The Valley of Death in Kamchatka - a unique landscape complex (photo)

Kamchatka on the map of Russia is located in the north-eastern part of the country. From the east it is washed by the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, and from the west by the Okhotsk Sea. Kamchatka's nature is amazing and beautiful. Tourists like to visit these places.

But there are quite dangerous territories on the peninsula. This is the Valley of Death, where birds, animals and people die in almost minutes. Survive in it, surprisingly, only microorganisms. Scientists have long been investigating this phenomenon, but they have not yet found an explanation.

History of the Valley of Death

The history of the Valley of Death begins long ago. It was created not by man, but by nature. Some call it the Earth of paradoxes. It is located next to the Valley of Geysers - a favorite tourist destination.

The existence of the Valley of Death for a long time no one knew. Although once a research expedition headed to the Uzon volcano settled down to rest almost 300 meters from it. But I did not pay attention to the Valley of Death.

Location of the Valley of Death

The valley of death is in the Kronotsky Reserve, in which there is an active volcano Kikhpinych. On its western slope there is the Geysernaya river. The valley of death is on the other side of the volcano. It occupies a small area - only 500 m wide and 2 km long.

Interesting places in Kamchatka

Kamchatka on the map is located in the northeast of Eurasia. The peninsula has its own unique sights. For example, the Valley of Geysers. The nature of Kamchatka impresses with its majestic beauty.

One of its unique places is the Valley of Death. This is a very picturesque place. On the western slope of the volcano there are a number of natural terraces. Over them steadily rises the steam from hot springs, located nearby.

The valley is deadly dangerous to all life. As soon as the sun begins to warm up, small animals descend into the valley. But quickly die in it. They are followed by large predators who eat carcasses of small animals. But they die, even moving away from the place of death.

The valley of death in Kamchatka stubbornly keeps its secret. Scientists have found almost 200 corpses of animals and birds. Among them - bears, rabbits, lynxes, crows, wolverines, eagles and foxes. Animals and birds are much more sensitive than humans. Their sense of smell is so developed that they feel anomalous zones in advance and bypass them.

Then the question arises: "Why animals and birds, despite the danger, still entered the valley and did not leave it at the first alarming signals of the body?" Despite all the horrors that the valley conceals, many tourists come to look at it.

The Discovery of the Valley of Death

The Valley of Death in Kamchatka was discovered only in 1930 by Kalyaev (forester) and Leonov (volcanologist). Local residents later told that, hunting, they lost several dogs. They began to look for them. And when they found it, the animals were already dead. Death came, on the assumption of hunters, from a sudden stop of breathing. Nearby there were still many corpses of birds and other animals.

Some of them were completely swallowed, and some have already decayed. Suddenly the hunters got sick and they panicked to leave this place. According to their stories, everyone felt a metallic taste and dryness in their mouths. A weakness spread over his body, the head began to spin and a chill appeared. After the hunters left the valley, all the unpleasant sensations passed in a few hours.

The unique and dangerous Valley of Death (Kamchatka, Russia)

In the Valley of Death, not only animals die suddenly. Since then, as it became known, it tried to explore many scientific expeditions. But some scientists from them have not returned home. Over 80 years, according to estimates of the reserve staff, more than 100 people died.

In the Valley of Death even big animals die, such as bears, lynxes, etc. Some of them simply poisoned the meat of dead animals, which they tried in the valley. And they died already outside the deadly zone. At the autopsy, the scientists found multiple internal hemorrhages in all.

What is the secret of the Valley of Death?

The valley of death in Kamchatka attracted many scientists. In her research, they first believed that the death of animals and humans comes because of the high concentration of gases that fill this place. They contain life-threatening compounds that can cause poisoning. And the symptoms really were similar to those observed at autopsy.

Only such harmful compounds act slowly. Therefore, animals that left the valley would survive. And these volcanic substances can not be so toxic as to poison meat so badly that after eating it bears died in a few hours.

What is the secret of the mountains of Kamchatka?

The peninsula not only attracts the beauty of its places, but it does not stop to surprise scientists. The active volcano Kikhpinych is located on the Eastern ridge of the Kamchatka mountains. On one of its sides, a valley was found in which all animals and birds die. It is also deadly to humans.

In the Valley of Death, chemical analyzes of air were carried out. It is found deadly cyanide. This is the most poisonous and fast gas. When ingested, it blocks breathing, and a person or animal can die in seconds.

In this case, cyanide is able to accumulate in the body. And so poison the meat that the animal, after trying it, dies very quickly. Only there are several but. The concentration of cyanide should be very high in meat in this case. But for this it would take such a quantity in the air that all who just entered the valley would die right on the spot, without having time to pass on.

There is a second but which indicates that cyanide can not be the cause of such high mortality. Even in small amounts, this gas causes strong tearing. But many travelers and scientists who visited the valley and returned back, were in it without gas masks. And they did not suffer from tearing.

The third but-cyanide kills all life, up to microorganisms. And in the valley there are gnawed corpses. And many decayed. And this is the activity of bacteria that need oxygen. Otherwise, the corpses would simply dry up. Hence, the Valley of Death in Kamchatka is still not deadly to all. And it turns out that the concentration of the toxic gas is not so high as to cause lethal outcomes, if microorganisms do not die.

Saving animals in the Valley of Death

The valley of death is still an unexplained phenomenon. Scientists after the first studies began to treat it much more seriously. They work on its territory only in gas masks. Live nearby, but at a safe distance.

Volunteers constantly come to cleanse the corpses of small animals so that large predators do not enter deadly territory. As a result, people were able to save lives for many animals.