Science / Medicine : U.S. Scientists Study Kamchatka Volcanoes

Scientists representing two U.S. agencies are studying volcanoes in Soviet Kamchatka this month, the first time Westerners have been allowed into the region in decades, according to NASA.

“The Kamchatka Peninsula is both remote and home to sensitive Soviet military installations, factors that have discouraged study of the area’s volcanoes by Soviet scientists and, until now, has kept the area off-limits to Western researchers,” the Jet Propulsion Laboratory said in a news release.

Kamchatka is in the eastern Soviet Union, along the Bering Sea and Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an area of frequent volcanic and earthquake activity that includes New Zealand, Japan, Alaska’s Aleutian Peninsula and the west coasts of North America and South America.

The five scientists from NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey arrived in Kamchatka earlier this month and will conduct joint field studies with Soviet researchers until Friday.