Yellowstone National Park – United States : Geologists have just made an amazing discovery. A natural mineral spring of sparkling water tasting just like Coca-Cola hidden in a wild area, away from any human activity. Professor PhysaFilm and ScienceInfo’s team of scientific journalists have been there and have brought back some exceptional photos for us.

The Yellowstone National Park is located in the United States, to the north west of Wyoming. Famous for its geothermal features, it contains two-thirds of the planet’s geysers and many hot springs. Each year, it is visited by around three million people, making it one of the busiest parks in the Americas.

And yet, despite this large number of tourists, the park still has a few hard-to-reach unspoiled territories, including in particular a wild area away from any human activity that remains the sanctuary of bears and bison. It is in this protected natural setting that geologists of the Wyoming technological university have just made an exceptional scientific discovery.

Having initially been assigned to survey the various sedimentary rocks emerging on the surface of this unexplored part of the Park, scientists accidentally discovered, at the foot of a mountain, the presence of a thermal spring providing a source of sparkling water tasting just like the famous American drink.

Following a series of geological chance events and a long and particularly complex geothermal process, pressurised ground water flowing through the depths of the Park was combined under high temperature with hydrogen, carbon and oxygen atoms to give rise to molecules such as carbon dioxide, glucose and powerful aromatic agents. All these compounds – combined in admirably accurate proportions – have given this spring water the same unique colour and taste as the famous sweet soft drink Coca-Cola.

The secret of the spring’s location has for the time being been jealously guarded, but negotiations are under way with the Yellowstone National Park to allow the building of a paved road across the wild reserve to a bottling plant to allow the production of the only sweet soda worldwide able to boast a label indicating its 100% organic natural origin.