In the south of Kamchatka, on the Gorelinsky share, there is the active Gorely volcano. It is part of the South Kamchatka Park. Its second name is Burnt Hill. This unique natural monument is located 75 km from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
History
Almost forty millennia ago, on the site of the current volcano, there was a huge thyroid volcano called Pra-Gorely. The diameter of its base exceeded thirty kilometers. Under its own weight, its summit fell over time, and a 10 x 14 km caldera formed. It is framed by the remains of an ancient volcano, which is a small rocky ridge.
Volcanic eruptions continued from the bottom of the caldera through a chain of formed craters. They layered on top of each other, and gradually growing cones merged. Thus an elongated modern massif was formed, which is covered with slag, sand and layers of solidified lava.
Volcanic eruptions continued much later. The last scientists recorded in 1986. A plume of ash then stretched from Gorely to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky through Avachinsky Bay. It was a very unusual sight: a column of black smoke stretched from the earth to the city.
Today, Gorely volcano (Kamchatka) has an "old building", which covers an area of more than 650 kilometers. It extends to the headwaters of the rivers Paratunka Zhirova, Volcano and Asach volcano.
Volcano Description
The active Gorely volcano, whose height is 1829 m, is located in the south of the peninsula. It is represented by two buildings: an ancient shield-shaped one, the top of which is crowned with a 13-km caldera, and also a modern one, which is a complex stratovolcano.
Modern building with an area of 150 square meters. km, located in the center of the caldera. It is composed mainly of balsamic and andesitic-balsatic lavas. This building resembles a Hawaiian type of volcanism, however, its top is framed by a chain of craters, and on the slopes there are thirty slag cones with solidified lava.
Array structure
The mountain range with a length of about three kilometers is folded into a chain consisting of eleven craters. All this is Gorely volcano. Its full name reflects the modern structure of the volcano - Gorely ridge.
This massif was formed during the fusion of volcanic hills. On the vast expanses of these slopes there are many lakes, gas hot fumaroles and almost fifty slag cones.
Crater East
Several craters resembling wells relate to those in which eruptions occurred in the distant past, today are filled with acid lakes. These include the Eastern Crater. Its bottom, half a kilometer in size, is occupied by a deep blue lake. It is surrounded by sheer two-hundred-meter-high cliffs. It is partially covered with floating ice.
A feature of this crater is its ability to change its “behavior” during the activity of a volcano. When the water in the lake remains blue, the bowels of the earth are calm. When the volcano comes into a preactive state, the lake literally “boils away”, and changes shape and color.
Crater Active
Gorely volcano has another amazing crater. It is called Active. Its bottom is filled with a saturated orange acid lake, and its shores soar with fumaroles. This crater has the shape of a funnel, the diameter of which is 250 meters. The depth of the crater is 200 meters.
The descent into it is dangerous, because its walls crumble, and the air is saturated with sulfurous toxic gases.
West Crater
The bottom of this crater is covered by a glacier that gives rise to a stream. It flows into the northwestern part of the caldera, forming several small waterfalls.
Cylinder
This crater with such an unusual name is also interesting. It is located on the southern slope of the volcano, has a regular rounded shape. Its diameter reaches 40 m.
Crater nest
This is a kind of whole "family". At the bottom of the ancient crater are two young ones: the narrow Crater Crater, which got its name due to its oblong shape, and Deep.
Frozen burgundy lava flows, cracked from time to time the bottom of the caldera, covered with black volcanic sand - with its construction Gorely volcano gives the impression of a dangerous, but at the same time surprisingly beautiful place.
Plateau
No less interesting is the plateau of the volcano. It is practically devoid of vegetation. The exception is only low tundra grasses. Here, ancient lava flows of a reddish color, which cracked under the influence of time, come to the surface.
This picture inspires thoughts of the mysterious Mars on many tourists. It seems that on our planet this simply can not be.
Caves
More than two millennia ago, a stream of rather liquid lava, formed as a result of an active eruption, created broad stone fields that are located north of the volcano. The upper layer of lava managed to solidify during the flow, while the inner ones continued to spread.
As a result of this natural phenomenon, the lava caves of the Gorely volcano known today are formed. Weekend tours are organized from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, so everyone can see these unique structures.
In total, Gorely volcano has fourteen caves. They have an ice "floor" and domed arches. Their length ranges from sixteen to one hundred and forty meters. Only six of them are available for visiting tourists now.
Eruptions
Over the past century and a half, Gorely volcano erupted only seven times. At the end of the last century, only weak eruptions were recorded, which consisted in the release of a large amount of gases, sand and ash. The last activity was noted in the summer of 2010. It provoked a drop in the level of lakes, fluctuations in the soil and emissions of vapors. They were visible even in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
Almost every twenty years, Gorely demonstrates his amazing power and strength, spewing burning lava flows to the surface, which stretched over a distance of more than ten kilometers. And even the quiet period in this massif is characterized by very active fumarole activity.
Climbing Gorely volcano
A one-day trip to the Gorely volcano is a simple but endlessly exciting weekend tour. He will give a lot of impressions and wonderful photos. An organized trip from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is designed for tourists of different ages. Even children and people with different physical training can take part in it.
For climbing, you do not need climbing equipment and special training. By the way, climbing Gorely volcano on your own can also be done. From Petropavlovsk by road you can get to the caldera of the Gorely volcano (from mid-July).
The tour takes one day. The climb itself, as well as the descent, takes up to six hours. The road to the caldera takes from 3 to 4 hours. It depends on the presence of snow and the condition of the track.
In clear weather, from the top of Gorely volcano, tourists can simultaneously see several extinct and active volcanoes: Mutnovsky, Zhirovskaya, Asacha, Vilyuchinsky, Opala, in the south - Priyumysh, Khodutka, Ilyinsky, Zheltovsky in the north - Arik, Aag, Avachinsky, Koryaksky, then - group Zhupanovsky volcanoes, Dzendzur, volcanoes of the Tolmachevsky dol.
