Dolina Geiserow

The valley of the geysers

Postage stamp from the USSR from 1966 with the valley as a motif

Dolina Geiserow ( Russian Долина гейзеров , the valley of geysers ) is the only geyser field in Asia and the second largest concentration of geysers in the world. It is located on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Far East of Russia . The 6 km long valley has about 90 geysers and many hot springs on, especially on the left bank of the river Geiser Well, in the hot water from the relatively young stratovolcano Kichpinytsch ( Russian Кихпиныч ) flows. The valley is part of the National Kronotsky Biosphere Reserve Kamchatka , which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage “Volcanoes of Kamchatka”. The valley can only be reached by helicopter .

Research history

The geysers were discovered in 1941 by the scientist Tatiana Ustinova . She published her discovery 14 years later, but the area remained relatively unexplored until 1972. A systematic inspection was started in the mid-1970s, and an automatic observation system was installed in 1990. The great geyser Welikan ( Russian Великан , giant ), which reaches a height of 40 meters, is one of over 30 geysers that have been given a name. In the 1980s the area was advertised as a tourist destination within Russia. Foreign tourists have been allowed into the valley since 1991. Around 3,000 tourists visited the valley every year.

Damage from a mudslide

On June 3, 2007, a large mudslide spilled two thirds of the valley. The World Heritage Center expressed its sadness at the event. "It is tragic for humanity that we have lost one of the greatest natural wonders in the world," commented the spokesman for the World Wildlife Fund . On June 5th it was observed that a thermal lake is forming in the valley.

The extent of the destruction is still unclear, but it is possible that it is far less than initially claimed. The particularly large Welikan geyser , one of the largest in the field, is still active.

literature

• Т. И. Устинова: Камчатские гейзеры / Geysers of Kamchatka ( Russian ). State Publisher of Geography Literature, Moscow 1955, p. 119 pp.

Web links

Commons : Valley of the Geysers  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• ValleyofGeysers.com - pictures, videos and more information
• Landslide buries Valley of the Geysers at NASA Earth Observatory
• Valley of Geysers - what actually happened , Leonov and Leonov, Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 10 June 2007 (Russian, English)
• Map of the Valley of Geysers and scheme of the landslide and the landslide-dammed lake

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Natural Wonder of the World Transformed within Hours, says World Wildlife Fund , earthtimes.com. June 4, 2007. Retrieved May 29, 2011. 
2. ↑ Aalok Mehta: Photo in the News: Russia's Valley of the Geysers Lost in Landslide , National Geographic . June 5, 2007. Retrieved May 29, 2011. 
3. ↑ Official site of the World Heritage Center.Retrieved May 29, 2011.
4. ^ Luke Harding : Mudslide fully changes terrain in Kamchatka's Valley of Geysers , The Guardian . June 5, 2007. Retrieved May 29, 2011. 

Coordinates: 54 ° 25 ′ 49.9 ″  N , 160 ° 8 ′ 22.1 ″  E