Volcanoes are called cone-shaped or dome-shaped geological formations that appear at the site of earth faults in the zone of seismic activity, through which lava, ash, gas, steam, and various rocks of loose origin erupt to the surface. There are about a thousand volcanoes on our planet, a quarter of them are underwater.

The highest (by the way, sleeping and has not erupted for the last 2 million years) is located in South America, on the border of Chile and Argentina - Ojos del Salado ("salty tears"), its height is 6890 meters above sea level, but Russia is This plan does not lag behind, on its territory there is a huge accumulation (there are about 129 of them in Kamchatka, 30 of them are active) of active and dormant volcanoes, which are not inferior to their foreign "brothers" either in beauty or in an unstable, explosive "disposition".

All together they form a single volcanic belt stretching along the entire eastern coast of Kamchatka. Volcanoes are also common in the Caucasus and the coast of the Black and Azov Seas, in the Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories, in the Siberian trap provinces and on Sakhalin.

The largest volcanoes in Russia

(More than 3000m high)

The most famous Russian volcanoes: Klyuchevskaya Sopka, Koryakskaya Sopka, Kronotskaya Sopka, Avachinskaya Sopka, Ichinskaya Sopka, Karymskaya Sopka, Kamen, Ushkovsky, Tolbachik, Shishel, Shiveluch, Zimin Volcano. By the way, hills and mountains with rounded summits are called hills on the territory of Transbaikalia and the Far East; volcanoes are called so in Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands.

Klyuchevskaya Sopka (5000m)

The active stratovolcano (in their composition alternating layers of solidified lava and loose rocks) in the east of Kamchatka - Klyuchevskaya Sopka, has a height of about 5000 meters, it is one of the 12 cones that make up the Klyuchevskaya volcano group, they are located 60 km from the coast of the Barents Sea. It is the highest active volcano in Russia and throughout Eurasia. Its shape is a regular cone with a crater diameter of more than 1 km, above which a column of smoke is constantly visible and fire flashes are visible, it is composed of cooled volcanic lava (basaltic and andesite), the upper part is of loose rocks, the top is covered with glaciers, nearby, in in the village of Klyuchi, there is a volcanological research station. For more than 300 years of continuous observations, about 50 eruptions have been recorded, the most powerful were noted in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Stone (4585m)

The extinct ancient stratovolcano Kamen ', 4585 m high, is located south of Klyuchevskoy volcano, between it and the Bezymyanny volcano, forming a kind of three "friends" visible from everywhere. The structure of this volcano, in contrast to the strict cone-shaped forms of Klyuchevskaya Sopka, is characterized by asymmetry: on its eastern side, a sharp four-kilometer cliff is noticeable, like a giant castle soaring into the sky, large fragments and blocks of a once monolithic cone-shaped volcano are scattered at the foot, their sizes reach diameter 5-10 meters. Its summit is difficult to access, mountaineering ascents are organized from the western side.

Ushkovsky (3943m)

The active stratovolcano Ushkovsky with a height of 3943 meters has another name - Dalnyaya Ploskaya volcano, located in the center of Kamchatka, west of Klyuchevskaya volcano and belongs to the northern component of the Klyuchevskaya volcano group, as well as to the mountain system of the Eastern ridge, part of the Eastern volcanic belt. Together with the nearby volcano called Krestovsky or Blizhnyaya Ploskaya Sopka, they form a single volcanic massif. Its shape is an elliptical truncated cone, the summit in the form of a caldera (circus-shaped hollow) has a diameter of about 5 km and a rounded shape filled with ice and firn. The last eruptions are the end of the 19th century (1890).

Tolbachik (3682m)

Volcano Tolbachik (3682 m) has a Hawaiian type of eruption (it is characterized by the outpouring of liquid basaltic lava, with the formation of lava lakes and flows spreading over many kilometers), it is also included in the southwestern part of the Klyuchevskoy group of volcanoes. At a distance of 50-70 km from it there are five settlements (the villages of Klyuchi, Mayskoye, Kozyrevsk, Lazo, Atlasovo with a population of about 8 thousand people). It consists of the highest cone called Ostry Tolbachik, a smaller operating cone - Plosky Tolbachik, and a gently sloping dome. The crater diameter is 2 km, the largest of all known eruptions is the Great Fissure Tolbachik eruption of 1975, which resulted in the formation of new cinder cones, lava fields and a collapse caldera in place of the crater at the summit.

Ichinskaya Sopka (3621m)

The active stratovolcano Ichinskaya Sopka (3621 meters) in the very center of Kamchatka looks like three cones completely covered with glaciers. One of these cones is an active volcano, which is the second highest peak of the Sredinny Range. The volcano has a complex structure, is in a state of weak fumoral activity (periodic release of hot gases from small cracks and faults), the last eruption was in the 40s of the 18th century.

Kronotskaya Sopka (3528m)

The active (very rarely) Kronotskaya Sopka (3528 m) old volcano is located in the east of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Its top has the form of a ribbed cone of regular shape covered with glaciers, at the foot of it grows rare woody vegetation in the form of dwarf cedar and stone birch. Here is one of the most beautiful and picturesque places in the nature of the peninsula, not far from the volcano - Lake Kronotskoye (on the western slope) and the Valley of Geysers (a unique geyser field with numerous outlets of geysers, hot springs, mud pots, thermal sites, waterfalls and lakes).

Koryakskaya Sopka (3456m)

Koryakskaya Sopka (3456 m, until the 19th century had the name Strelochnaya Sopka) is an active stratovolcano belonging to the Avachinsko-Koryaksky group of volcanoes, only 35 km from it to the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Its top is a regular truncated ribbed cone, consisting of basalt and andesite slag, ash and lava; traces of lava flows can be seen in the valleys. The summit is located in the zone of glacial deposits, the foot - in thickets of dwarf cedar and stone birch. The last eruptions are the end of the 50s of the last century.

Zimin volcano (3119m)

The extinct Zimin Volcano (3119 m) is a complex of stratovolcanoes belonging to the southeastern part of the Klyuchevskoy group of volcanoes. It consists of the volcano Bolshoi Zimin (western part) and Malaya Zimin or Gorny Zub (eastern part), the highest point in the massif is Oval Zimin. At the top it has a keldera open to the north, the slopes at the bottom are composed of pyroclastic rock deposits interspersed with lava.