Khalaktyrsky beach: ancient volcanic sand
Khalaktyrsky beach is located on the east coast of Kamchatka is not far from the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. A distinctive feature of this beach is black volcanic sand.
It is a rare phenomenon, the cause of which are permanent volcanic eruptions on the peninsula. Streams of lava and cinders pour and freeze on the slopes and the neighboring territories. A fast flowing rivers that originate in glaciers, year after year, eroding the mineral-rich rock and carry into the ocean. And then, with each coming to the shore wave brings and remain on the coastal strip of fine particles of volcanic origin. To date, the black sand thickness is 20 meters and the coast of Khalaktyrskoye beach stretched over 30 kilometers.
Every weekend to the beach Khalaktyrsky come locals and guests of the city, to walk along the sand, listening to the cries of seagulls and waves. Once the first organisms originated in the water, and now millions of years later, we still pull back. The ocean is calling ...
When you drive up to this place, in a few kilometers you will feel the energy of the big water, you feel the salty smell of the wind and even different taste.
Gradually birch forest steps back, hills go by the wayside, replaced by their plain, covered with scattered bushes. Under the feet you see the sand. And for the next hill suddenly appears the ocean. It is stunning from the first second, and fills you with joy.
More recently, in the summer on the beach Khalaktyrskoye is located surf spot, and new waves attract the attention of people from all over the world. More information about this you can read in the article surfing on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Go for a swim It’s cold even in summer. The water temperature in the hottest days warm up to 15 degrees. But to lie down on the sand, which in sunny weather is warming much, it’s pleasure.
If you walk along the water's edge after low tide, you'll find the treasures of the ocean left the water - shimmering mother of pearl shells, starfish and sea kale.
Black volcanic sand at Khalaktyrskoye beach is rich in valuable metals such as iron, vanadium, titanium. But with the current technology, mining is not considered to be cost-effective. Only in some places, it is collecting the sand, which in winter is sprinkled streets of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
Khalaktyrsky beach and the nearby area is a zone where there is a risk of coming huge ocean waves - a tsunami. Earthquakes in the open ocean can cause large waves that will reach the shore and will be inland. Taking into account that the area is flat nature, these waves can cause a lot of troubles to neighboring settlements. What happened in 1952. It was not without casualties. Living in close proximity to the ocean, you should always take into account its strong and rebellious character.
During the war, on the coast waiting for a landing of Japanese troops, arranged bunkers, dug trenches, and in some places have even been dug in the ground tanks. Khalaktyrsky beach still preserves the traces of the war, they only acquired the imprint of past time.
The further away from the coast inland, the more contrast you feel the changes. First, there are small shrubs, with the luck you can even eat berries Shiksha, going further - to collect bright orange and red rose hips. And in what a couple of kilometers, have already found a horse grazing in a meadow. And Khalaktyrsky beach was far behind.
Here's contrast our Kamchatka.
http://kamchatkaland.ru/note/xalaktyrskij-plyazh
