The Geological Position of the Karymchinskaya Hydrothermal System (Kamchatka, Russia)

Abstract

This article provides information about the geological characteristics of the Karymchinskaya hydrothermal system and its connection with the Karymshina Eocene-Pleistocene caldera identified within the Banno-Karymshinskiy region in 2006. We have generalized the published data and library materials on the geological structure of the region. This paper describes information from the field work conducted in 2008, which included identifying the region’s geological structure. In addition geologic cross-section of the Praviaya Karymchina river valley was constructed, which is in the unloading part of the hydrothermal system. We proved the connection between the Karymchinskaya hydrothermal system and the Karymshina caldera and identified the possibility of a gigantic magma chamber located in its depth. We conclude that this magma chamber is not an edifice of Gorachaya mountain - as earlier scientists supposed - and that it is a heat source for the hydrothermal system.