Why are volcanic eruptions in Kamchatka so frequent? What is the reason for such violent seismic activity? And what threatens the proximity of a steaming cone to nearby people? In this article we will try to understand this issue. We will also hold a contest of the most beautiful volcanoes in Kamchatka. After all, they are real business cards of the peninsula. When you hear the word “Kamchatka”, pictures of harsh nature usually pop up in your memory: tundra, foam mountain streams, steam columns rising from the ground like incense burners in a pagan temple ... And all this is against the backdrop of almost perfectly cone-shaped volcanoes over which as from a giant wigwam of giants, smoke rises to the sky. When you are here, you feel a special feeling: as if a mighty and terrible beast are sleeping nearby. What will happen the next minute when he turns around, opens his eyes, wakes up?
The Ring of Fire of the Pacific
We will first examine the cause of volcanic activity in Kamchatka. The peninsula, together with the Kuril and Aleutian islands, Japan and Alaska, is included in the so-called Pacific Fire Belt. The reason for the activity is subduction, that is, the movement of the Eurasian and oceanic plates of the lithosphere towards each other. Their friction causes frequent earthquakes and magma outcrops to the surface of the earth. The Ring of Fire encircles the entire coast of the Pacific Ocean, starting from the Arctic Circle through the equator to Antarctica. The most active in terms of seismic activity is considered Indonesia, and in our country - Kamchatka. Volcanic eruptions there are observed several times a year. And this fact is one of the motives for tourists to visit the harsh and beautiful region.
In Kamchatka, there are more than three hundred volcanoes. At the same time, at least thirty-four of them do not sleep.
Klyuchevskaya Sopka
What volcano should be attributed to the most-most in Kamchatka? If we proceed from the height parameter, then Klyuchevskaya Sopka leads without a doubt. This is the grandest volcano of Eurasia. Its absolute height is 4750 meters above sea level. Klyuchevskoy is also known for his ideal contours. An almost perfect cone, covered with ice, over which a stream of smoke constantly rises, was considered sacred by the local population.
Klyuchevskaya Sopka is a capricious and unpredictable beauty. Sometimes she goes into hibernation for five years, and at times she rages every month. But we must pay tribute to Klyuchevskaya Sopka. She is absolutely not bloodthirsty. From time to time, the nearby village of Klyuchi is covered with volcanic ash, but tragedies happen, according to experts, only through the fault of people themselves who want to take a closer look at the volcanic eruption in Kamchatka. Photos taken by such unfortunate tourists are the last in their lives.
Koryaksky
And yet, you can understand people who, risking their lives, get close to the fiery lava flow in order to photograph the volcanic eruption in Kamchatka. What colorful and spectacular photos turn out! But maybe an unprepared tourist should confine himself to a panoramic picture of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky? The city is surrounded by a magnificent ensemble of two volcanoes - Koryaksky and Avachinsky. The first, by the way, occupies a leading position in terms of relative height. It is (from the bottom to the top) 3300 meters.
Klyuchevskaya Sopka "grows" on the slope of an ancient extinct stratovolcano. This explains its almost five-kilometer height relative to sea level. And without the “pedestal" Klyuchevskoy ascended only three thousand meters. But scientists call the Koryak stratovolcano. Its powerful circus at an altitude of 3456 m above sea level is icebound. And only from numerous cracks fumaroles break up.
Kamchatka handsome
If we talk about the perfection of forms, then on the peninsula nothing can compare with the Kronotsky volcano. Its absolute height is 3528 m, and its relative height is 3100. This volcano has a ribbed regular contour, which is crowned with a glacier cap. It is as if a handsome man admires his reflection in the waters of the largest Kamchatka lake. In this array it is worth visiting the Uzon caldera. The last volcanic eruption in Kamchatka occurred eight and a half thousand years ago, which formed this giant ring-shaped funnel with a diameter of ten kilometers. Cold rivers flow here and hot springs beat, in which, despite the temperature close to the boiling point, bacteria and algae live. Like in a bathhouse, bears roaming around in warm clay shrouded in steam. In principle, tourism on the Kronotsky volcano is quite safe. But this territory is reserved.
Karymsky
Volcanic eruptions in Kamchatka occur frequently. But the record holder for activity is Karymsky. It is low (about one and a half thousand meters above sea level). Karymsky was formed only six thousand years ago. This youth explains its "explosive nature." Over the past century, the volcano "buzil" twenty-three times. Especially memorable were the last volcanic eruptions in Kamchatka. The consequences of this biennial activity (1996-1998) are difficult to overestimate. In addition to explosions, the emission of stone bombs and ash, there was an eruption under the bottom of Karymsky Lake. As a result of hundreds of shocks, tsunamis formed. The waves reached fifteen meters.
But not the tsunami caused the greatest harm. The temperature in the lake increased sharply, the water was saturated with acids and salts from magma. Because of this, all life in the natural reservoir died. Previously, the lake was famous as ultra fresh. Now it is known as the largest in the world with sour water.
Other consequences of volcanic eruptions in Kamchatka
Everyone remembers how, in 2010, Icelandic Eyyafyatlayokudl paralyzed air traffic in Europe for several weeks. Kamchatka volcanoes can also throw a stream of steam and ash for many kilometers up. However, strong air currents in this area and the proximity of the ocean make such an obstacle for the flights of liners short-term. But quite often, the activity of Klyuchevskaya Sopka, Kizimen and other volcanoes cause concern among ground controllers. They assign them yellow, orange and red aviation codes - depending on the degree of threat to the aircraft passing over them. After all, it also happens that the residents of Klyuchi do not see their own hands because of the ashes thrown out by Klyuchevskaya Sopka.
Volcanic eruptions in Kamchatka can have a more long-term effect. Sulfur gases burst from numerous cracks . If you stand on the edge of the crater of Small Semyachik, admiring a steaming green lake, then in calm weather you will begin to cough. It will be necessary to urgently take away the legs from this murderous beauty.