Location from ice-age by
A steaming cluster of hot springs and bubbling mineral pools in a valley where the earth's heat breaks through the ice — a strange oasis of warmth in a freezing world.
The Geothermal Pools are an anomaly — a place where the rules of the ice age briefly relent. Animals gather here who would not otherwise share space, drawn by warmth that transcends the usual order of predator and prey. The pools are also treacherous: the edges are slippery, some pools are scalding, and the sulfurous steam can disorient. As a setting, the Geothermal Pools provide a welcome contrast to the film's dominant cold and a liminal space where unusual things can happen. The warmth creates a false sense of safety. The steam obscures vision. The beauty of it distracts from the danger, which is exactly the point.
The pools are edged in mineral-crusted stone stained orange and white, their surfaces steaming in the cold air. The water ranges from clear to opaque-turquoise depending on depth and mineral content. Snow does not stay on the ground near the pools — the warmth is too persistent. Ice formations ring the outer edges, caught mid-melt.
Also known as: The Geothermal Pools, the hot springs, the pools