In the summer of 2014, a large crater was discovered on the Yamal Peninsula, not far from the world's largest Bovanenkovskoye oil and gas condensate field. This event aroused great interest not only in the scientific world, but also among ordinary people.
Researchers went to the mysterious sinkhole in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, and by the end of 2014, three expeditions organized by the Arctic Exploration Center visited the natural phenomenon. The expedition, in addition to researchers, included climbers and rescuers. Scientists descended to the bottom of the funnel, took soil samples and measured air parameters. Thanks to the data obtained, it was possible to prove that the cause of this funnel was global warming.
It turned out that the formation of the funnel occurred in the fall of 2013. In the summer of 2012-2013, before the funnel appeared, the air temperature in Yamal was 5 degrees above the norm. This is a significant deviation for the tundra, where summer temperatures, as a rule, do not exceed + 5-10 degrees. Due to such an anomaly, permafrost thawing occurred at a depth of 20 meters.
When the upper layers of underground permafrost begin to thaw under the influence of high temperatures, the methane gas contained in them is released. It is found in permafrost soils in the form of relict gas hydrates. Methane begins to rise to the surface of the earth through pores and cracks in the earth's crust, but permafrost prevents it from escaping. Under the pressure of compressed gas, the soil literally swells up. A giant bubble or hill is formed, which is clearly visible against the background of a flat tundra landscape.
The same thing happened at the site of the formation of the Yamal funnel, as evidenced by the data obtained from satellite images.
In the photo: space images from Marina Leibman's presentation Well, then the melted upper layer does not withstand and breaks out under the onslaught of methane. An explosion occurs, which is evidenced by parts of the soil scattered around the circumference of the funnel, as well as at some distance from it.
In the first year after its formation, the Yamal funnel was a crater about 35 meters deep, and its diameter on the surface was 40 meters. About a third of the funnel in 2014 was already filled with water.
More than three years have passed since the formation of the sinkhole in Yamal. At the site of its formation, almost nothing reminds of the giant hole that made so much noise. It was filled with water and looks no different from the numerous tundra lakes on the Yamal Peninsula. The diameter of the new lake is about 80 meters.
But the story with unusual funnels does not end there. Since the formation of the first failure in different parts of the tundra on the territory of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, several more similar natural objects have appeared. In some cases, there are even eyewitnesses who claim that before the formation of the dip, a flash was visible and smoke was observed. All of them are smaller than the first funnel in diameter, but have a similar reason for their appearance - global warming. And the tundra has already begun to respond to the climate changes taking place on our planet.
26.11.2015
From time to time our planet provides us with food for thought. One of them turned out to be a "hole" in the Earth, discovered by pilots in Yamal, the diameter of which was several hundred meters. This hole appeared not far from a large gas field - Bovanenkovo. And off we go.
Men of science immediately began to argue about the origin of this failure. Professor Ivan Nesterov hypothesized that the funnel was formed from a collision with a meteorite, consisting of cosmic ice that did not burn up in the atmosphere. Viktor Grokhovsky, a great specialist in meteorites, told him a resolute "no".
The expedition, which went to the place of failure, made various measurements. Scientists took a sample of soil and water from the crater itself. Don't forget about the air. In their opinion, the failure was not just formed, but the rock was thrown out. However, no burns or charring were recorded. The preliminary conclusion of the members of the expedition is as follows: the explosion occurred inside the permafrost. How can it be? Permafrost for many kilometers inward, and suddenly an explosion?
Such a failure on the edge of the earth - Yamal, it turns out, is far from the first on the planet. Similar failures have already been recorded before. In 2010, in the center of the capital of Guatemala, for no apparent reason, an entire garment factory failed in the blink of an eye. Then a new one formed a few kilometers from this "black hole". Scientists have found that both failures were formed after the passing hurricanes. But it is warm there, and on Yamal - eternal cold and permafrost.
It would seem that there is no connection between these territories. But it turned out that there is. Only in hot areas do hurricanes rage outside, and in permafrost - inside. Drilling generates waste that is pumped into the ice. So they break out, forming such craters. There were such catastrophes in North and South America, in China, in New Zealand. And far from alone. In some cases, entire neighborhoods had to be evacuated.
In Brazil, more than a hundred houses instantly went underground. The reason for this is the rain. But in our north, there is not one hole either. About five years ago, reindeer herders discovered a hole in the ground, the diameter of which is slightly smaller, but it appeared earlier than Bovanenkovo. There were about five of them in total. And now it's time for scientists to think. The pace of gas production in Yamal is growing, factories, settlements, roads and other infrastructure for life are being built.
That's the task of scientists today is to exclude natural surprises to a minimum. Without careful research, it is difficult to predict future events. No matter how nature takes revenge on some man-made disaster for our attitude towards it. But that's not all. Gas and oil production is carried out not only in the north, but also in Siberia. So, it can also be subject to cataclysms? Anything is possible, even if you don't want it to be. So what is the reason anyway?
Both gas and oil have been produced for more than half a century, and holes began to appear only a few years ago. Scientists suggest that the reason is climate warming. Of course, the Arctic is more sensitive than the ecosystem of Siberia. There is more ice and arctic permafrost there, and they are melting more intensively. Soils in permafrost are thawing, and this greatly alarms scientists around the world. After all, climate change in our north entails its change throughout the planet.
Now climatologists around the world are already sure that all the anomalies taking place in Asia, Europe, Africa, America are caused by climate change and warming in our polar regions.
We should all think about the fact that nature does not forgive thoughtless interference in it. After all, it might be too late. And you can't forget about it. A lot has already been done over the years when man considered himself the master and king of nature.
Yamal funnel [VIDEO]
VIDEO: sinkhole in Yamal increases, turning into a lake
The giant crater in the Yamal Peninsula, discovered last year near the Bovanenkovskoye gas field, continues to grow in size. At the same time, it fills with water and becomes a lake.
A giant crater in the area of the Bovanenkovskoye field in Yamal, discovered last summer, began to turn into a lake, as scientists predicted.
During the next expedition, experts found that over the past winter and spring, the funnel was filled with water by about ten meters, and this process continues, according to the website of the government of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.
Previously, scientists expressed the opinion that in a couple of years this funnel will turn into one of the tundra lakes, of which there are many in Yamal and which, as scientists assume, have a similar origin. At the same time, the nature of the appearance of the funnels themselves is not reliably clear.
After the current expedition, Vasily Bogoyavlensky, the curator of research work of the Deputy Director for Research at the Institute of Oil and Gas Problems, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, put forward the hypothesis that the funnel is of thermogas origin, like most rounded tundra lakes on the peninsula.
Such processes occur in areas where paleo-permafrost and underground ice exist, and in connection with global warming, heaving mounds are formed in these areas, the academician explained.
"These hills, reaching up to two kilometers in diameter and many tens of meters in height, look very exotic against the background of the tundra flat terrain. Gradually, these objects collapse under the influence of high temperatures and form craters. However, a year ago, due to the formation of the Yamal learned that they can also explode," the government portal quoted him as saying.
Scientists have also established that the funnel is growing: its depth is now about 50 meters, and the base of the crater is falling apart right before our eyes, the Yamal Region TV company reports.
Two-thirds of the space of the funnel is occupied by melt and rain water, scientists take tests, special sensors are lowered to the bottom of the funnel. The results obtained say that the object is unpredictable, and it is dangerous to go deep into the crater, the report says.
Also, the television company published on the Web a video it had filmed, which depicted those same heaving mounds, future funnels that Bogoyavlensky spoke about.
Giant funnel in the area of the Bovanenkovskoye field in Yamal increases and becomes a lake
The public and authorities of the region learned about the "Bovanenkovo" funnel on July 10, 2014 - when a recording from a helicopter appeared on YouTube, on which one could see a huge hollow formed 30 kilometers from the Bovanenkovskoye oil and gas condensate field near the floodplain of the Morda-Yakha River.
YaNAO Governor Dmitry Kobylkin is instructed to conduct a scientific study of this phenomenon. Last year, three expeditions were organized to the funnel. It turned out that the diameter of the funnel on the inner edge is approximately 40 meters, on the outer - 60 meters.
During the initial study, scientists from the Scientific Center for the Study of the Arctic and the Institute of the Earth's Cryosphere considered that the funnel is of natural origin and is not the result of any man-made impact, for example, an explosion or a meteorite fall, local authorities reported.
During expeditions in July and August last year, the constant collapse of the inner walls of the funnel prevented full-fledged research and sampling. Only in November, when the ground was thoroughly frozen, did the scientists manage to descend into it for the first time, examine the inside of the funnel and take samples of soil and ice for chemical and isotope analyzes.
In addition to the descent, GPR of the funnel was carried out with a special probe to a depth of 200 meters in order to obtain its visual structure and create a 3D model, and in the future to help predict the appearance of this natural phenomenon.
The scientific group did not detect any dangerous radiation at the site of the funnel. Scientists came to the conclusion that the funnel is the result of "a certain natural phenomenon, which cannot be defined without a detailed study." According to one version, a giant crater could have formed as a result of pneumoclap caused by the decomposition of gas hydrates.
“This is a purely mechanical release, which, most likely, occurred due to an increase in pressure during freezing and a change in the volume of a certain cavity in which there were marsh gas reserves,” said Marina Leibman, a research participant, chief researcher at the Institute of the Earth’s Cryosphere of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Meanwhile, a participant in the study, head of the geological sector of complex research at Gazprom VNIIGAZ, Anton Sinitsky compared the Yamal sinkhole with the Bermuda triangle. According to him, there is a link between them - gas hydrates, which are methane atoms in a stable state in a water molecule and are in a frozen state, Komsomolskaya Pravda wrote.
“Outwardly, it looks like a piece of ice,” Sinitsky told reporters after the November expedition. “At the bottom of the oceans, such gas hydrates occur in the form of layers and flakes. But no one knows how to extract them. One of the working versions of the Bermuda Triangle is that in its area, these gas hydrates just lie at the bottom. Something happens, and their calmness is disturbed. As a result, methane begins to actively emit, the water boils, and its density decreases. Accordingly, the ship simply cannot stay afloat anymore."
The Yamal funnel caused a great resonance in the information space and not only in Russia. She was even included in the official trailer for the film "X-Men. Apocalypse": at 11 seconds of the video, the caption "Yamal, Siberia" appears, and the voice-over says that scientists have not come to a consensus about the nature of the craters.
Meanwhile, in July 2014, another similar funnel was discovered in the Tazovsky district of the YaNAO, but smaller in size - its diameter is approximately 15 meters. She was found by reindeer herders 90 km from the village of Antipayuta and reported to the authorities. At the same time, reindeer herders claim that in September 2013, a certain celestial body fell in this area, after which an outbreak occurred.
Over the past 4 years, an unusual natural phenomenon has been carefully studied by both scientists of the Russian Academy of Sciences and specialists in anomalous zones. Their interests included a mysterious sinkhole in the Yamal Peninsula, which appeared in September 2013, and its twin brothers, emerging throughout Siberia.
ALIEN ANIMATIONS?
The activity of researchers in the study of this phenomenon is so high that today it is time to talk about the appearance in Russia of a new anomalous zone - the Yamal. The fact is that the originator of the formation of a huge funnel (and it reaches a diameter of more than 60 meters) is still not known for certain. In the meantime, not far from the first funnel, located 30 kilometers from the village of Bovanenkovo, several more similar failures in the soil have recently appeared. Everyone is seriously concerned about the strange phenomenon - from ufologists to geologists and geophysicists of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. And the versions of official scientists and alternative researchers are fundamentally different.
The ufological community, as one would expect, assumes that the sinkholes on Yamal owe their appearance to aliens, more precisely, to their aircraft. The researchers suggested that underground there are some mothballed underground spaceports from which UFOs finally started, and holes in the ground are their launch pads. It is clear that the employees of the Institute of the Earth's Cryosphere fundamentally disagree with ufologists. They officially stated that the giant sinkholes are the result of natural geological activity. So, is it natural? And here it is not. Scientists reluctantly note that there is a very serious natural anomaly. And it is expressed in the unusual chemical composition of the water located at the bottom of the mysterious funnels, as well as the massive release of methane from cavities in the earth's crust.
DIVE INTO A MYSTERY
It is noteworthy that on the eve of the appearance of the Yamal funnel, local reindeer herders, according to media reports, observed a large celestial body at night. A huge fireball, hanging for a few seconds above the ground, exploded. The tundra was lit up by a bright flash. The ground from the explosion was scattered over several tens and even hundreds of meters. And the next morning, at this place, the reindeer herders found a giant funnel in the ground. According to scientists who studied this phenomenon, the funnel was so wide that a cargo helicopter could freely descend into it. To confirm or refute the numerous versions about the origin of the hole, scientists decided to organize a descent into its depths. The first attempts to reach the bottom were unsuccessful: the inner walls constantly collapsed. When the researchers finally went down to the bottom, they managed to take samples of water and ice. Isotope analysis and other laboratory studies of the samples taken made it possible to accurately determine the nature of the funnel formation. And the conclusions made seriously frightened scientists.
WHEN WILL THE PERMAFROST BREAK?
According to researchers, this funnel will eventually turn into one of the lakes, which are already numerous in the tundra. However, the UFO version of the formation of the Yamal funnel has nothing to do with it at all. Here, even without aliens, problems grow like a snowball. Because scientists have come to the conclusion that the appearance of such funnels will entail a gigantic natural disaster in the region. So.
According to the staff of the Institute of the Earth's Cryosphere of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the funnel was formed due to the fact that swamp gas accumulated in an underground cavity exploded. Soon after the first, a second similar funnel appeared. A few more are on the way. And the most unpleasant thing is that the entire region is literally stuffed with gas fields and gas pipelines. If explosions in places of accumulation of underground gases take on an avalanche-like character, it is difficult to calculate what financial and environmental consequences this may result in. But this is only half the trouble. Scientists are sure that all this is directly related to climate warming. The frozen rocks became less dense, shale gas flowed through them. When the critical mass had accumulated, an explosion occurred. Already today in Yamal, due to the retreat of permafrost, the appearance of more than 200 blue lakes, which did not exist before, is noted! In parallel, holes and dips form in the ground. So, in addition to the already described funnel in Yamal, the Batagai crater is no less famous here, called by the locals “the gate to hell”.
IF THE MONSTERS WAKE UP
The sharp melting of permafrost in the light of the formation of several thousand methane bubbles can take on an avalanche-like character. In this case, humanity will face another terrible threat - unknown viruses that will be released from under the ice. Given that the strains of these viruses are millions of years old, there are of course no vaccines for them, and how quickly they can be created is unknown. Today, in the permafrost there are the remains of a huge number of prehistoric animals, ancient people, fossil plants, and with them strains of diseases that these creatures suffered hundreds of thousands of years ago are stored under a bushel. According to scientists, even yogurt placed in permafrost will remain edible after hundreds of thousands of years if it is thawed. What can we say about ancient viruses and bacteria to which people have no immunity!
And the problems have already begun. In 2016, in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, 2,300 deer died from a sudden outbreak of anthrax, and there were also cases of human infection. And since it was believed that anthrax was done away with once and for all, vaccination against this disease was discontinued in 2007. According to scientists, this time the cause of this disease was a pathogen that managed to survive in the body of a deer that died of anthrax 75 years ago. Last year, the region had an abnormally warm summer, the animal's body thawed, and the virus broke free.
It is scary even to imagine what will begin with a large-scale retreat of permafrost. For example, in Kolyma there is a mass grave of people who died from an outbreak of smallpox in the 19th century. It is not clear how her strain will behave during a sharp warming. And the worst thing is that humanity is powerless in the face of this threat. It remains only to closely monitor the situation and be prepared for any turn of events.
THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE EFFECT
It is curious that scientists call the release of a large amount of methane from the earth's crust the Bermuda Triangle effect. If methane began to explode in Yamal as a result of global warming, then in the sea everything happens a little differently.
In this case, the gas is not frozen, but compressed under high pressure in voids under the sea or ocean floor. When cracks form in the earth's crust, and gas begins to come out, water instantly changes its natural properties. It begins to boil, bubbles go to the surface of the sea. In this case, the water loses its density, and the ships instantly sink to the bottom for no apparent reason. Once in the atmosphere, methane continues its dirty work, disrupting the operation of aircraft. For this reason, planes and helicopters flying over the methane bubbles of Yamal, ready to explode at any moment, are at great risk.
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The admiration of the whole world was caused by a funnel with a diameter of 60 meters, discovered in the area of the Bonavenkovsky oil and gas condensate field in Yamal in June 2014. In scientific circles, it was called a funnel of gas emission. In 2014, the natural phenomenon was examined by three expeditions organized by the Center for the Development of the Arctic.
Recently, the fourth one returned from Yamal. Its goal was to investigate how the crater near the floodplain of the Morda-Yakha River has changed over the past year, as well as to study tundra lakes that have the same round shape. Experts are convinced that they appeared due to similar processes. The scientists shared their discoveries with the Russian Planet.
Shot of a methane hydrate gun
So-called heaving mounds, which often occur in the Arctic tundra, helped scientists unravel the mystery of the appearance of the Yamal funnel.
In areas where permafrost is common, there is such a phenomenon as heaving mounds, or pingos, as they are commonly called in world geological science, - Valery Noskov, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, explains to the RP correspondent. - From the outside, they look like hills of the correct rounded shape. Their height can reach 80 meters, and the diameter - several kilometers. Previously, it was considered that heaving mounds are formed exclusively as a result of many years of freezing of clay soils saturated with water. However, it is now becoming clear that they can also appear during the reverse process - thawing of paleo-permafrost caused by global warming. The Arctic, as a hypersensitive ecosystem, is the first to respond to climate change, and heaving mounds are direct evidence of this.
When the upper permafrost horizons begin to thaw under the influence of high temperatures, the methane contained in them is released. Photo: government.yanao.rf
In the summer of 2012-2013, when the Yamal funnel formed, the air temperature in the area of its occurrence was 5 degrees higher than the norm, and over the past 20 years, due to systematic warming, permafrost soils lying in this area at a depth of 20 m have warmed up by about 2 degrees .
When the upper layers of the permafrost begin to thaw under the influence of high temperatures, the methane gas contained in them is released. It is found in permafrost soils in the form of relict gas hydrates.
Gas hydrates and, in particular, methane hydrates are crystalline compounds formed from water and gas, says Valery Noskov. - The hypothesis about the presence of relict gas hydrates in the permafrost zone was first put forward by Soviet scientists in the 40s of the last century, and in the 1960s they were first discovered. According to the latest estimates, at the moment in the Arctic permafrost zone, including under water, at least 1.4 thousand gigatons of gas are locked in the form of methane and its hydrates. About 5–10% of this amount comes to the surface as a result of thawing of permafrost soils, since gas hydrates become unstable with increasing temperature.
There is even an apocalyptic theory about the so-called methane hydrate gun: many researchers fear that an increase in water temperature in the World Ocean and rivers flowing into it will trigger an irreversible process of methane release from underwater and underground deposits of gas hydrates. Once released into the atmosphere, methane, which is a stronger greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, will cause further warming. As a result, even more methane will be released, and a catastrophe will occur.
Some scientists believe that a similar process caused the Permian extinction, when 96% of terrestrial organisms died 250 million years ago.
Now there is a constant collapse of the edges of the funnel, thawed clay is slipping inside, it is dangerous to go down. Photo: government.yanao.rf
Such a pessimistic scenario is still unlikely: most gas hydrates are concentrated too deeply to react sharply to warming, Noskov continues. - It will take thousands of years for them to warm up and release the methane contained in them. Nevertheless, an expedition of Russian, American and Swedish scientists, which, led by Natalia Shakhova and Igor Semiletov, studied permafrost on the Arctic shelf of Siberia two years ago, came to the conclusion that methane emissions into the atmosphere in this zone have doubled compared to the calculated ones. Breaks in the permafrost that have formed on the seafloor have already released millions of tons of methane, resulting in a 100-fold increase in concentrations in some Arctic regions. Up to 50 gigatonnes of hydrates may be released at any moment, which will increase the methane content in the atmosphere by 12 times and lead to a critical level of the greenhouse effect. As early as 2008, the United States included the potential release of methane hydrates in the Arctic as one of the four global climate threats.
Crater explosions
Methane released as a result of temperature increase from gas hydrates begins to rise to the earth's surface in fault zones, which can be located both under water and on land. Permafrost prevents him from going outside. Under the pressure of compressed gas, the soil literally swells up. A giant bubble is formed, looking fantastic against the backdrop of a flat tundra landscape. The gas puts pressure on the permafrost, besides heating it from below: the temperature of methane is about +30 °C, and that of the permafrost is about minus 9–10 °C. As it thaws, the upper layer of permafrost weakens and at some point can no longer withstand pressure from below. The gas is escaping. There is an explosion. Soil "cork" flies out like a bottle of champagne.
In this case, the gas pressure can be relatively small, - explains Vasily Bogoyavlensky, the curator of the 4th expedition to the gas emission funnel, deputy director for scientific work of the Institute of Oil and Gas Problems, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Technical Sciences. - Twelve-odd atmospheres is enough for such a hillock to explode. At lower pressure, the heaving bumps are gradually destroyed under the influence of high temperature, and craters also form in their place, but this happens without an explosion. On the territory of Yamal there are at least four facilities associated with underground gas emissions. During the last expedition we managed to visit two of them.
The size of the Yamal funnel is constantly increasing: now its depth is about 50 m. Photo: government.yanao.rf
The thawing of paleo-permafrost under the influence of global warming will inevitably lead to the emergence of new sinkholes, similar to the Yamal one, since there are many gas-bearing rocks in the Arctic region. Moreover, due to the increase in temperature, they can occur more often.
The only thing that scientists are able to do is to predict where and when they will appear in order to evacuate people in time. After all, permafrost is spread over more than 60% of the territory of Russia. Such large cities as Yakutsk, Vorkuta and Norilsk were built on it.
An ecological catastrophe will occur if craters appear under a field or an overpass. Thus, the nearest oil pipeline is located just four kilometers from the Yamal funnel, and the oil and gas field is 28 kilometers away.
The expedition members stated that the size of the Yamal crater is constantly increasing. To date, its depth is about 50 m, that is, a 25-storey building can easily fit into it. Part of the volume of the giant crater was filled with water - at least 10 m deep. Researchers are convinced that over time, the geological neoformation near the Bovanenkovskoye field will turn into exactly the same tundra lake as many others located on the territory of Yamal.
The participants of the fourth expedition did not have the opportunity to descend into the crater and examine it from the inside.
The thawing of paleo-permafrost under the influence of global warming will inevitably lead to the emergence of new funnels. Photo: government.yanao.rf
Now there is a constant collapse of the edges of the funnel, thawed clay is slipping inside, it is dangerous to go down, - Vladimir Pushkarev, director of the Russian Center for the Development of the Arctic, explained to a RP correspondent. - Therefore, we were able to get to the bottom of the crater and take samples of soil and ice for chemical and isotopic analysis only during the third expedition (in November 2014), when the walls of the funnel froze.
Samples taken during the very first expedition, held in July last year, showed a high content of methane in the crater. The concentration of methane at the bottom of the funnel was about 9.6%, while usually it does not exceed 0.000179%. This serves as an additional argument in favor of the correctness of the thermogas theory of the origin of the Yamal crater.
Unraveling the Bermuda Triangle
Four expeditions made it possible to exclude all other versions of the origin of the Yamal funnel. During the year, dozens of theories of the appearance of the crater appeared. A giant pit in the tundra was called the gate to hell, foreshadowing the end of the world, the hole of a huge animal unknown to science, the aftermath of the crash of an alien ship and the result of a nuclear bomb test. More plausible versions were put forward, for example, the fall of a meteorite.
If the Yamal funnel was formed from the fall of a meteorite, then an increased radiation background would be noted in this place, but there is nothing like that, - says Valery Noskov. - In addition, there are no signs of charring or other effects of high temperature around. No fragments of the meteorite were found either. The latter could be explained by the fact that the meteorite consisted entirely of ice, and therefore its fragments could not be found. This version is supported by the funnel-shaped shape of the crater, which could be the result of the rotation of a meteorite in the soil, as well as the darkened edges of the failure. However, it is impossible not to notice the fall of such a large celestial body, especially since a large field is operating just 30 km from the place of the alleged fall. A collision of a meteorite with the earth's surface would cause a shaking of the soil, which would inevitably be recorded.
An additional argument in favor of the meteorite theory of the appearance of the Yamal funnel could be the circumstances of the appearance of another similar smaller crater. It was discovered by reindeer herders in the Tazovsky district of Yamal, 90 km from the village of Antipayuta in September 2013. They claimed that his appearance was preceded by a bright flash, and then followed by an explosion. Some noted that before that they saw a bright trail in the sky from a falling celestial body.
It is unlikely that almost at the same time, two meteorites of the same composition fell almost on the same territory, causing the appearance of craters of the same structure, says Valery Noskov. - And the presence of a flash and an explosion is very easily explained, since when methane is mixed with air in certain proportions, an explosive mixture is formed. The gas released from the gas hydrates could cause a strong explosion. As for the trace of a meteorite in the sky, people tend to wishful thinking. A prosaic explanation of the origin of the Yamal funnel is not to the liking of many.
To console science fiction fans and conspiracy theorists, the scientist said that the thermogas origin of the Yamal funnel directly connects it with the famous Bermuda Triangle. In 1984, Canadian chemist Donald Davidson offered an interesting explanation for this phenomenon. He said that in this part of the World Ocean, gas hydrates containing methane lie at the bottom. In 1990, studies that drilled several deep water wells proved him right. When the gas is released from the hydrates and penetrates through the layer of soil that holds it back, it rises to the surface. As the water rises, the pressure drops and the small bubbles of gas increase in size. When they reach the surface of the water, it turns into a boiling foam. A ship that finds itself in a gas cloud can no longer stay on the surface of the water, since its density drops sharply and sinks to the bottom. The crews of aircraft caught in a cloud of methane die from suffocation. And the slightest spark can be enough for explosive methane to explode and burn a ship or plane in a matter of seconds. Crews do not even have time to send a distress signal. Moreover, when rescuers arrive in the area, they cannot find any traces. And all this is due to the presence at the bottom of exactly the same gas hydrates as in the formation zone of the Yamal funnel.
