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 yet, there are only certain hypotheses put forward by scientists. Let's try to figure out what is known about this mystery.
A little about the funnel
In 2014, the world learned about a strange discovery in the permafrost. The crater on Yamal attracted the attention of scientists from all over the world, and its photographs did not leave the front pages of newspapers and Internet resources. A crater 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 circle is 60 meters. The depth of the crater is 35 meters.
The discovery has put on earsthe whole Yamal, the secrets of the sudden appearance of the crater greatly disturbed the locals. Various versions were put forward, including mystical ones. Scientists tend to explain everything with science. Here, in this case, they believe that there was some kind of explosion, possibly associated with temperature changes and the internal pressure of the planet. However, no traces of burning could be found, and thawing occurs only to a depth of 73 meters.
Some more interesting facts
However, there is more than one crater in Yamal. This one, however, is the largest, and three more similar funnels are known. People are worried that such an explosion could happen anywhere, so it is imperative to study the cause of its occurrence. Some attribute the occurrence of this phenomenon to gas production, since the region's largest field is located very close.
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 from the sun's rays in summer. Therefore, its size increases. Over time, water can completely fill the crater and form a lake, of which there are many in this region.
Scientists immediately rejected the theory of karst origin: there is no groundwater in this area. And even if we assume that a sharp change in climate on the planet has affected the permafrost, then all the same, karst funnels do not have such an ideal shape and even walls.
Gas explosion?Meteorite? Subsidence?
Could the Yamal crater have been formed as a result of a gas explosion? These fears are not unfounded, because the Bavanenkovskoye field with reserves of almost 5 trillion cubic meters of gas is only some 30 km away. The air around the object smells of hydrogen sulfide, but there is no methane (maybe it weathered, rose into the high layers of the atmosphere).
The accumulated gas bubbles create a gas volcano that resembles the pop 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 have formed on the ground, which then broke through, possibly during an earthquake. Such phenomena can occur in the region further, and the slightest earthquake can become the cause. Therefore, the researchers propose to build a seismic station on the peninsula as soon as possible.
Ground subsidence has also been ruled out, as rock outburst can be seen around the crater with the naked eye. And the funnel could not be a trace of a meteorite fall, because after the fall of the Chelyabinsk celestial body, its fragments collected in the fields around for another six months.
A drop of mysticism
Yamal crater looks ominous: a black hole against the backdrop of snow-white snow. It is not surprising that the superstitious inhabitants of the North began to fear her. Some said that this was the result of testing an unknown weapon, others that it was a road to the underworld (the center of the earth), others consider the funnel to be a man-made development. The Russian authorities refute any tests and the presence of undergroundbases, classified objects and more.
Reindeer herders say that around the time when the crater was 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 that was shrouded in smoke and bright light. UFO? Similar stories were told by eyewitnesses of the fall of the Tunguska meteorite.
Old epic
In Yakutia, locals will gladly tell you the epic Olonkho, which speaks of a strong hurricane in the past. The earth creaked (according to eyewitnesses from Tunguska, they heard such a sound when a meteorite fell and when fireballs took off, which burned the celestial body). Suddenly, in the tundra, the reindeer herders saw a house made of iron, which gradually hid underground. Sometimes a fireball 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 has the people's memory preserved? Information about an alien ship crash, a weapon test? Perhaps these unidentified objects are still stored in the 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 clear, some people hastened to associate it with another mysterious place on earth - the Bermuda Triangle. Scientists also believe that gas hydrates also occur in the Bermuda region, which create ideal conditions for ships to sink andaircraft disappeared. But what is happening on the seabed is hard to see, because the water column hides it from human eyes.
Scientists still cannot fully understand the nature of the crater formed in Yamal. And hypotheses should be tested and retested until they are recognized as reliable. Pragmatic people recommend monitoring the infrastructure and any construction should be carried out taking into account tectonic faults. But it is impossible to predict where and when a new crater will form next.
