Earth:Mount Kazbek

Mount Kazbek
Mount Kazbek
	Mount Kazbek
Highest point
Elevation	5,034 m (16,516 ft)
Prominence	2,353 m (7,720 ft)
Listing	Ultra
Coordinates	[ ⚑ ] : 42°41′57″N 44°31′06″E / 42.69917°N 44.51833°E
Naming
Native name	მყინვარწვერი (Mqinvartsveri),; ყაზბეგი (Kazbegi); Башлам (Bashlam); Сӕна (Sæna); Казбек (Kazbek);
Geography
	Kazbegi Location of Mount Kazbegi within the Caucasus Mountains Kazbegi Kazbegi (Mtskheta-Mtianeti)
Location	Georgia; Russia;
Countries	Russia, Georgia
Parent range	Caucasus
Geology
Mountain type	Stratovolcano (dormant)
Last eruption	750 BCE ± 50 years
Climbing
First ascent	1868 by Douglas Freshfield, A. W. Moore, C. C. Tucker and François Devouassoud
Easiest route	Basic snow/ice climb

Short description: Volcanic mountain in Georgia

Kazbegi Mountain, August 2019

Mount Kazbek or Mount Kazbegi is a dormant stratovolcano and one of the major mountains of the Caucasus, located on the Russian-Georgian border - in Russia's North Ossetia region and Georgia's Kazbegi District.^[4]

Mount Kazbek is one of 10 highest peaks in Russia and the third-highest peak in Georgia (after Mount Shkhara and Janga) and the seventh-highest summit in the Caucasus Mountains. Kazbegi is also the second-highest volcanic summit in the Caucasus, after Mount Elbrus. The summit lies directly to the west of the town of Stepantsminda and is the most prominent geographic feature of the area. Mount Kazbek is a Russian name. It was named Kazbek by Russians after the local Ossetian prince. The name in Georgian, Mqinvartsveri, translates to "Glacier Peak" or "Freezing Cold Peak".^[5] The Vainakh name Bashlam translates as "Molten Mount".

Location

Kazbek is located on the Khokh Range, a mountain range which runs north of the Greater Caucasus Range, and which is pierced by the gorges of the Ardon and the Terek. At its eastern foot runs the Georgian Military Road through the pass of Darial 2,378 meters (7,805 feet).^[6] The mountain itself lies along the edge of the Borjomi–Kazbegi Fault (which is a northern sub-ending of the North Anatolian Fault). The region is highly active tectonically, with numerous small earthquakes occurring at regular intervals. An active geothermal/hot spring system also surrounds the mountain. Kazbek is a potentially active volcano, built up of trachyte and sheathed with lava, and has the shape of a double cone, whose base lies at an altitude of 1,770 meters (5,800 feet).^[6] Kazbek is the highest of the volcanic cones of the Kazbegi volcanic group which also includes Mount Khabarjina (3,142 metres).

Owing to the steepness of its slopes, the glaciers of Kazbek are not very large.^[6] The total combined area of all of Kazbek's glaciers is 135 km². The best-known glacier is the Dyevdorak (Devdaraki), which creeps down the north-eastern slope into a gorge of the same name, reaching a level of 2,295 meters (7,530 feet). Kazbegi's other glaciers include the Mna, Denkara, Gergeti, Abano, and Chata. The recent collapse of the Kolka Glacier, located in a valley between Mt. Jimara and Kazbegi in the year 2002 was attributed to solfatara volcanic activity along the northern slope of the mountain, although there was no eruption. In addition to the 2002 event, a massive collapse of the Devdaraki Glacier on the mountain's northeastern slope which occurred on August 20, 2014, led to the death of seven people. The glacier collapse dammed the Terek River in the Daryal Gorge and flooded the Georgian Military Highway.

From 24 to 28 May 2019 Caucasus Skitouring Network organized an expedition to survey Mt. Kazbegi's height. On 27 May 2019 at 12:22 GMT+4, for the first time, a survey team placed a GPS receiver on the Mt. Kazbegi peak. The new height is defined with the WGS 84 datum. Height was determinate with 5mm accuracy. Defined height is 5053.927m.

Legend

Mount Kazbek from the outside of the Gergeti Trinity Church

Mount Kazbegi is associated in Georgian folklore with Amirani, the Georgian version of Prometheus, who was chained on the mountain in punishment for having stolen fire from the gods and giving it to mortals. The location of his imprisonment later became the site of an Orthodox hermitage located in a cave called "Betlemi" (Bethlehem) at approximately the 4,000-meter level. According to legends, this cave housed many sacred relics, including Abraham's tent and the manger of the infant Jesus.^[7]

19th-century postcard of the Georgian Military Road near Mount Kazbegi

The summit was first climbed in 1868 by D. W. Freshfield, A. W. Moore, and C. Tucker^[6] of the Alpine Club, with the guide François Devouassoud. They were followed by female Russia n alpinist Maria Preobrazhenskaya, who made the climb nine times starting in 1900.

Kazbegi nature reserve

The area around Mount Kazbegi was designated a nature reserve by the Soviet government in 1979, and includes beech forests, subalpine forests and alpine meadows. Many of the plants and animals in the reserve are endemic to the Caucasus region.