It was the few inhabitants of the region who described the craters and called them the holes at the end of the world. Out of the curiosity and fascination they initially aroused when they were discovered, they continued to provoke fear. Because residents fear that the same thing will happen in populated areas. The large craters discovered in Siberia since 2014 are also of increasing importance for science. These are large holes that have been opened in the Siberian tundra, more precisely on the Yamal Peninsula.
Among the holes at the end of the world, C17 crater is the largest
One of these craters, dubbed C17, was discovered thanks to a television crew flying over the area in a helicopter. After its public status, a group of scientists began an investigation into the newly discovered crater, describing it as the most impressive of those found to date.
Since discovering it, the experts have begun an in-depth investigation into the location of the giant crater. After all, there is no doubt that it was an outbreak of methane gas contained under pressure in a huge bubble underground.
The reasons causing the natural phenomenon is the melting of the permafrost layer that contained it due to climate change. As the permafrost melts, the 10 to 15 meter thick layer of soil covering these gas fields or methane pumps is inflated and the pressurized methane causes a violent eruption.
Thanks to the use of drones and new technologies, the scientists created a 3D diagram to further study the C17 crater. The hole has a diameter of 25 meters, a depth of 35 meters and the inner grotto is supposed to reach 60 meters.
At the time of the eruption, an estimated 300,000 cubic meters of methane gas were released into the atmosphere. Methane is one of the gases with the greatest greenhouse effect and one of the most harmful for climate change.
They analyze what will happen to the craters in the future
According to a scientific study by the Oil and Gas Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 7000 hills are being studied that can erupt at any time. One of the largest existing methane gas reserves is on the Yamal Peninsula with an area of around 120,000 square kilometers.
Experts initially suspect that the appearance of the numerous hills and eruptions that caused fear among the residents of the region could be a result of the intensive exploitation of methane gas. After all, they also believe that the damage eruptions can cause to ecology is there, especially when they occur near pumping stations or gas pipelines.
