Giant Black Hole in Siberia

Opmmur

Time Travel Professor
Messages
5,049
Now two NEW large holes appear in Siberia

By The Siberian Times reporter
28 July 2014

Reindeer herders find more craters in the far north in a deepening puzzle for scientists.


The funnel is a perfectly formed cone, say locals who are mystified at how it was formed. Its depth is estimated at between 60 and 100 metres and its diameter - more than four metres. Picture: Local residents

Millions of people around the world glimpsed the first giant hole after it was revealed by The Siberian Times here and on The Siberian Times TV here.

Now news has emerged of two new similar formations in the permafrost, prompting more intrigue about their creation.

Theories range from meteorites, stray missiles, a man-made prank, and aliens, to an explosive cocktail of methane or shale gas suddenly exploding. The version about melting permafrost due to climate change, causing a release of methane gas, which then forces an eruption is the current favorite, though scientists are reluctant to offer a firm conclusion without more study.

inside%20good%20gv.jpg


inside%20crater%20from%20distance.jpg


inside%20sides%20of%20the%20crater.jpg


First pictures from the big crater near Bovanenkovo gas field.Theories range from meteorites, stray missiles, a man-made prank, and aliens, to an explosive cocktail of methane or shale gas suddenly exploding. Pictures: Andrey Naumenko, 'Yamal-Region'

The second is in the Yamal Peninsula - known to locals as 'the end of the world' - like the first. It is some hundreds kilometres from the first, which is close to a huge gas extraction plant at Bovanenkovo. This new crater in the Taz district, near the village of Antipayuta, has a diameter of about 15 metres.

A deputy of the regional parliament - or duma - Mikhail Lapsui has examined this latest phenomenon.

'I flew by helicopter to inspect this funnel on Saturday 19 July,' he said. 'Its diameter is about 15 meters. 'There is also ground outside, as if it was thrown as a result of an underground explosion.

'According to local residents, the hole formed on 27 September 2013. Observers give several versions. According to the first, initially at the place was smoking, and then there was a bright flash. In the second version, a celestial body fell there.'

The Chief Scientist of the Earth Cryosphere Institute, Marina Leibman, told URA.RU website: 'I have heard about the second funnel on Yamal, in Taz district, and saw the pictures.

'Undoubtedly, we need to study all such formations. It is necessary to be able to predict their occurrence. Each new funnel provides additional information for scientists.'

inside_map_bovanenkovo.jpg


inside_antipayuta_closer.jpg


inside_crater_antipayuta.jpg


This new crater in the Taz district, near the village of Antipayuta, has a diameter of about 15 metres. Pictures: Google maps, press service of the Governor YaNAO

The third crater and hole is in the Taymyr Peninsula, to the east of Yamal, in Kransoyark region. It was accidentally discovered by local herders, inhabitants of the northern village of Nosok.

The funnel is a perfectly formed cone, say locals who are mystified at how it was formed. Its depth is estimated at between 60 and 100 metres and its diameter - more than four metres.

The herders almost fell into the hole which lies on a pasturing route. They took pictures of the hole which were sent to scientists at the Norilsk Taimyr Explorers' Club.

Experts - geologists, ecologists, and historians - have not come to a consensus about the origin of the funnel, say reports in the region.

'It is not like this is the work of men, but also doesn't look like natural formation,' said one account.

inside_taymyr_hole_map.jpg


inside_big_hole_taymyr.jpg


The herders almost fell into the hole which lies on a pasturing route. They took pictures of the hole which were sent to scientists at the Norilsk Taimyr Explorers' Club. Pictures: Google maps, Local residents

Further study is planned of this hole.

The first hole is around 70 meters deep with an icy lake at its bottom.

Please see our reports on the first hole here and here.
 

Opmmur

Time Travel Professor
Messages
5,049
Siberian Holes Could Be 'Visible Effect' of Global Warming, Experts Say
By Julianne Pepitone

There's a scary answer for why Siberia is turning into Swiss cheese: Mother Nature has gas, so to speak, and we gave it to her.

That's the preliminary conclusion of scientists who have explored the mysterious holes that began popping up in Siberia beginning last month, some of whom have postulated that climate change may be a cause.

And given the right conditions, some scientists are concerned that something similar could happen in other places around the globe, although not likely in Times Square, Hollywood and Vine or your backyard.

The first Siberian crater appeared in mid-July, fascinating and terrifying locals who found the massive hole in the Earth. Mere days later, people discovered a second one. And then a third.

Russian researchers who have explored the crater sites now believe the long-frozen Siberian permafrost thawed due to increased temperatures, collapsed and let free methane gas trapped beneath, the team told the science journal Nature. The team tested the air near the bottom of the holes and discovered an unusually high concentration of methane.

"Global warming is happening, and it's exacerbated in the Arctic," Carolyn Ruppel, chief of the U.S. Geological Survey's Gas Hydrates Project, told NBC News. "And if this [the Siberian crater phenomenon] is what we think, that it's related to permafrost thaw, It's a very visible effect of what's happening to the Earth."

Ruppel has spent the past five years working on methane in the Arctic, though she has not visited the Siberian crater sites. She has never seen anything like the craters, she said -- a sentiment echoed by other top experts in the field.

Mother Nature has gas, so to speak, and we gave it to her.

The holes are likely the direct result of unusually warm 2012 and 2013 summers in the area of the craters, said the Russian crater research team that spoke to Nature.The team, led by Alexei Plekhanov of the Scientific Centre of Arctic Studies, said the past two summers were warmer than usual by about five degrees Celsius, thawing the long frozen earth -- but one or two hot summers aren't necessarily the result of global warming.


Other researchers went a step further, Nature reported, attributing the holes to a long-term thaw that's a result of global warming. The craters are physical manifestation of the damage we are doing to the Earth, they say.

"It’s a clear indication that something is happening to the Earth," Ed Dlugokencky, a top federal federal scientist who researches methane in the atmosphere at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told NBC News.

Two-thirds of climate change is caused by human activity, Dlugokencky said, and "we don't see that changing. So we’ll see if these sorts of changes become a widespread phenomenon. It's certainly possible. I'm concerned about it."

In the Arctic, at least, where global warming is felt acutely, Ruppel of the U.S. Geological Survey is especially concerned: "Instead of a solid block of permafrost, you now have a hole where warm summer air can get in."

"It’s a clear indication that something is happening to the Earth."

If holes develop below buildings and bridges in the Arctic, or near the abundant natural gas lines in the area, Dlugokencky noted, "that could have a devastating effect."

Of course, not all areas mirror the Arctic's permafrost- and natural-gas-heavy geology -- so the physical effect on other parts of the Earth may not be holes but something else entirely.


"What we may find a few years down the line is that these holes are a harbinger of things to come," Ruppel said.

In the meantime, Dlugokencky said, increased methane emissions at the crater sites are concerning enough. The scariest part about methane -- which has 20 times the effect on global warming as carbon dioxide does over a 100-year period -- is its cyclical damage, Dlugokencky said.

When methane is released into the atmosphere, it warms up the planet. And that warming, in turn, thaws permafrost and releases more methane -- starting the cycle anew.
 

Top