Klyuchevskaya Sopka. The highest and most active volcano in Eurasia - Klyuchevskaya Sopka

The perfectly symmetrical snow-covered "mountain of fire" is not only the highest active volcano Eurasia, it is also the most active. From the very beginning of its functioning to the present day, not a single long period of its decay is known. The truncated cone of Klyuchevskaya Sopka rises on the slopes of an ancient extinct volcano. 340 km 3 of ash and lava have accumulated here in just 50 thousand years, which have passed since the last interglacial epoch. Diameter grounds Klyuchevskoy Sopka - about 15 km, the diameter of the crater - 550-600 m, the steepness of the slopes - 32-33 degrees.

Eruptions occur both in the form of explosions and in the form of outpourings. The slopes of the volcano are covered with numerous cones and craters, formed by more than 100 slope eruptions over the past 3000 years. However, most of the eruptions occur from the summit crater with a diameter of 550-600 m.

The height of Klyuchevskaya Sopka - 4,850 meters, may change with the next eruption. After the volcano last time spoke menacingly in 2009, its height still approached the round figure of 5,000 meters.

"Fire-breathing region" - Kamchatka - is located at the junction of two large tectonic plates, the Eurasian and Pacific ones, the movements of which cause volcanic processes. On the eastern coast of the peninsula, on the territory of ¼ Sicily, there are about 330 volcanoes, of which 29 are active. The volcanoes of Kamchatka are the most active link in the Ring of Fire - a grandiose chain of volcanoes bordering the Pacific Ocean.

Since ancient times, volcanoes have caused fear in humans; they have become the culprits in the disappearance from the surface of the Earth of many civilizations, such as Pompeii. He acquired his in honor of the God of fire - Vulcan. There are those who are extinct and asleep, and there are those who are acting, making people anxious and horrified. Which of Eurasia is the highest?

Volcanoes of Eurasia

In Eurasia, there are more than twenty large volcanoes... There are more of them in the Asian territory than in Europe. What is the tallest active volcano in Eurasia in history? This huge Ojos del Salado is now considered extinct, but several times geologists have noticed its passive, but still volcanic activity.

Ojos del Salado: latest activity

Recently, the highest active volcano in Eurasia called Ojos del Salado today bears the title of the most high volcano on our planet. Its peak is located at an altitude of 6893 meters above sea level. There is a high-mountain lake in the crater of the volcano. It is located in the eastern part of the mountain at an altitude of 6390 meters.

This volcano is considered extinct, but scientists have recorded three times its activity in the middle and late twentieth century. A small release of steam and sulfur occurred in the thirty-seventh, fifty-sixth and ninety-third years of the twentieth century. Ojos del Salado was a place of worship and sacrifices of the ancient Incas, as evidenced by the sacrificial altars found on its slope. They were found by climbers conquering the top of the volcano. Today, Ojos del Salado is not a cause for concern, since the possibility of an eruption is minimal.

What is the highest active volcano in Eurasia in modern times?

Currently, this is the Klyuchevskoy volcano, also known as the Volcano located in the east of the Kamchatka Peninsula, has existed for seven thousand years. The highest active volcano in Eurasia, Klyuchevskoy, has a variable height. At the time of the last activity - the eruption that occurred in August and October 2013 - it was 4835 meters high, the maximum height reached 4850 meters. The highest active volcano in Eurasia is located in close proximity to the residential settlements of Kozyrevsk and Klyuchevsk. It is located just 60 kilometers from the coast.

The most terrible eruptions of Klyuchevskoy volcano

We figured out which active volcano in Eurasia is the highest. But is he as dangerous as you might think? Crimean volcano erupts more often, but Klyuchevskaya is stronger, in this respect the volcano has no equal. The most recent was recorded in October 2013.

On August 15, the first activity was noticed, on 26 the first lava flow poured from the volcano's mouth, the peak of the eruption fell on the twentieth of October. There were four streams, carrying away all living things in their path. The ash column reached 12 kilometers, and the fallen layer was more than 2 millimeters.

Before this event, the largest active volcano in Eurasia slept very little. In October 2012, there was a previous eruption, but it was weak, only lava bursts and some ash. Such an eruption could not interfere with aviation. One of the largest eruptions occurred in 2009, it lasted three months - from mid-September to mid-December. As a result of such a long activity, Klyuchevskaya reached a maximum height of 5 kilometers.

In his book, Krasheninnikov described one of the most major eruptions Klyuchevsky, which happened in 1736. This book says that the eruption lasted for a week, there was such a noise and crackling in the mountain that all the inhabitants were waiting for death. The most terrible thing, as the writer writes, happened at night, when lava fire could be seen from each crevice.

Klyuchevskoy is mainly activated every five, less often in six years, but in last years more frequent manifestations of activity are noticed. The interval is from one and a half to two years. This began to happen in 1932 due to a change in the activity of the volcano - side craters began to operate. It does not pose a particular danger to human life, everyone is knowingly warned about the eruption by employees of the Kamchatka volcanological station.

Active volcanoes are the most striking manifestation of the inner activity of our planet, the most interesting objects of geological research and tourist excursions, but also unpredictable sources of danger for people living near them. Volcanoes are also direct sources.
In Russia, the vast majority of volcanic mountains and all active volcanoes are located in the east of the country - on the Kamchatka Peninsula and the Kuril Islands. This territory belongs to the so-called "ring of fire", within which more than 2/3 of the active volcanoes of the planet are concentrated. A grandiose tectonic process of interaction between two large ones - the Pacific and the Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk takes place here. At the same time, the earth's crust, which is older and heavier, sinks (subducts) under the Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk and, melting at great depths, generates magma chambers feeding the volcanoes of Kamchatka and the Kuriles.

The uniqueness of the landscape of volcanic regions is largely determined by the appearance of young and modern volcanic buildings... These are cone-shaped, often very regular-shaped mountains with a cut off top, where a crater or a larger sinkhole or explosive depression is located - a caldera. All known in the country volcanic mountains are either young - erupted over the past few million years, or modern (), of which only a few are active today.

The question of which volcanoes are considered active is controversial, since the period of rest of many of them can significantly exceed the duration of observation. For example, on the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Bezymyanny volcano before the catastrophic eruption of 1955–1956. did not show activity for more than 1000 years and only conditionally referred to acting. As a result of the study of volcanism in Kamchatka, it was proposed to consider as active volcanoes repeatedly erupting, for which at least one eruption in the last 3–3.5 thousand years has been historically documented or established by geological methods.

The maps show areas of young, mainly volcanism, as well as active volcanoes - active or dormant.

As a rule, it is the volcanoes no older than the Pleistocene volcanoes that have well preserved their forms typical of fire-breathing mountains; often they are associated with post-volcanic processes (fumaroles, hot springs).

Kamchatka-Kuril island arc

The Kamchatka-Kuril island arc, up to 2 thousand km long, unites the volcanic edifices of the Kamchatka peninsula and the Kuril Islands.
The volcanoes of the region are different in structure and composition of products. Klyuchevskaya Sopka, Bezymyanny, Karymskaya Sopka - stratovolcanoes, composed of layers of alternating lavas and ash from numerous eruptions; Krasheninnikova, Kikhpinych, Maly Semyachik - volcanic edifices uniting several merged cones-stratovolcanoes; Avachinskaya Sopka - Somma-Vesuvius volcano; the Kizimen volcano is characterized by extrusive domes (massifs of squeezed out thick lava); volcanoes Ksudach, Sarychev are crowned with a vast caldera formed by a powerful explosive (explosive) eruption. The volcanoes Klyuchevskaya Sopka, Avachinskaya Sopka, Krasheninnikova, Kikhpinych, Maly Semyachik, Alaid, Chikurachki supply basaltic and basaltic andesite lava to the surface; Karymskaya Sopka and Bezymyanny - andesite; Ksudach, Fussa, Kudryavy - andesite and dacite, with a high content of silica.

The potential danger of eruptions on the Kamchatka Peninsula and the Kuril Islands is associated not only with lava flows. Ashfalls, landslide-explosive phenomena, hot avalanches - streams of loose hot (600-800 ° C) sand and boulders, pyroclastic streams descending from lahara volcanoes - mud-stone streams formed when ice caps melt on tops, threaten the vicinity of volcanoes. Eruptions are usually accompanied, and explosive eruptions of underwater volcanoes are fraught with occurrence.

Currently, about 30 active and more than 160 are known extinct volcanoes... Most often, strong and catastrophic eruptions in the Holocene (over the last 10 thousand years) occurred on two volcanoes - Avachinskaya Sopka and Shiveluch.

Volcano Klyuchevskaya Sopka - the largest active volcano in Eurasia (4 688 m) - is known for its ideal, unusually beautiful cone. For the first time Klyuchevskaya Sopka was described in 1697 by the pioneer of Kamchatka, Vladimir Atlasov. On average, a volcanic eruption occurs once every five years, and in some periods - annually, sometimes for several years, and is accompanied by explosions and ash falls.

The Avachinskaya Sopka volcano, 24-30 km away from which cities and Elizovo are located, with a population of more than 250 thousand people, is considered one of the most dangerous in the region: over the past 230 years, it has erupted 16 times. Its eruptions are characterized by abundant tephra ejections, extended (up to 17 km) pyroclastic flows and “scorching clouds”.

The Ilinskaya Sopka volcano was the center of the largest Holocene eruption (7.7 thousand years ago), during which 140–170 km3 of volcanic material was ejected, which probably led to global climatic changes.

The eruption of the Bezymyanny volcano in 1955–1956. - one of the most powerful and interesting eruptions of the XX century. The summit of the volcano was destroyed by a catastrophic "directional" explosion at an angle of 45 ° to; as a result, a debris was formed, the deposits of which destroyed all life on an area of \u200b\u200bmore than 500 square meters. km.

On the Kuril Islands, the number of volcanoes is more difficult to estimate - they are less studied, some of them are underwater. There are up to 104 land volcanoes alone, of which about 36 are considered active.

The volcanoes of the Kuril Islands are characterized by eruptions of the most dangerous, explosive type, which are associated with the formation of "scorching clouds", pyroclastic and mud-stone flows. The radius of the zone hit by them can reach 25-30 km. The most potentially dangerous volcanoes are: Mendeleev, Golovnina, Tyatya, Ivan the Terrible, Baranskiy, Chirip, Chikurachki, Ebeko. The most active volcanoes in the last century were: Sarycheva (7 eruptions), Ebeko (6), Chikurachki (6), Ivan the Terrible (5), Alaid (4). Most violent eruptions in the last century are associated with volcanoes: Raikoke (1924), Severgin (1933), Sarycheva (1946), Alaid (1972, 1981), Tyatya (1973).

Young volcanoes from other regions of Russia

In the recent geological past, volcanism was much more common in Russia. Even in the Pleistocene, and in some places even in the Holocene, volcanism manifested itself in the Greater Caucasus (Elbrus volcano); small volcanoes erupted in the south of Eastern Siberia - in the Eastern Sayan Mountains, as well as in Yakutia, Kolyma and Far East... They are less known, but have typical forms for volcanic structures, composed of lava and ash. Sometimes near them post-volcanic activity is observed - hot mineral springs are gushing, anomalous, etc. These areas are also seismically active.

For the most part, young volcanoes are one of the manifestations of rifting - the process of stretching and splitting, i.e., the emergence of new plate boundaries within the continent. Thus, volcanoes in the Eastern Sayan Mountains - in the upper reaches of the Oka River and in the Tunkinskaya depression (I), on the Vitim plateau (II) in the Vitim, Amalat river basins are associated with stretching crust in the Baikal rift system. The Momsky rift defines the Indigirskaya volcanic region (III). The volcanoes (IV) and Sikhote-Alin (VI, VII) are probably distant “echoes” of the global and long-term process of plate convergence within the “ring of fire”. The volcanism of the Greater Caucasus (VIII) is a manifestation of collision: the collision of two lithospheric plates - the Eurasian and Arabian.

The formation of many deposits of minerals (sulfur, rare metals, etc.), mineral and thermal waters is associated with volcanism. In recent years, areas not only of modern volcanism, but also of the young have become nature reserves, natural parks and, as unique natural objects, attract more and more researchers and tourists.