Valley of Geysers
The Valley of Geysers is located in the Kronotsky Nature Reserve; the valley was discovered on 25 July 1941 by Tatiana Ustinova, the reserve’s hydrologist. It is an eight-kilometer long gorge, its width reaches four kilometers, through which flows the Geyzernaya River. The canyon is tentatively divided into nine sections with concentration of geysers (more than 40), and a multiplicity of hot springs. The tour passes through the central part of the valley. Here you can watch all of the forms of hydrothermal activity, including permanently active and pulsating boiling springs, hot lakes, geysers, mud pots and small volcanoes, steam jets, warm plates, all compactly located in a small area.
A geyser is a vent in Earth’s surface that periodically ejects a column of hot water and steam. Each geyser is unique and has its own frequency of eruption, its character, and chemical composition.
On 3 June 2007, in the Valley of Geysers, occurred a natural disaster: landslide. The mudflow swept at a speed of 40 km/h (25 mpg), forever changing the topography of the place. A gigantic landslide (20 million m3 / 65617 thousand ft3) stopped in one meter away from the helipad and nature reserve’s buildings. Only thanks to a lucky break human fatalities were avoided.
To find more information about the Valley of Geysers, please visit the website of Kronotsky Nature Reserve. To view the texts, photos, connect to the reserve’s web camera or to enjoy virtual 3D model, follow this link.
An interesting overview of the Kambalnoe lake on Airpano site.
Uzon Volcano Caldera
Caldera of Uzon Volcano is a 9 by 12 kilometer “bowl”. It is a unique creation of nature. Uzon hydrothermal system is one of the mightiest in Kamchatka. In the area of 350 meter width with the five thermal fields, there are more than one thousand different thermal phenomena: from steam and gas vents and thermal lakes to Narran-like mineral water springs. There is also hot Bannoye Lake with vents of radon, in which there is a crust of sulfur under the layer of water at a depth of 28 meters, and under it - a reservoir of molten sulfur. Also, two original formations of arsenic sulfide are present in the caldera: Uzonite and Alacránite. Outside the Uzon Caldera, Uzonite has not been found anywhere else on the planet.
Uzon is beautiful in any season and in any weather, but those colors that appear before the eyes of visitors in the sunny September weather are so striking, they cause universal admiration.
For more information about the materials about the Uzon Caldera, please visit the website of the Kronotsky Nature Reserve. To view the texts and the photos, follow the link.
An interesting overview of the Kambalnoe lake on Airpano site.
