Today we’re following the Department of Awesome Natural Wonders…

Today we’re following the Department of Awesome Natural Wonders down into the otherworldly ice caves beneath the Mutnovsky volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula in far eastern Russia. According to EPOD, the caves were formed by a stream flowing from the volcano’s hot springs.

“This stream flows beneath glacial ice on the flanks of Mutnovsky. Because glaciers on Kamchatka volcanoes have been melting in recent years, the roof of this cave is now so thin that sunlight penetrates through it, eerily illuminating the icy structures within.“

Now if anyone ever asks you what’s inside the belly of a dragon, tell them that monstrous tum is full of beautiful ice.

Photos by Daniel Kordan, Denis Budko, Marc Szeglat, Michael Zelensky, Natalia Balentsova, and xflo:w respectively.

[via Theremina, My Modern Met, and The Daily Mail]