« ALOHA AIRLINES : GlobalGiants.com | Main | TURNER NETWORK TELEVISION -- THE CLOSER CAST : GlobalGiants.com »
June 5, 2007
World Wildlife Fund reports transformation of Natural Wonder of the World : GlobalGiants.com
Photo: The last eruption of the Maly or Lesser geyser in the Valley of the Geysers in Kamchatka's Kronotsky Nature Preserve before it disappeared under water after a massive landslide choked the Geyser River. (Photo Credit: World Wildlife Fund, A. Filatkina)
KAMCHATKA, Russia, June 4 -- According to World Wildlife Fund, Kamchatka's Kronotsky Nature Preserve is one of only four places on Earth where geysers punch holes through the Earth's crust to spew boiling water and steam skyward (the three other sites are in Yellowstone National Park, Iceland and New Zealand). But that disappeared under water within hours after a massive slide of boulders, gravel, snow and ice choked the Geyser River in the world-famous Valley of the Geysers.
Part of the Volcanoes of Kamchatka UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Valley of the Geysers is nestled in a canyon of a mountain river, where more than 20 large geysers and 200 thermal springs, vapor-steam jets, and mud-pots belch, boil and gush in an area of only about seven square kilometers.
At the time of the disaster, 19 tourists were exploring the valley after being flown in by helicopter for a three-hour excursion to one of Kamchatka's literal tourist hotspots. It was a miracle no one was killed, eyewitnesses said, as the landslide came to a grinding halt within a meter of the helicopter and buildings where people were located. An earthquake the night before may have triggered the slide.
"We've lost one of the great natural wonders of the world," says Laura Williams, director of WWF-Russia's Kamchatka office. Known in the United States as World Wildlife Fund and recognized worldwide by its panda logo, WWF leads international efforts to protect endangered species and their habitats and to conserve the diversity of life on Earth. Now in its fifth decade, WWF, the global conservation organization, works in more than 100 countries around the world. |GlobalGiants.com|
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 6:09 AM | Link to this Post
