Klyuchevskaya Sopka (russian: Ключевская сопка; also known as Klyuchevskoi, russian: Ключевской) is a stratovolcano, the highest

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually highe ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...

and the highest

active volcano An active volcano is a volcano which is either erupting or is likely to erupt in the future. An active volcano which is not currently erupting is known as a dormant volcano. Overview Tlocene Epoch. Most volcanoes are situated on the Pacific Ri ...

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago ...

. Its steep, symmetrical cone towers about from the Bering Sea. The volcano is part of the natural

Volcanoes of Kamchatka The volcanoes of Kamchatka are a large group of volcanoes situated on the Kamchatka Peninsula, in eastern Russia. The Kamchatka River and the surrounding central side valley are flanked by large volcanic belts containing around 160 volcan ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

. Klyuchevskaya appeared 7,000 years ago. Its first recorded eruption occurred in 1697, and it has been almost continuously active ever since, as have many of its neighboring volcanoes. It was first climbed in 1788 by Daniel Gauss and two other members of the Billings Expedition. No other ascents were recorded until 1931, when several climbers were killed by flying lava on the descent. As similar dangers still exist today, few ascents are made. Klyuchevskaya Sopka is considered sacred by some indigenous peoples, being viewed by them as the location at which the world was created. Other volcanoes in the region are seen with similar spiritual significance, but Klyuchevskaya Sopka is the most sacred of these.

Eruptions

Klyuchevskaya volcano has erupted 110 times during the

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...

Epoch.

2007 eruption

Beginning in early January 2007, the Klyuchevskaya volcano began another eruption cycle. Students from the

University of Alaska Fairbanks The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public land-grant research university in College, Alaska, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was established in 1917 and opened for c ...

and scientists of the

Alaska Volcano Observatory The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) is a joint program of the United States Geological Survey, the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the State of Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys (ADGGS). AVO ...

traveled to Kamchatka in the spring to monitor the eruption. On 28 June 2007, the volcano began to experience the largest explosions so far recorded in this eruption cycle. An ash plume from the eruption reached a height of before drifting eastward, disrupting air traffic from the United States to Asia and causing ashfalls on Alaska's

Unimak Island Unimak Island ( ale, Unimax, russian: Унимак) is the largest island in the Aleutian Islands chain of the U.S. state of Alaska. Geography It is the easternmost island in the Aleutians and, with an area of , the ninth largest island in the ...

2010 eruption

As early as 27 February 2010, gas plumes had erupted from Klyuchevskaya Sopka (reaching elevations of ) and during the first week of March 2010, both explosive ash eruptions and effusive lava eruptions occurred until, by 9 March, the ash cloud was reported to have reached an elevation of . Also, significant thermal anomalies have been reported and gas-steam plumes extended roughly to the north-east from the volcano on 3 March.

2012 eruptions

On 15 October 2012, the volcano had a weak eruption that stopped the following day. Also a weak thermal eruption occurred on 29 November 2012, then stopped again, as all of its neighboring volcanoes

Bezymianny Bezymianny (russian: Безымянный ''Bezymyannyyi'', meaning ''unnamed'') is an active stratovolcano in Kamchatka, Russia. Bezymianny volcano had been considered extinct until 1955. Activity started in 1955, culminating in a dramatic erupt ...

, Karymsky,

Kizimen Kizimen (russian: Кизимен) is an active stratovolcano in the southern part of Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia. The volcano was in a dormant state since an eruption in 1929, but on 2 September 2009 it was reported by Georgina Cooper for the R ...

Shiveluch Shiveluch (russian: Шивелуч), also called Sheveluch, which originates from the name "suelich" which means "smoking mountain" in Itelmen is the northernmost active volcano in Kamchatka Krai, Russia. It and Karymsky are Kamchatka's largest, ...

, and Tolbachik erupted more actively and continuously, taking a major magma supply load off of Klyuchevskaya Sopka.

2013 eruptions

On 25 January 2013, the volcano had a weak Strombolian eruption that stopped the following day. During January 2013, all volcanoes in the eastern part of Kamchatka Bezymianny, Karymsky, Kizimen, Klyuchevskaya Sopka, Shiveluch, and Tolbachik erupted, with the exception of

Kamen Kamen () is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in the district Unna. Geography Kamen is situated at the east end of the Ruhr area, approximately 10 km south-west of Hamm and 25 km north-east of Dortmund. Neighbouring cities ...

On 15 August 2013, the volcano had another weak Strombolian eruption with some slight lava flow that put on an excellent fireworks display before stopping on 21 August 2013, when

Gorely Gorely (russian: Горелый) is a volcano located in the southern part of the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia. It consists of five overlapping stratovolcanoes and is one of the most active in southern Kamchatka. Gorely is a large, long-lived shie ...

Volcano woke up and started erupting again in relief of Klyuchevskaya Sopka. On 12 October, Klyuchevskaya had another three days of on-and-off eruptions with anomalies and a short ash plume, possibly indicating Strombolian and weak Vulcanian activity. An explosion from a new cinder cone low on Kliuchevskoi's southwest flank occurred on 12 October. An ash plume rose to altitudes of , and drifted eastward. The eruptions weakened and paused by 16 October 2013. On 19 November, a strong explosion occurred, and observers reported that ash plumes rose to altitudes of and drifted southeast. The Aviation Color Code was raised to Red. Later that day, the altitudes of the ash plumes were lower and the eruptions weakened and stopped again. On 7 December, activity at Kliuchevskoi significantly increased, having continued during 29 November – 7 December, prompting KVERT to raise the Alert Level to Red. Ash plumes rose to altitudes of above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

and drifted more than northeast and over east. According to a news article, a warning to aircraft was issued for the area around the volcanoes. Video showed gas-and-steam activity, and satellite images detected a daily weak thermal anomaly. On 9 December, the Alert Level was lowered to Green when the eruptions abruptly stopped.

2015 eruptions

On 2 January 2015, after a one-year period of inactivity, the volcano had a Strombolian eruption which stopped on 16 January 2015. Minor eruptions resumed on 10 March 2015 and stopped on 24 March 2015. On 27 August 2015, the volcano had another Strombolian eruption which ended 16 hours later.

2019 eruptions

Kluchevskaya Sopka saw renewed eruption activity beginning in 2019. On 25 October 2019, the volcano had another weak Strombolian eruption which ended some 30 hours later.

2020 eruption

A volcanic eruption occurred on 9 December 2020.

2022 eruption

A volcanic eruption started on 20 November 2022.

2022 climbing accidents

In September 2022, nine people died while climbing Kluchevskaya Sopka. They were part of a 12-strong group of Russian nationals, which included two guides. Five climbers were killed after a fall at about 4,000m. Another four, including a guide, died on the mountainside afterwards. A rescue helicopter managed to land at 1,663m at the fourth attempt, bringing rescuers who faced a two-day climb to reach a volcanologists' hut at 3,300m where the three survivors were sheltering.

Images

File:Klyuchevskoi.jpg, Klyuchevskaya Sopka in July 2006 File:Klyuchevskaya sopka rad.jpg, Space radar image over SRTM

Elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ver ...

of Klyuchevskaya Sopka in October 1994. File:Kliuchevskoi satellite photo.jpg,

Satellite image Satellite images (also Earth observation imagery, spaceborne photography, or simply satellite photo) are images of Earth collected by imaging satellites operated by governments and businesses around the world. Satellite imaging companies sell ima ...

of Klyuchevskaya Sopka in April 2010 by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

. File:Lava and Snow on Klyuchevskaya Volcano 2010-04-07.jpg, Satellite image and map of Klyuchevskaya Sopka in 2002 by NASA. File:Klyuchevskaya Sopka eruption 1994.jpg, The eruption of October 1994. File:Klyuchevskaya ASTER 24feb05.jpg, The eruption of February 2005. File:Lava and Snow on Klyuchevskaya Volcano 2010-02-13.jpg, The eruption of February 2010 taken by NASA ASTER. File:Lava and Snow on Klyuchevskaya Volcano 2010-03-19.jpg, The eruption of March 2010. File:ISS-38 Kliuchevskoi Volcano on Kamchatka.jpg, The eruption of November 16, 2013. Ushkovsky, Tolbachik, Zimina, Udina, and

are also visible. File:Ключевской.jpg, Kluchevskaya Sopka File:Volcano Eruption in Kamchatka Russia 1993.jpg, Eruption of summer 1993

References

External links

Klyuchevskaya Sopka (Climbing).
on author's sit
sgan2009.ru
"Russia begins here" *

* – photos

{{Authority control Active volcanoes Mountains of the Kamchatka Peninsula Subduction volcanoes Volcanoes of the Kamchatka Peninsula Sacred mountains 21st-century volcanic events Stratovolcanoes of Russia Four-thousanders of the Kamchatka Highest points of Russian federal subjects Holocene stratovolcanoes