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T he southern part of the KamchatkaPeninsula has a very high densityof active volcanoes (Fig. 1). Wehave a long-standing interest inthis remarkable place, not only

due to its fascinating geology, but also due toits wild nature and interesting historical past.Philipp Schmidt-Thomé conducted a privatelyorganized excursion to Kamchatka in August2014. The journey had a strong focus ongeological features and the nature, but also onsocio-economic structure and historicalbackground of the area. This article describesthe sites visited during the excursion and putsthe trip into a geological and geographicalcontext. Kamchatka is definitely worth visitingfor a dedicated geoscientist, and this articlehopefully sparks some interest.

During the ten-day trip we hiked on fourdays, were aboard two helicopter flights andone boat trip, and sojourned at a Pacific beachand in the city of Petropavlovsk.

Hiking up a glacier valley we encounteredtwo roaming bears searching for food – andwere luckily able to evade them. During thehelicopter excursion to the Kuril Lake at the

Impressions of geologicalfeatures, nature, and lifein Kamchatka

PHILIPP SCHMIDT-THOMÉAND MICHAEL STAUDT

southern tip of the peninsula we were able toobserve dozens of bears fishing salmon (Fig.2). This trip brought us also to the Ksudachcaldera, where we were able to enjoy a bath ina hot spring.

The other helicopter excursion took us toa close flyby of the Karysmky and MalySemyachik volcanoes. The former experiencesdaily eruptions, while the crater of the latterbathes in acidic, stunning turquoise water. Theexcursion included hikes in the “Valley of theGeysers” (Fig. 3), in the enormous UzonCaldera, and in beautiful alpine meadows, alsoallowing us to bathe in hot springs and in acold stream.

The hiking tour to climb the Gorelyvolcano was challenging due to the visibilityat the summit of less than 10 meters. Our stayat the base camp at the foot of the Avachinskyvolcano (Fig. 4) was followed by a hike over abasalt extrusion called the Camel. The ascentto the Avachinsky crater also proved difficultdue to the weather conditions characterizedby a very low visibility.

During a boat trip in the Avacha Bay wecould observe several bird species as well aswhales. We also saw nuclear submarineswaiting for maintenance. The participants ofthe boat trip were handed fishing rods and wecaught some sea perches, out of which a

Report on an excursion conductedin August 2014

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traditional Russian fish soup (ukha) wascooked on board.

On the last day we visited a Pacific beachand, as a really nice surprise for us, we wereinvited by the cook who had accompanied uson so many excursions to prepare Kamchatkacrab and “shashlyk” at her “datcha”, Russianfor summer cottage.

Planning excursionsThe long political isolation of Kamchatka andrecent engagements in improving theenvironmental protection of the flora, fauna,and volcanoes make the peninsula a nearlyidyllic place – from an eco- (or geo-) tourismpoint of view. There are vast areas of virtuallyuntouched landscapes and a high abundanceof plant and animal species – and volcanoeswhich dominate the scenery. Kamchatka is onthe UNESCO’s World heritage list, describedas “one of the most outstanding volcanic

Figure 1. A Digital Elevation Model (DEM) map of Kamchatka and themain locations discussed in the text. Data source: Jarvis et al. (2008).© M. Staudt and P. Schmidt-Thomé, GTK.

Kuva 1. Kamchatkan korkeusmallikartta (DEM) ja tekstissä käsitellytkohteet. Aineistolähde: Jarvis et al. (2008) © M. Staudt and P. Schmidt-Thomé, GTK.

Geologi_2_2015_painoon.pmd 24.3.2015, 17:2945

46 GEOLOGI 67 (2015)

Figure 2. Bears fishing in the Kuril Lake caldera in front of the Ilyinsky volcano. Photo: P. Schmidt-Thomé.Kuva 2. Karhuja kalastamssa Kuril-järven kalderassa. Taustalla Ilinski-tulivuori. Kuva: P. Schmidt-Thomé.

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regions in the world” (UNESCO 2015).Currently around 7000 tourists visitKamchatka annually, most of which are fromRussia, followed by Western countries likeJapan, Germany, and USA.

Fishing is one of the most importanttourist activities. Eco-tourism, e.g., hiking andtrekking, is on the increase. Most of the touristsvisit during the short summer; winter tourism(e.g. heli-skiing) plays a minor role.

Conducting excursions in Kamchatka ishighly weather-dependent, as conditions canchange frequently throughout the day. It ishighly recommended to get a guide for theexcursions and hikes. As an example, severalpossibilities exist to access the craters and thepeaks of the volcanoes, but not all paths leadto the desired destination. Quick changes inthe weather and visibility can make orientationchallenging. The abundance of bears must alsobe taken into account: several persons get killedevery year. The official local guides are well-trained and have to pass annual examinations.

As a general guideline, it is recommendedto make an excursion plan with an agency thatis familiar with the local conditions. August isprobably the best month for hiking andtrekking in Kamchatka, as by then the snowhas melted on most paths and nearly all pointsof interest are accessible. Furthermore, arelatively stable high-pressure zone and thusrelatively sunny conditions can be expected inthe late summer. Several easily accessiblevolcanoes are located close to Petropavlovsk,and can be reached and hiked as day trips, i.e.,Avachinsky, Gorely, and Mutnovsky (Fig. 5).No special equipment is needed for these dayhikes, besides the obvious such as hiking boots,water-proof and warm clothing, a hat andgloves. Typically the guide is accompanied bya driver and/or a cook. Food packages, water,and other necessities are carried along andprepared during the day. There are also longer

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overnight hiking excursions, where theparticipants sleep in tents and the guides areaccompanied by porters that carry food andwater. In cases where the excursions are up toseveral weeks, helicopters carry food and waterto predefined points of access.

Due to the challenging infrastructure,there are several options for helicopterexcursions that allow visiting more remoteareas. Helicopter trips usually last for one dayand include several scenic stops. Food andwater, as well as English-speaking guides, arenormally provided. Even though helicopterflights are not cheap, the experience is certainlyworth every penny. The helicopters do nothave pressurized cabins and fly at an altitudeof approximately 1300 meters. Since severalvolcanoes are taller than that, the helicoptersoften fly low over passes and in betweenvolcanoes. The helicopter flights can bereserved in advance but are paid only on theday of the flight, because cancellation due toweather conditions is not untypical. Thereforethe trip schedule should allow for certainflexibility, and planning for extra days of stayis advisable.

Geography and geology

Kamchatka is located in the Russian FarEast and comprises an area of 472,000km2, stretching over 1200 km. Thepeninsula is sparsely populated withapproximately 320,000 inhabitants. Theentire peninsula has a road network of 741km, of which 200 km are paved. The mainroad connects Petropavlovsk through thecentral valley to the port of Ust-Kamchatsk. There is no road connectionto northern Kamchatka or to the Russianmainland, making the peninsula accessibleonly by sea or air. Settlements in northernKamchatka can be reached in winter viaice roads on frozen rivers, or by a dog

sledge. For example, coal supply from localmines for settlements in northern and centralKamchatka is only possible via winter roads.The inadequacy, or absence, of roadmaintenance makes travelling time-consumingand challenging. Many places are notconnected by roads, and dry river valleys, orsimply “general directions” are used as routes.Many roads are not maintained even thoughthey are under heavy use by mining and energyindustries. Often the average driving speedremains lower than 30 km/h.

The southern half of the peninsula islocated over a tectonically very active zonewhere the Pacific plate is subducted under theEurasian plate (Fig. 1) at an average speed of8 mm/year. Volcanic cones from the Hawaiihot spot (the Hawaiian–Emperor seamountchain) reach Kamchatka, and the oldest > 81-million-years-old cones have already beensubducted. The melting of the subducted plateleads to the appearance of the typicallyassociated stratovolcanoes, but shield volcanoesare also found. Some stratovolcanoes have theso-called Somma-Vesuvius form, i.e., with anew cone formed within the crater of an older

Figure 3. The Valley of the Geysers. Photo: P. Schmidt-Thomé.

Kuva 3. “The Valley of the Geysers”, kuumien lähtei-den laakso. Kuva: P. Schmidt-Thomé.

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eruption. The most prominent example of thisis the Avachinsky volcano.

Approximately 300 volcanoes are locatedin the southern half of the peninsula, 30 ofwhich are considered as active. Twenty-nineof the active volcanoes are located on a stretchof approximately 500 km on the eastern coast,the Sredinny range, which has the highestdensity of volcanoes on the Eurasian continentand among the highest worldwide. TheSredinny range is separated by a central dep-ression valley from the western, or Vostochny,range, which only hosts one active volcano.Some of the volcanoes, e.g., the previouslymentioned Karysmsky, have daily eruptions.

The recent history includes outstandingvolcanic events. In March 1907, one of themost important volcanic events of the lastcentury took place when the explosion of theKsudach volcano (Fig. 6) ejected around 3 km3

of tephra and ash, equivalent to a volcanic

explosivity index (VEI) of 5. The VEI wasintroduced to provide a relative measure of theexplosiveness of volcanic eruptions forhistorical events and ranges from 0 to 8 (New-hall and Self 1982). The VEI describes theamount of ejected volcanic material, eruptioncloud height, and the duration of the eruption.The scale is logarithmic for VEI > 2, so that aone-unit increase in VEI indicates an eruption10 times more powerful. Famous examples ofVEI = 5 eruptions are the Vesuvius AD 79and Mount St. Helens 1980 eruptions. TheKsudach eruption had considerable climaticeffects with a record low spring and summertemperatures in USA (Nechayev 2008). Otherwell-known eruptions in Kamchatka are theSarychev eruption in June 2009 (VEI = 4) werethe ash clouds interfered with Northern Pacificair traffic. Other larger, recent eruptions inKamchatka were Bezymianny in 1956 (VEI =5) and Shiveluch in 1964 (VEI > 4) (Bourgeois

Figure 4. Koryaksky (left) and Avachinsky (right) volcanoes. Photo: P. Schmidt-Thomé.Kuva 4. Tulivuoret Koriakski (vasemmalla) ja Avatšinski (oikealla). Kuva: P. Schmidt-Thomé.

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et al. 2012). Very recently in 2012 and 2013,Tolbachik, one of the most active Kamchatkavolcanoes, erupted for about 13 months.

An interesting discussion sparked duringthe excursion over the Avachinsky volcano.According to several geology books thisvolcano belongs to the so-called “Somma-Vesuvius” type. This discussion might becontinued here, as in fact, in geologicalliterature, the Avachinsky volcano is oftenreferred to as a typical example of a “Sommavolcano” (Rast 1987, pp. 61–62, Schmincke2004), which is typically a stratovolcano thatgrows a new cone within the remains of anolder exploded or collapsed cone. Indeed, ifone were to extend the outer flanks of theAvachinsky volcano upwards, following its

original shape, one would notice that it wouldbe as high as the neighbouring Koryakskyvolcano (Fig. 4). Nevertheless, the questionthat might be posed is whether it is worthwhileto call the Somma-Vesuvius phenomena avolcano “type”. Without doubt the Avachinskyis an active strato-, or composite volcano, withthe special characteristic of the active conebeing embedded into the remains of theancient crater. One might term thisphenomenon a volcano “type” but on the otherhand the “typology” is mainly based on shape,not on chemical composition. Since theAvachinsky volcano remains to be a genuinestratovolcano we argue that the phenomenaof a new cone within an exploded, eroded, orcollapsed crater does not necessarily change

Figure 5. Petropavlovsk, with Avachinsky volcano in the background. Photo: P. Schmidt-Thomé.Kuva 5. Avatšinkin tulivuori, etualalla Petropavlovsk. Kuva: P. Schmidt-Thomé.

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the volcano type itself, and therefore thisphenomenon might also be described as a meregeomorphological feature instead of an ownvolcano type.

Due to its location in an active subductionzone, the region has a very high seismicity. Thelargest historical earthquake in the region tookplace in 1952 with an M

w9 (Moment

Magnitude 9) event, with its epicenter betweenthe northern Kuriles and southern Kamchatka.This event also triggered a trans-Pacifictsunami (Bourgeois et al. 2012). In thecontinental zones of Kamchatka, high activitieswere recorded for the years 1963–1964, 1983,and 1996. The highest activity was experiencedin January 1996 when two volcanoes, theKarymskii and the Akademii Nauk eruptedsimultaneously, and a large M

w7 earthquake

occurred (Levina et al. 2013).The common perception has been that the

Pacific plate is subducted under the Eurasianplate south of Kamchatka. However, recentresearch has showed that the tectonic settingmight be more complex. An additional smallplate, the Okhotsk Plate, located west ofKamchatka, was already proposed in the 1980sand later described by Bird (2003). There isalso evidence of a Bering block, which islocated east of Kamchatka. According to a newstudy the Bering block slowly rotates clockwiseas a result of a terrane accretion in southernAlaska. Interestingly, the motion of this Beringblock is much slower in respect to the NorthAmerican plate (Mackey et al. 2015).

Climate and vegetationThe latitude of Kamchatka is comparable tothat of the British Isles but due to the absenceof a warm current such as the Gulf Stream,the winters are long and bitter. The PacificOcean inflicts a humid climate (ca. 1100 mm/year of precipitation) with abundant massesof snow: 8 meters of snow annually is not a

rare phenomenon, and 4 meters is considerednormal. In many places the snow does not meltover the summer, and some routes are notpassable due to the snow even by four-wheeldrive cars until July or August. While thecoastal climate is rather mild and thetemperatures range annually from +20 to–15 °C, the valleys experience strongtemperature extremes over the year with arange from +40 to –30 °C at sea level, andwith respective elevation-dependent variations.Even though Kamchatka belongs to Siberia,it is climatically isolated and can as a result bedivided into its own sub-ecoregions, e.g., themeadows represent specific tundra types andthe forests a peculiar taiga type. The lastglaciation led to the vanishing of the previouslyabundant coniferous forests. Today, theseforests are represented by one small coniferousforest island in central Kamchatka. Erman’sbirches (Betula ermanii) and Dahurian larches(Larix gmelinii) dominate the landscape inopen forests with abundant meadows. Thesetrees grow very slow and do not developstraight trunks due to the heavy snow cover.They are mainly used as fire wood. Cedars arefound on mountainous slopes, and the treeline lies at approximately 800 meters abovesea level (WWF – World Wide Fund ForNature 2015).

History and economyOnly about 10,000 of the original indigenouspopulation remain in Kamchatka. Since thediscovery of Kamchatka by Russians and theincorporation of it into the empire in the 17th

century the indigenous population hasstrongly declined. Following several foreignexplorations and increasing Russian settlements,Kamchatka experienced a strong inflow ofhunters that nearly caused the extinction ofsables, foxes, sea lions, and many otheranimals. The devastation was so extensive that

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the first areas to protect local species wereestablished in the 1930s. In the 18th centuryVitus Bering discovered the Avacha Bay andfounded the city of Petropavlovsk, which isnamed after his two ships, St. Peter and St.Paul. Avacha Bay is a perfect natural port: it is24 km long, separated from the Pacific Oceanby a 3-km-wide passage, and has an averagedepth of 25 meters. The narrow passage to theocean protects the harbor city from surges andtsunamis, and enables easy defense againstintruders. Petropavlovsk is the administrativecenter of the Kamchatka Krai, a federal entityof Russia, and has less than 180,000inhabitants, i.e., more than half of the entirepopulation of Kamchatka (Nechayev 2003).

Kamchatka was an off-limit zone formilitary reasons for 60 years (until 1991),including citizens of the Soviet Union. TheSoviet army used Avacha Bay as an importantharbor for nuclear submarines (Nato codename “Wasp nest”). Kamchatka also hostedimportant air fleets and other key militaryequipment and installations. The entrance toAvacha Bay from the Pacific is approximately6 meters deep and was shut off by an iron fenceduring the Soviet time. Each entering ship wassearched. Today the town of Vilyuchinsk inAvacha Bay is the most important submarineharbor of Russia’s Pacific fleet, and remainsoff-limits for non-military staff. The importanceof the military is still visible today while themost important economic sectors are fisheryand forestry. Raw materials and coal are minedto some extent, as are minerals. Oil and gasreservoirs are being discovered but not yetsubstantially exploited. There are some shipyards for maintenance (Kamchatskyi Krai).

Figure 6. Ksudach crater.Photo: P. Schmidt-Thomé.

Kuva 6. Ksudatšin kraateri.Kuva: Photo: P. Schmidt-Thomé.

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54 GEOLOGI 67 (2015)

While Kamchatka would have a strongpotential for geothermal energy, there is onlyone such plant, located south of Petropavlovsk.Otherwise, energy is produced from mainlyimported coal or gas. Over 50 % of the foodconsumed in Kamchatka is imported althoughagriculture would likely be possible, especiallyin the central valley in the vicinity of Petro-pavlovsk. Agriculture was more extensive inthe soviet times, and greenhouses were heatedby geothermal energy, but this activity hasdeclined since 1991. The dependence onimported food makes life in Kamchatka ratherexpensive in comparison to other Russiancities.

PHILIPP SCHMIDT-THOMÉAND MICHAEL STAUDT

Geological Survey of Finland (GTK)P.O. Box 96 (Betonimiehenkuja 4)

02151 Espoophilipp.schmidt-thome@gtk.fi

michael.staudt@gtk.fi

TiivistelmäVaikutelmia geologisista piirteistä,luonnosta ja elämästä KamtšatkallaRaportti elokuussa 2014tehdyltä ekskursiolta

Kamtšatkan niemimaan eteläisessä osassa onrunsaasti aktiivisia tulivuoria (kuva 1), ja olem-me olleet pitkään kiinnostuneita tästä huomi-onarvoisesta alueesta, sen geologiasta, luonnos-ta ja mielenkiintoisesta historiasta. Tässä ar-tikkelissa kuvailemme geoturistin silmin koh-teita, joissa Philipp Schmidt-Thóme vierailielokuussa 2014 tekemänsä ekskursion aikana.

Matkan aikana patikoimme, teimme he-likopterilentoja ja laivamatkan sekä vierailim-me Tyynenmeren rannalla ja Petropavlovskinkaupungissa. Ensimmäinen helikopteriekskur-

sio suuntautui Kuril-järvelle, missä kymme-net karhut kalastivat lohta (kuva 2) ja Ksudat-šin kalderalle, missä nautimme kylvystä kuu-massa lähteessä. Toisella helikopterimatkallalensimme säännöllisesti purkautuvan Karims-kin ja happamasta turkoosista vedestään tun-netun Mali Semjatšikin tulivuorten läheisyy-dessä. Kävimme myös vaeltamassa kuumienlähteiden laaksossa (”Valley of the Geysers”,kuva 3), jättiläismäisessä Uzonin kalderassa jakauniilla alppiniityillä sekä uimme kuumissalähteissä ja kylmässä vuoristopurossa.

Vaellus Gorelyn tulivuorelle ja Avatšins-kin kraateriin olivat haastavia huonon näky-vyyden vuoksi. Leirimme oli Avatšinskin tuli-vuoren juuressa, mistä vaelsimme vielä basalt-tiekstruusiolle nimeltään Camel. Avatšanlah-delle suuntautuneella laivamatkalla havaitsim-me useita lintulajeja ja valaita. Näimme myössukellusveneitä odottamassa huoltoa ja kalas-timme meriahvenia, joista valmistettiin venä-läistä kalakeittoa (ukha). Viimeisenä päivänäkävimme Tyynenmeren rannalla ja valmistim-me Kamtšatkan rapuja ja saslikia kokkimmedatšalla eli kesämökillä.

Kamtšatkan pitkäaikainen poliittinen eris-tyneisyys ja viimeaikaiset luonnonsuojelullisetponnistelut ovat luoneet eko- (tai geo-) turis-tin näkökulmasta lähes idyllisen kohteen.Kamtšatka, ”yksi maailman merkittävimmis-tä tuliperäisistä alueista”, on UNESCOn maa-ilmanperintökohde. Retkeily Kamtšatkalla onhyvin sääriippuvaista: on suositeltavaa varatalisäpäiviä matka-aikatauluun ja palkata mu-kaan koulutettu paikallinen opas. Päiväretkiävarten Petropavlovskin lähellä on monta hel-posti saavutettavaa tulivuorta (kuva 5); pidem-mille retkille mukaan tulee oppaan lisäksi useinkokki ja jopa kantajia, jotka huolehtivat ruo-kahuollosta. Helikopterilla pääsee kohteisiin,jotka eivät puutteellisen infrastruktuurin vuok-si ole muuten saavutettavissa.

Venäjän kaukoidässä sijaitseva yli 1200 km

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pitkä Kamtšatkan niemimaa on harvaan asut-tu: väestön suuruus on noin 320 000 ja tie-verkoston pituus 741 km. Tieyhteyttä mante-reelle ei ole vaan niemimaalle pääsee ainoas-taan meriteitse tai lentäen. Niemimaan eteläi-nen osa on tektonisesti erittäin aktiivinen, ali-työntövyöhykkeessä sijaitseva alue (kuva 1).Tyypillisesti vuoret ovat kerrostulivuoria, myösSomma-Vesuvius -tyypin vuoria kuten Avat-šinski (kuvat 4 ja 5), mutta kilpitulivuoriakinesiintyy. Lähihistoriasta tunnetaan useita pur-kauksia: esim. Ksudatšin maaliskuussa 1907tapahtunut purkaus vaikutti maailmanlaajui-sesti ilmastoon ja ilmatilaan. Viimeisin huo-mattava tapahtuma oli Tolbatšikin 13 kuu-kautta kestänyt purkaus vuosina 2012–2013.Myös seismisyysaste on Kamtšatkalla korkea:tunnetuin historiallinen maanjäristys, mag-nitudiltaan 9, tapahtui vuonna 1952 ja aihe-utti laajan tsunamin Tyynellämerellä.

Kamtšatkalla talvet ovat pitkiä ja purevankylmiä. Tyynenmeren vaikutuksesta ilmasto onkostea ja talvisin saadaan jopa kahdeksan met-riä lunta. Lämpötila vaihtelee rannikolla ke-sän +20 °C:sta talven –15 °C:een; laaksoissaja vuoristossa vaihtelu on vielä suurempaa.Kamtšatkan tundra- ja taigaekosysteemeissä ta-vataan esim. kaukoidässä tyypillistä kivikoivua(Betula ermanii), dahurianlehtikuusta (Larixgmelinii) ja setripuuta.

Kamtšatkan asukkaista noin 10 000 onalkuperäiskansaa. Niemimaa liitettiin Venäjänkeisarikuntaan 1600-luvulla ja ulkopuoleltatulleet metsästäjät ajoivat monet lajit sukupuu-ton partaalle. Vitus Bering perusti nykyisenpääkaupungin, Petropavlovskin, 1700-luvul-la löydettyään suojaisan Avatšanlahden. Kamt-šatka oli vuoteen 1991 saakka sotilaallisistasyistä myös Neuvostoliiton kansalaisilta sul-jettu alue, ja Avatšanlahdella sijaitseva Viljut-šinskin kaupunki toimii edelleen Venäjän Tyy-nenmeren laivaston satamana. Tärkeimpiäelinkeinoja ovat kalastus ja metsätalous; kai-

vannaisista Kamtšatkalla hyödynnetään kivi-hiiltä, joitain raaka-aineita ja mineraaleja. Öljy-ja kaasuvaroja ei ole vielä hyödynnetty huo-mattavasti. Geotermistä energiaa tuotetaantällä hetkellä vain yhdessä laitoksessa Petropav-lovskissa, vaikka sen kehittämiselle olisi run-saasti potentiaalia. Maataloustuotanto on vä-häistä, ja tuonnin varassa oleva ruoka onkinKamtšatkalla selvästi muuta Venäjää kalliim-paa.

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