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Volcanoes of Kamchatka
| Site number: | 765 |
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| Type of site: | Natural | |
| Date: | - | |
| Date of Inscription: | 1996, 2001 | |
| Location: | Eurasia, Russian Federation, Kamchatka Peninsula | |
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| Description: | The Volcanoes of Kamchatka are among the world’s most stupendous volcanic regions, boasting a high density of active volcanoes, a range of varieties, and an extensive assortment of associated components. The six sites congregate the bulk of volcanic features of the Kamchatka peninsula. A dynamic landscape of great beauty is shaped by the interaction of active volcanoes and glaciers. The sites enclose a great diversity of species, counting the world's largest known array of salmonoid fish and outstanding collections of sea otter, brown bear and Stellar's sea eagle. --WHMNet paraphrase from the description at WHC Site, where additional information is available. | |
| The Kamchatka River and the surrounding Central Valley are flanked by large volcanic belts, containing around 160 volcanoes, 29 of them still active. Thus, the peninsula has perhaps the highest density of volcanoes and associated volcanic phenomena in the world, with 19 active volcanoes being included on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The highest volcano is Klyuchevskaya Sopka (4,750 m or 15,584 ft), while the most striking is Kronotsky, whose perfect cone was said by celebrated volcanologists Robert and Barbara Decker to be a prime candidate for the world's most beautiful volcano. Somewhat more accessible are the three volcanoes visible from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky: Koryaksky, Avachinsky, and Kozelsky. In the center of Kamchatka is Eurasia's only Geyser Valley; it was partly destroyed by a massive mudslide in June 2007. Owing to the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench, deep-focus seismic events and tsunamis are fairly common. A pair of megathrust earthquakes occurred off the coast on October 16, 1737, and on November 4, 1952, in the magnitude of ~9.3 and 9.0 respectively. A chain of more shallow earthquakes were recorded as recently as April 2006. --Wikipedia. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. | ||
| Source: | http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/765 | |
| Source2: | http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/765/video | |
| Reference: | 1. UNESCO World Heritage Center, Site Page. | |