Popular geyser field world

November 1, 1934 in Kamchatka was formed Kronotsky State Nature Biosphere Reserve, which is one of the wonders of Russia - the Valley of Geysers. In honor of this event, we offer you a selection of well-known geyser fields in the world.

Beppu, Japan

In the north-east of the island of Kyushu in Japan is the capital of the hot springs - the city of Beppu. Sacred springs of the same name being hosted on its territory around 2800 keys, fumaroles and mikrogeyzerov. Special attention of visitors attracted to the so-called "nine circles of hell" - nine unusual sources, each of which has a certain twist. For example, the source of "shaved head" (Oniishibozu Jigoku) resembles a large boiling gray puddle.

The unusual name appeared due to bubbles resembling the shaven heads of Buddhist monks. But perhaps the most well-known source is considered to Bloody Pond (Chinoike Jigoku). The unusual name came about because the red color of the body of water, "colored" iron-containing minerals.

El Tatio, Chile

On Earth, there are five major geothermal areas with active geysers - four of them are located in Iceland, New Zealand, the United States and Kamchatka. The fifth valley of geysers hidden far and high. On the border with Bolivia, Chile, at an altitude of 4320 meters above sea level in the Andes, is the most high geyser field in the world - El Tatio (Spanish: El Tatio.).

About 80 geysers release of the depths of the earth boiling water, reaching a height of 75 cm to 6-7 m. The best time to visit the valley is considered the dawn. While, when the temperature reaches below zero marks, each of the sources surrounds particular halo steam.

In addition, the sources begin to gush before dawn and stop their activity by nine o'clock in the morning.

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Haukadalur, Iceland

The word "geyser" is derived from the Icelandic "geysa", which means "to pour." The first of the documented and known to the world geyser, Geysir (Geysir) was opened in 1294. He gave the name of all the bubbling and gushing springs in the world. Like most of the geysers of Iceland, Geysir is located in the southeastern part of the island, in the Haukadalur (Haukadalur) valley, which literally means "garden of hot springs." Unfortunately, the legendary Geysir has lost its activity by an earthquake in 2000. But he was replaced Strokkur (Strokkur). He erupts every 5-10 minutes, throwing a jet of hot water to a height of 20 meters. Due to its restlessness he is considered one of the most active geysers in the world.

The beginning of eruption of the geyser Strokkur:

As in any work Strokkur geyser is composed of several steps: filling the basin with water, steaming, the emission of hot water jets and quiescent stage:

In this picture you can look in detail at all phases of the eruption.

The largest and most powerful geyser in the world located in New Zealand - the height to which he raised the boiling water, occasionally reaching 400-450 meters. Waimangu Volcanic Rift Valley was active only 4 years, starting from 1900. In the photo from the book "Picturesque New Zealand" in 1913 depicted his impressive eruption:

It is noteworthy that the Icelandic geyser valley, until recently, was owned by director Sigurdur Jonasson, who gave it as a gift to the state. He bought this place in 1935. The previous owner, James Craig, a manufacturer of whiskey, and later Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, shielded sources fence and charge people with an entrance fee. Today, everyone can see the Icelandic geysers for free. By the way, just in the country, there are about 30 active geysers.

Yellowstone, USA

On the other side of the Pacific Ocean is a geyser, which erupts above all other active geysers in the world. This source is located in Yellowstone National Park (USA) and is named Steamer (Eng. Steamboat). It emits a stream of water up to 91 meters, which is almost equal to the height of the Statue of Liberty (93 m from the ground to the tip of the torch). His power is so great that the old pine trees growing nearby, were broken and washed away during one of the eruptions. By the way, it lasts 3 to 40 minutes. This geyser is unpredictable: it can wake up every four days, and can sleep up to 50 years, as it was in 1911. After a long lull, Steamboat woke up in 1961 - two years after one of the strongest earthquakes (magnitude 7, 5) have occurred in Hebgen Lake District. This year, on July 31 the geyser was active for the first time in eight years.

Another popular geyser park, which is called the Old Faithful (eng. Old Faithful), erupts much more frequently, and is renowned for its punctuality. Virtually every 90 minutes it emits a jet of hot water to a height of over 40 meters:

No less popular is the Grand Prismatic Spring visitors (born Grand Prismatic Spring.) - a boiling cauldron, whose dimensions are 91 m long and 75 m wide. He is known for his acid colors that change depending on the time of year due to living in the pond pigmented bacteria.

Incidentally, in Yellowstone National Park is a record number of geysers. On the area of ​​8983 square kilometers pulsate about 3 thousand hot springs, which represents two-thirds of all geysers world.

The Valley of Geysers, Russia

Valley of Geysers was opened after 7 years after the founding of the Kronotsky Nature Reserve. It happened in the summer of 1941 during an expedition by Tatiana Ustinova and Anisifor Krupenina. The inaccessibility of the Valley of Geysers is not allowed to find a unique place earlier.

However, even today not everyone can see the Kamchatka geysers. Firstly, access to them is possible unless the helicopter, and secondly, visiting only with permission of the administration. geysers valley is a gorge width of up to 4 km and a length of 8 km, in which Geysernaya river bottom. Over 6 km from the mouth of the river canyon slopes are "stuck" about 40 geysers, hot springs, mud pots and volcanoes. (Photo Dimarik):

The pride of the valley is considered to be the Giant geyser. He erupts not often - it is a cycle of 5-7 hours. But when he wakes up, boiling water jet under the pressure rises to 20-30 meters up, and clouds of steam can reach 300 meters! (Photo by Alexander Belousov):

Five years ago, 14 km from the Valley of Geysers scored youngest geyser Russia. He became an unexpected discovery for the employees of the Kronotsky Nature Reserve, where 28 September 2008 jet of boiling water rose up from under the ground in the middle of one of Kamchatka's most active hydrothermal systems of Kamchatka in Uzon Valley. It is believed that prior to this point, hit the source of "pulsating". To name the newly formed "fountain" was allowed to tourists, who at the time were near. If employees do not reserve time thought better of it, the geyser was received the name "Cool". In the end, we called it "cloudy". At first it erupted every 15-20 minutes in a year - about every 12 minutes in 2010 - an hour and forty minutes. Today, the jet of steam rises to 5-6 meters every 2-3 hours, but it depends on the weather cycle. Geyser responds to the strong winds and the temperature difference, which is reflected in its activity. (Photo Dimarik):