cause death in just a couple of minutes.

The heat would firstly cause rapid blood loss and cause blood vessels to burst, according to a 2016 Forbes report. In such conditions, the nervous system would begin to shut down and in most cases be damaged beyond repair.

In the moments upon falling in, a person would also experience severe pain.

Underlying skin layers would also be irreparably harmed. The temperatures would cause the skin to break down and become blackened.

This can then cause organ failure, although it is more likely that the shock of the heat would do severe damage and kill a person before this happens.

What are the temperatures and how deep is it?

In Yellowstone, hot springs reach temperatures of 198 degrees Fahrenheit. The steam vents in the area can also be as hot as 275 degrees Fahrenheit.

Abyss Pool also reaches a temperature of around 140 degrees Fahrenheit. It is also one of the deepest hot springs in Yellowstone at 53 feet.

How many people have died falling in?

Over 20 people have died after falling into Yellowstone's hot springs, or after having become severely burned after touching one. The park's hot springs are one of the park's most dangerous features. However, deaths are still an incredibly rare event.

Before this incident, a man died in 2016 after he fell into a boiling spring and became dissolved by the acidic water, The Guardian reported.

It is illegal to swim in Yellowstone's hot springs, yet some visitors do not realize this. The hot springs can appear deceptively cool, meaning some may jump in, not realizing the danger.