Valley of Geysers

A narrow canyon in Kamchatka's Kronotsky Reserve holding some 90 geysers — the world's second-largest geyser field, discovered in 1941.

The valley is part of the Kronotsky Nature Reserve and the World Heritage Site 'Volcanoes of Kamchatka'. Hot water comes from beneath a young volcano called Kikhpinych and flows into the Geysernaya River. The valley is so remote that helicopters are the only practical way to get there, so only a few thousand visitors come each year.

Who discovered it?

The geysers were found in 1941 by a local scientist named Tatyana Ustinova, who published her findings fourteen years later. Not much exploring happened until 1972, and a careful survey began in the mid-1970s. An automatic monitoring system was introduced in 1990. More than thirty geysers have been given names. One is Velikan, the Giant, which can shoot water up to 40 metres into the air.

The great mudflow of 2007

On 3 June 2007 a huge mudflow covered about two thirds of the valley. The shock was big, and a thermal lake began forming above it. Soon some of the buried features came back into view, and Velikan geyser was not buried and kept working. After heavy rains in 2013 a landslide broke a natural dam, which freed the springs. When the water went down, the geysers started up again.

On the globe

The model shows a narrow canyon with steaming geysers. Look for the plumes of steam rising from the valley floor.