Mudslide destroys famous geyser valley

Image of the Valley:

A POWERFUL mudslide destroyed a world famous geyser valley in the remote Kamchatka peninsula in Russia's Far East, Russian media has reported.

The first television footage from the hard-to-reach area showed the valley flooded with grey melting snow, mud, fallen trees and stones. No plumes of white steam from geysers - a sight widely known from pictures - could be seen.

"The valley has changed beyond recognition. It is a great shock for all of us,"

Sources:
Onlinenews
The Australian News

What can this mean? Volcanic underground activity?
What we cannot deny is the power of destruction of this event. Not only it will have a negative effect on tourism, but also on the Natural Park itself.

I remember reading about this place not too long ago.

It's a shame it's gone now.

I think if anything it would be a boon to tourism. People coming to see how much devastation a mudslide can do. Put into an area that could potentially be made safe to observe. And the scientists coming in to see just how does that slide work with those geysers... A chance to see steam working through the soil to break the surface.. will it be slow and gradual or explosive????

Nothing on earth is ever gone. It merely changes.

Of course, AbitTweaked, I agree with you. Not only nothing on earth is gone for ever and merely changes, but All changes...

What I wonder is the reason for this event to happen.

According to the news it could have been because of the heat.
Could it be underground magma movement?

Does anyone know when the mudslide occurred? Anyway, here is the latest earthquakes in the region:

MAP 4.6 2007/06/03 08:24:18 51.338 158.114 52.6 NEAR THE EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA, RUSSIA
MAP 4.3 2007/06/02 16:48:49 53.157 159.611 65.2 NEAR THE EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA, RUSSIA
MAP 6.4 2007/05/30 20:22:13 52.144 157.313 115.8 KAMCHATKA PENINSULA, RUSSIA

Reminds me a bi of the Hebgen Lake landslide, no idea why really.

Anyway, could be underground heat or any number of things I daresay. Maybe ground uplift, due to magma or groundwater?

I'm sure new geysers can pop up, as this sort of thing must be firly commonplace, looking at pictures of that area seems a prime candidate for a mudslide.

When you have geysers you definatly have magma nearby...

What are the possabilities it could have been permeated by steam throughout the entire area. There are alot of vents in the initial picture that definatly looked gorgeous but the ground looks very lose on that northern wall of the picture. Alot of steam vents could permeate the soil with moisture and after it reaches an unstable limit. Poof. Mudslide... The heat keeps the water moisture moving through the soil and rocks loosening it even more... This could be the beginning of more slides potentially if the geyser-system is broad enough.

Mudslides happen when there's a lot of water in the ground, a slope, and no vegetation to hold it down. Vegetation can be killed by heating from volcanos, but a more likely culprit is rain.

We've seen a lot of climate changes lately. If that area is thawing out and the permafrost layer is going away, then the land is very susceptable to slides.

[edit on 4-6-2007 by Byrd]

If there is one thing that draws tourists, its a mudslide. Nothing like a pile of wet, stinking mud to draw tourist dollars.

On a brighter note, perhaps some wisdom can be gleaned of the actual nature of the surrounding area and how the ground has absorbed water(or changed in composition), and how safe it may or may not be to other area attractions.