Zhemchuzhny (Pearl) is one of the most beautiful geysers in the Valley, it is located near geyser Velikan and clearly visible from everywhere. The geyser was first described and named by T. I. Ustinova. The gray geyserite that covered the edifice and the slope along which boiling water flowed, resembled pearl, which is how the geyser got its name. The activity of the geyser in 1945 was described by Ustinova (1955): “The period of activity of the Zhemchuzhny geyser is 4–5 hours, so the geyser was discovered unexpectedly, when a fountain of water and steam suddenly appeared from a completely unremarkable pulsating source. During the fountaining, the water rises to a height of 10–12 m, the steam is much higher. Water with steam gushed out for 4 minutes, then steam was ejected for 8 minutes, and for another 7 minutes the geyser steamed. After this, the geyser remains dormant for more than 2 hours. Then, inside the channel, you can hear the bubbling of boiling water, which, very slowly and gradually intensifying, continues for almost 3 hours until the next eruption." Before the 2014 mudflow, the Zhemchuzhny griffin was located inside a geyserite structure about 0.5 m high. In 2014, after the mudflow descended along the Geysernaya River, its geyserite structure was completely destroyed, and the entire slope was "cleaned" by the mudflow down to the rocky base. All that remained was a narrow crack in the bedrock about 1 meter long, from which eruptions occur (Leonov, 2017). But the geyser continues to work, although its mode has changed. After 2014 the period is 2–3 hours (in 1945–2011: 3–5 hours), the outpouring is 0.5–1 hour (in 1945–2011: 1–1.5 hours), the duration of the eruption is 2–3 minutes (in 1945–2011: 4–5 minutes), the height of the fountaining is 5–6 m (in 1945–2011: 10–15 m).
References
Леонов А.В. Каталог гейзеров Кроноцкого заповедника. Долина гейзеров и кальдера вулкана Узон: история и современность. М.: Изд-во ООО «Реарт». 2017. 384 с.  Устинова Т.И. Камчатские гейзеры / Отв. ред. Рихтер Г.Д., Никольская В.В. М.: Географгиз. 1955. 119 с.  |
