Geyser Plashanitza (Shroud) was located on a steep section of the left bank of the Geysernaya River, upstream from the Zhemchuzhny Geyser. Its silvery-gray geyserite edifice, 2.5 m high, had the shape of a cone leaning against a steep slope and resembling a piece of fabric “thrown” by someone onto a steep slope (Leonov, 2017). The channel had the shape of a crack with size 20x70 cm. Its first description was published in the book by A. Raik (1963), where it was called Nizhniy Shchelovoy (Lower Crack). In the book by Sugrobov et al. (2009), 2 names are used for this geyser: Nizhniy Shchelovoy and Plosky (Flat) Cone. The name Plashanitsa was first encountered in the archive of Nikolayenko (1988) and then in the report of the Geyser Observation and Study Association (GOSA). Members of this organization worked in the Valley of Geysers in July 1991 and observed 3 eruptions of this geyser (Bryan, 1991). Observations of the Plashanitza activity. 1960: “The eruption of the geyser looks like an intense overflow over the edges of the channel lasting 2.5-3 minutes. Sometimes water splashes to a height of 30-50 cm. We observed 21 eruptions with a period of 26-36 minutes.” (Raik, 1963). 1991: “The activity of the geyser is irregular in strength with a period of 25-26 minutes. Fountaining up to 1 m in height, water emissions are sometimes stronger, sometimes weaker” (Bryan, 1991). 1999: “The geyser erupts in splashes up to 30 cm high from a small crack in the upper part of the geyserite edifice. The activity period is about 27–30 min, the eruption duration is about 3 min. There is no outpouring stage” (Nechayev, 2000). The mudflow of 2014 completely destroyed Plashaniza geyserite edifice and buried it almost to the very top. The geyser stopped working (Leonov, 2017).
References
Bryan S.T., Hobart J., Warnock B., Rinehart J.S., Fenimore M., Colvin B. The Geysers of 'The Valley of Geysers'. A special report of GOSA Transactions. USA, California: B&J Printing. 1991. 60 p.  Леонов А.В. Каталог гейзеров Кроноцкого заповедника. Долина гейзеров и кальдера вулкана Узон: история и современность. М.: Изд-во ООО «Реарт». 2017. 384 с. Райк А.А. О режиме гейзеров Камчатки / Исследование природы Дальнего Востока. Таллин: Академия наук Эстонской ССР. 1963. С. 39-90. |
