Photos and videos of ice volcanoes in Almaty have recently gone viral on social networks, attracting a large number of tourists to these barren steppes to admire them.

The steppe in the Almaty region of Kazakhstan is not the most attractive place for tourists, especially in winter, but an unusual phenomenon has attracted a lot of tourists there recently.

Located between the villages of Kegen and Shyrganak in the middle of a snow-covered plateau is a 14-meter high ice volcano that continuously spews water, turning it into ice almost instantly.

Unique ice volcano in Kazakhstan.

A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planet such as Earth that allows lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. However, thanks to its unique structure, the ice volcano looks like a miniature volcano, only instead of hot lava, it spits out water.

This scene has become popular even among locals, with netizens hunting for special images to post on their personal social networking sites.

According to a recent Instagram post, the ice volcano is the result of an underground spring that spews water all year round. In summer, it creates a lush green vegetation that stretches for dozens of meters around it, but in winter, when temperatures drop below 0 degrees Celsius, the water freezes creating an ice volcanic cone. It continues to spray water around, creating a natural ice rink.

The unique ice volcano in Kazakhstan attracts tourists to admire.

Locals said this was the first year the volcano erupted with water; in previous years there was only a smaller and hollow ice cone.

Samal Zhainak, a local resident, said: “Last year, there were no water jets that looked like fountains, but just a hollow cone.”