Getting volcanic kicks – viewing both the Tolbachiks! | Nota Bene: Eugene Kaspersky’s Official Blog

Hi folks,

After the brief Chinese interlude (the three intro-posts to our China-2024 trip), it’s time to move (figuratively) directly northeast back to… Kamchatka!

Without a doubt, one of the jewels in the crown of the Klyuchevsky group of volcanoes is Tolbachik. We’d already marveled at the northern volcanic trio (Klyuchevskaya Sopka, Kamen and Bezymianny) of the group, and also the canyon of the Studyonaya river. Now it was time for the mentioned jewel; actually – jewels. For Tolbachik is actually two volcanoes – the long-dormant Ostry (sharp) Tolbachik, and the rather active Plosky (flat) Tolbachik…

The view from the north:

And here’s the view of practically the whole Klyuchevsky group from up in a helicopter. The pointed-cone volcano in the foreground is Ostry (remember – sharp) Tolbachik; the flat-topped on next to it – you guessed it: Plosky (flat) Tolbachik ->

Here’s Ostry Tolbachik up close, with Kamen and Klyuchevskaya Sopka in the background ->

Though it’s called Flat – it might well have been named something like Dented Tolbachik! And it’s a big old dent: 1.7 x 1.5km! ->

Here are the two Tolbachiks from the side of Kamen:

From another angle (in an old pic), Tolbachik looks like… a giant mammoth (or is it just me and my over-excitable imagination?) ->

A few more photos of this magnificent volcano:

Btw – here you can see some of the paths that wind up the volcano’s cone:

Those paths look real steep right? Sure, but it turns out anyone who’s reasonably fit can walk up them! The rise in altitude is over a thousand meters – which is a lot; still – the path’s a good, sturdy, smooth one, with plenty of rocks along it that double as benches for breathers.

Btw – check out the folks up on the crater’s rim! >

Other signs of life: some climbers’ tents up on the flat top of Plosky:

They must have headed up there to the top of Ostry ->

…Not that we could see them anywhere. Hope they were all right!…

Besides flatness and sharpness, Tolbachik is also know for the rather rare volcanic phenomenon known as a fissure vent named the Severny Proriv – the Northern Fissure (in that Wikipedia link it’s fourth from the bottom in the short list of fissure vents around the world). The Northern Fissure erupted in 1975-76, and it was a biggie: it covered with volcanic ash an area measuring around 10x20km around it (here it is indicated on the map).

Along its full length it formed these here pretty volcanic “pimples” upon the surface of the earth (each measuring between 200 and 300 meters in height) ->

The lines that crisscross the landscape are tracks left behind be off-road vehicles carrying the ever-increasing numbers of adventure-tourists to these parts:

Black, red, orange, green, white, blue. Almost all the colors of the rainbow! ->

Here’s a photo from our first walk around Tolbachik – in 2008: its slope down its side, and the “pimples” of the Northern Fissure as far as the eye can see ->

But the pimples are gray only from a distance. Close up they become multicolored:

Looking back through my archives, I see I’ve covered the Northern Fissure plenty in the past. Still – why not refresh and update that material – especially given that the colors are always different?! ->

I’ve mentioned the 1975-75 eruption. But there was another – in 2012-13, and I was there! ->

Seeing the huge streams of orange lava – the blood of the Earth – moving down the side of the volcano was uniquely and unforgettably OMG! ->

The eruption of 2012-13 reformatted the entire scene around the volcano. Before it, it looked like this:

And afterwards (this year) ->

Today the scene’s still an impressive one, only more brutal.

You see the cracks that have formed up on the old pimples? Can you guess how they’re formed?

They’re formed from the upward volcanic pressure on the surface: it’s not enough to cause an eruption, but plenty to “stretch the surface” and form cracks in it…

What happened here is the following…

Pressure built from down below, the volcano was just about to blow its top, but instead of the classic volcanic eruption out the top, things take on a much calmer character: the pressure of the lava builds and gases from various depths are emitted via side vents – here at Tolbachik being the Northern Fissure. As a result of the pressure the lava erupts through several new volcanic craters. Kinda like this ->

Looking at these pics from this year, I recall back in March-April of 2013 how our camp was around a kilometer from these craters, and the lava was flowing just 300-400 meters from our tents!

Higher up in the chopper and the views become all modern kunst ->

The lava here cooled for 10+ years, steaming less and less, and in some lava tunnels it was simply warm. Then everything calmed down leaving these here futuristic constructions. Which is ironic given we’re talking about volcanoes that have been in the making for millions of years!

After inspecting Tolbachik for a good while from up in the chopper, it was time for us to be heading south – just as the weather was worsening…

One last thing about Tolbachik; rather – the fields below and around it: there’s been hardly any vegetation on them since 1975-76 when a fissure-vent eruption burnt and covered everything in toxic volcanic slag. And it’s aptly named the Dead Forest ->

Sink holes are common; yikes! ->

The above pics of the Dead Forest are from 2012. Since then some meager shrubbery has appeared…

Here’s the Star crater, which we inspected up close back in 2021. We finally got to see it from up above this year…

In closing, some advice to those of you, dear readers, who may one day come to Kamchatka: don’t pass up on Tolbachik and the Northern Fissure! And it needs viewing from down below… ->