The Yamal crater is a rare phenomenon that attracts the attention of many people, especially residents of the region. What is it, how did it form, what secrets does the black funnel keep? Of course, there is no exact answer to all these questions, there are only certain hypotheses put forward by scientists. Let's try to figure out what is known about this riddle.
A bit about the funnel
In 2014, the world learned about a strange find in permafrost. A crater on the Yamal Peninsula attracted the attention of scientists from all over the planet, and his photographs did not leave the front pages of newspapers and Internet resources. A funnel of unknown origin is located four hundred kilometers from Salekhard, the capital of the district.
Scientists who immediately began to study the find (fortunately, it was summer in the yard) were perplexed. The Yamal crater has a regular shape and perfectly smooth walls. The diameter of the inner circle is 40 meters, and the outer is 60. The depth of the crater is 35 m.
The find put the whole of Yamal on the ears, the secrets of the sudden appearance of the crater greatly worried local residents. Various versions were put forward, including mystical ones. Scientists tend to explain everything with science. So in this case, they believe that there was a certain explosion, possibly related to temperature extremes and the internal pressure of the planet. However, traces of burning could not be detected, and thawing takes place only to a depth of 73 meters.
Some more interesting facts
However, the crater on the Yamal Peninsula is not alone. This one, however, is the largest, and three more such craters are known. People worry that such an explosion can occur anywhere, so be sure to study the cause of its appearance. Some attribute the occurrence of this phenomenon to gas production, as the largest field in the district is located very close by.
The second riddle: the Yamal crater is not permafrost, there is water at its bottom. Standing at the funnel, you can clearly hear her gurgling. Sheer walls are made of clay and ice, which melts in the summer from sunlight. Therefore, its size is increasing. Over time, water can completely fill the crater and a lake forms, which are many in this region.
Scientists immediately rejected the theory of karst origin: there is no underground water in this area. And even if we assume that a sharp change in climate on the planet has affected permafrost, all the same, karst funnels do not have such an ideal shape and even walls.
Gas explosion? Meteorite? Land subsidence?
Could a Yamal crater result from a gas explosion? These fears are not unfounded, because only 30 km to the Bavanenkovskoye field with reserves of almost 5 trillion cubic meters of gas. The air around the object smells of hydrogen sulfide, but there is no methane there (maybe it has weathered, risen to the high atmosphere).
The accumulated gas bubbles create a gas volcano that resembles champagne popping. This, according to scientists, is the most likely version of the origin of the phenomenon. Before the crater formed, a hill could form on the ground, which then burst, possibly during an earthquake. Such phenomena can occur in the region further, and the cause may be the slightest earthquake. Therefore, researchers suggest building a seismic station on the peninsula as soon as possible.
Land subsidence was also ruled out, because around the crater with the naked eye you can see the ejection of the rock. And yet the funnel could not be after the meteorite fall, because after the fall of the Chelyabinsk celestial body, its fragments were collected in the fields around for another six months.
Drop of mysticism
The Yamal crater looks ominous: a black hole on a background of snow-white snow. It is not surprising that the superstitious inhabitants of the North began to fear her. Some said that this is the result of tests of unknown weapons, others - that this is the road to the underworld (the center of the earth), while others consider the funnel to be man-made. The Russian authorities refute any tests and the presence there of underground bases, classified objects and other things.
Reindeer herders say that at about the time the crater formed, they saw a strong glow in the sky that could not have been after a jet plane. Some inhabitants of the region saw a spherical celestial body that was shrouded in smoke and bright light. UFO? Similar stories were told by eyewitnesses of the fall of the Tunguska meteorite.
Ancient epic
In Yakutia, locals will gladly tell you the epic Olonkho, which refers to a strong hurricane in the past. The earth creaked (as eyewitnesses from Tunguska claimed, they heard such a sound when a meteorite fell and when the fireballs that burned the heavenly body took off). Suddenly, in the tundra, the reindeer herders saw an iron house, which gradually hid underground. Sometimes a ball of fire flew out of it , which rose into the sky and exploded there. The iron house was not alone; there were many. Over time, they went underground, leaving only round convex covers.
What did the folk memory keep? Alien ship crash information , weapon test? Perhaps these unidentified objects are still stored in frozen ground?
Has the Yamal crater become the key to unraveling the secrets of the Bermuda Triangle?
Since the appearance of a perfectly round funnel is not entirely clear, some people hastened to connect it with another mysterious place on earth - the Bermuda Triangle. Scientists also believe that in the Bermuda region there are also gas hydrates, which create ideal conditions for ships to sink and aircraft to disappear. But what is happening on the seabed is difficult to see, because the thickness of the water hides it from human eyes.
Scientists still cannot fully understand the nature of the funnel formed on the Yamal Peninsula. And hypotheses should be checked and double-checked until they are recognized as reliable. Pragmatic people recommend monitoring the infrastructure and carrying out any construction taking into account tectonic faults. But to predict where the next time and when exactly a new crater will form is impossible.