The Valley of Geysers (russian: Долина гейзеров) is a

geyser A geyser (, ) is a spring characterized by an intermittent discharge of water ejected turbulently and accompanied by steam. As a fairly rare phenomenon, the formation of geysers is due to particular hydrogeological conditions that exist only i ...

field on

Kamchatka Peninsula The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and w ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

, and has the second largest concentration of geysers in the world. This basin with approximately ninety geysers and many

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

s is situated on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admin ...

, predominantly on the left bank of the ever-deepening Geysernaya River, into which geothermal waters flow from a relatively young

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and peri ...

, Kikhpinych. Temperatures have been found to be , below the

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...

ground. It is part of the

Kronotsky Nature Reserve Kronotsky (Кроноцкий) Nature Reserve (also: ''Kronotsky Biosphere Zapovednik'') is a Russian ' zapovednik' (strict nature reserve) reserved for the study of natural sciences in the remote Russian Far East, on the coast of the Kamchatka Pen ...

, which, in turn, is incorporated into the

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 ...

"Volcanoes of Kamchatka". The valley is difficult to reach, with helicopters providing the only feasible means of transport.

History

The "pulsating" geysers of Kamchatka were discovered by a local scientist,

Tatyana Ustinova Tatyana Ustinova (November 14, 1913, Alushta — September 4, 2009, Vancouver) was a Soviet geologist, who discovered Valley of Geysers in Kamchatka. Biography Tatyana Ustinova graduated from Kharkiv University and subsequently worked on proj ...

, in 1941. She published her findings fourteen years later, but there was little exploration of the area until 1972. A systematic survey was undertaken in the mid-1970s, and an automatic monitoring system was introduced in 1990. Over thirty geysers were given names; among these was the Giant geyser (''Velikan''), capable of producing a jet of water reaching up to . From the 1980s, the area was promoted across the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

as one of the tourist magnets of Kamchatka and the

. Foreign tourists were allowed into the valley in 1991. About 3,000 tourists visited the site annually.

2007 Mudflow damage and aftermath

On June 3, 2007, a massive

mudflow A mudflow or mud flow is a form of mass wasting involving fast-moving flow of debris that has become liquified by the addition of water. Such flows can move at speeds ranging from 3 meters/minute to 5 meters/second. Mudflows contain a significa ...

inundated two thirds of the valley.

Oleg Mitvol Oleg Lvovich Mitvol (russian: Олег Львович Митволь) (born October 3, 1966) is a Russian environmentalist, businessman and government official, known for his activity in the chair of environmental protection department. Career Me ...

of Russia's Service for the Oversight of Natural Resources said "we witnessed a unique natural event, but the consequences of such a natural catastrophe are irreversible." The

also expressed its deep concern over the issue. "This is tragic for humankind, in that we have lost one of the great natural wonders of the world", the

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the W ...

spokesman commented. On June 5, it was reported that a

thermal lake A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

was forming above the valley. The landslide occurred during filming of the documentary ''Wild Russia''; it features footage of before and after the disaster. The extent of permanent change is not yet clear, but may be less than was originally thought. As of June 9, 2007, waters have receded somewhat, exposing some of the submerged features. ''Velikan'' (Giant) Geyser, one of the field's largest, was not buried in the slide and has recently been observed to be active.

References

External links

Landslide buries Valley of the Geysers
at

NASA Earth Observatory NASA Earth Observatory is an online publishing outlet for NASA which was created in 1999. It is the principal source of satellite imagery and other scientific information pertaining to the climate and the environment which are being provided by NA ...

Google Earth model of the Valley of Geysers
– photos, movies, maps, schemes, landslide animation *

Russian

With English translation.
Description of the Valley of Geysers on the Official website of Kronotsky Nature Reserve

Russian and English