Yamal crater: features, reasons for appearance, mysteries

The Yamal crater is a rare phenomenon that attracts the attention of many people, especially the inhabitants of the region. What is it, how it was formed, what secrets is kept by the black funnel? Of course, there is no exact answer to all these questions, only certain hypotheses put forward by scientists exist. Let's try to understand what is known about this riddle.

A little about the funnel

In 2014, the world learned about a strange find in the permafrost. The crater on Yamal attracted the attention of scientists around the world, and his photos did not come off the front pages of newspapers and Internet resources. The funnel of unknown origin is located four hundred kilometers from Salekhard, the capital of the district.

Scientists who immediately began to study the find (good, the summer was in the yard), came into perplexity. The Yamal crater has a regular shape and perfectly smooth walls. The diameter of the inner circle is 40 meters, and the outer circle is 60. The depth of the crater is 35 meters.

The find placed the whole of Yamal on the ears, the mysteries of the sudden appearance of the crater greatly troubled the locals. Various versions, including mystical ones, were put forward. Scientists tend to explain everything with science. Here and in this case, they believe that there was an explosion, possibly related to the temperature drops and the internal pressure of the planet. However, traces of burning could not be detected, and thawing takes place only up to a depth of 73 meters.

A few more interesting facts

However, the crater on Yamal is not alone. This, however, is the largest, and we also know of three similar funnels. People are worried that such an explosion can occur anywhere, so it is necessary to study the cause of its occurrence. Some associate the occurrence of this phenomenon with the extraction of gas, since the largest deposit in the district is located very close to it.

The second riddle: Yamal crater is not permafrost, there is water on its bottom. Standing at the crater, you can clearly hear her gurgling. The steep walls are composed of clay and ice, which in summer melts from the sun's rays. Therefore, its size increases. Over time, water can completely fill the crater and form a lake, which is a lot in this region.

Scientists immediately abandoned the theory of karst origin: there is no groundwater in this area. And even if we assume that the drastic climate change on the planet affected the permafrost, then the karst funnels do not have such an ideal shape and even walls.

Gas explosion? Meteorite? The subsidence of the earth?

Could the Yamal crater occur as a result of a gas explosion? These fears are not groundless, because up to the Bavanenkovskoye field with reserves of almost 5 trillion cubic meters of gas, only some 30 km. In the air around the object there is a smell of hydrogen sulfide, but there is no methane (it may have disappeared, it has risen in the high layers of the atmosphere).

The accumulated gas bubbles create a gas volcano that resembles the clap of champagne. This, according to scientists, is the most likely version of the origin of the phenomenon. Before the formation of the crater, a hill could form on the ground, which then broke through, possibly during an earthquake. Such phenomena can occur in the region and beyond, and the cause may be the slightest earthquake. Therefore, the researchers propose to build a seismic station as soon as possible on the peninsula.

Land sagging was also ruled out, as the outcrop of the rock can be seen around the crater with the naked eye. And the funnel could not be a trace of the meteorite, after the fall of Chelyabinsk heavenly body, its wreckage gathered in the fields around for another six months.

A drop of mysticism

The Yamal crater looks ominous: a black hole on the background of snow-white snow. It is no wonder that the superstitious inhabitants of the North began to fear it. Some said that this was the result of testing unknown weapons, others that it was a road to the underworld (the center of the earth), while others consider the funnel to be an industrial mine. The Russian authorities refute any tests and the availability of underground bases, classified objects and other things there.

Reindeer herders say that around the time the crater formed, they saw a strong glow in the sky, which could not be a trace of a jet plane. Some inhabitants of the region saw a spherical celestial body, which was enveloped in smoke and bright light. UFO? Similar stories were told by eyewitnesses of the fall of the Tunguska meteorite.

Ancient epic

In Yakutia, local people willingly tell you the epic of Olonkho, which speaks of a strong hurricane in the past. The land creaked (as witnesses from Tunguska said, they heard such a sound when the meteorite fell and when the fireballs that burned the heavenly body were taken off). Suddenly in the tundra the reindeer herders saw a house made of iron, which gradually hid under the ground. Sometimes a fireball flew out of it , which rose to the sky and exploded there. Iron House was not alone, there were a lot of them. Over time, they went underground, leaving only round convex lids.

What has kept the people's memory? Information about the crash of an alien ship, a weapon test? Perhaps these unidentified objects are still stored in frozen ground?

The Yamal crater became the key to unraveling the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle?

Since the appearance of a perfectly round funnel is not entirely understandable, some people hastened to connect it with another mysterious place on earth - the Bermuda Triangle. Scientists also believe that in the Bermuda region gas hydrates also exist, which create ideal conditions for drowning ships and disappearing aircraft. But what is happening on the seabed is difficult to see, because the thickness of water hides it from human eyes.

Scientists can not fully understand the nature of the funnel formed on the Yamal Peninsula. Yes, and the hypothesis should be checked and rechecked until they are found to be reliable. Pragmatic people recommend that you follow the infrastructure and build any construction taking into account tectonic faults. But to foresee where the next time and when exactly a new crater is formed, it is impossible.