A man has been melted in an acid-filled geyser at one of the world’s best-known natural wonders.

After accidentally falling into a hot spring at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, an Oregon man, 23, died a grisly death, essentially dissolving inside the spring.

CNN has reported that the incident occurred in June, when Colin Nathaniel Scott went to the park with his sister to find a place to “hot pot”.

According to a recently released report from park officials, Mr Scott and his sister went to an unauthorised area near the Norris Geyser.

“They were specifically moving in that area for a place that they could potentially get into and soak,” Deputy Chief Ranger Lorant Veress told CNN affiliate KULR, which lodged a Freedom of Information request to secure information on the incident.

“I think they call it hot potting.”

Mr Scott had reportedly reached down to check the temperature of the spring when he slipped and fell into it.

His body was later discovered by rescuers inside the pool, but were unable to retrieve it due to a lightning storm in the area.

They came back the next day, but no remains were found beneath the spring’s churning, acidic waters.

“In a very short order, there was a significant amount of dissolving.”
Ranger Lorant Veress

The park’s geysers and springs are acidic because they are fed by thermal water that originates from deep underground which collects sulphuric acid as it rises to the surface, KULR reported.

The Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Photo: Getty

Micro-organisms produce the sulphuric acid that breaks down hydrogen sulphide in rocks and soil.

Mr Scott’s sister was recording on her cell phone when he fell in, but the park service has refused to release the video.

The park’s authorities stressed the importance visitors of obeying all warning signs.

“Because (Yellowstone) is wild and it hasn’t been overly altered by people to make things a whole lot safer, it’s got dangers,” Mr Veress said.

“And a place like Yellowstone, which is set aside because of the incredible geothermal resources that are here, all the more so.”