A vast crater discovered in a remote region of Siberia known to locals as "the end of the world" is causing a sensation in Russia, with a group of scientists being sent to investigate.
The giant hole in the remote energy-rich Yamalo-Nenetsky region first came to light in a video uploaded to YouTube that has since been viewed more than seven million times. "The crater is enormous in size--you could fly down into it in several Mi-8s (helicopters) without being afraid of hitting anything," the person who posted the video, named only as Bulka, wrote.
The crater is located in the permafrost around 30 kilometres (18 miles) from a huge gas field north of the regional capital of Salekhard, roughly 2,000 kilometres northeast of Moscow. [The deputy director of the Oil and Gas Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vasily Bogoyavlensky] said the crater was likely to have been caused by the melting of underground ice in the permafrost, freeing gas that then built up high pressure and broke through to the surface. "At some point an explosion took place without any flame," Bogoyavlensky said.
In an effort to discover its mysteries, regional governor Dmitry Kobylkin sent a group of scientists into the tundra where the crater is located in the Yamal peninsula--which translates as "the end of the world", Interfax reported.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by richtopia on Monday July 28 2014, @07:51PM
I haven't done much research on this, but one speculation is that the crater is a natural gas explosion. There have also been comparisons to this crater and the lakes that cover the Yamalo-Nenets region (look on google maps, lots of circular lakes).
Now as far as the end of the world, I suspect this is actually one of the most likely end of the world events we have seen, with some leaps of faith:
(Score: 2) by edIII on Monday July 28 2014, @08:09PM
Dibs on the assless chaps and sawed off shotgun...
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by tibman on Monday July 28 2014, @08:45PM
Dude, why wait!
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Monday July 28 2014, @08:18PM
Explosion as used in most of the news reports merely meant eruption (escape) without fire.
That's probably worse for the atmosphere than if it had caught fire.
Looking at the pictures, there is no burning near the hole.
Also TFS says someone claimed:
"you could fly down into it in several Mi-8s (helicopters) without being afraid of hitting anything,"
Since a Mi-8 has a rotar span of 22 meters, and the hole is only 60 meters in diameter, there would be more than a little intestinal fortitude involved in navigating even ONE chopper down there.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Tuesday July 29 2014, @03:01PM
Oh pah, they have over 5 meters of clearance among the choppers and the wall. Grow some balls ;)
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 28 2014, @09:04PM
You forgot the most obvious, it is a crater left by an explosion of a Russian guided anti-air missile fired from the Ukrainian border that went astray.
(Score: 2) by Nobuddy on Tuesday July 29 2014, @05:49AM
You aren't that far off. I was reading an article on this. They perfectly natural, these have happened before. they are kind of excited to see one in progress rather than finding it years afterward.
However, if it is an indication of accelerated release of methane as Siberia softens, it is a SHIT-TON of methane in that ice. Enough to ramp up global warming by an order of magnitude.