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Russian scientists believe a giant crater which
appeared in far northern Siberia was caused by rising temperatures in
the area - not a meteorite.
Andrei Plekhanov, a senior researcher at the Scientific Research Center
of the Arctic, said the mysterious hole which appeared in the gas-rich
area earlier this week was most likely the result of a 'build-up of
excessive pressure' underground, due to the region's changing
temperatures.
On Wednesday, Mr Plekhanov traveled to the 262ft wide crater, in the
Yamal Peninsula of northern Russia, to study how the crater was formed.
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He said 80 percent of the crater appeared to be made up of ice and that
there were no traces of an explosion.
The discovery eliminates the possibility that a meteorite had struck the
region - the name of which translates as 'the end of the world'.
After the hole was discovered, there was speculation online about the
crater indicating 'the arrival of a UFO craft'.
But experts said the cause is more likely to be global warming releasing
gases under the surface, which then explode like a Champagne cork.
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The darkening around the inner rim of the crater indicates 'severe
burning' which scorched its edges, they say.
When it was found, some said the hole could have been formed by a
meteorite striking the spot in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region,
which some 20 miles from the Bovanenkovo gas field.
The Siberian Times reported how an expedition took place this week to
find the source of the crater.
The expedition organised by the Yamal authorities included experts from
Russia's Centre for the Study of the Arctic, and also the Cryosphere
Institute of the Academy of Sciences.
They took samples of soil, air and water from the scene and were
accompanied by a specialist from Russia's Emergencies Ministry.
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Anna Kurchatova from the Sub-Arctic Scientific Research Centre, thinks
the crater was formed by a mixture of water, salt and gas igniting an
underground explosion, a result of global warming.
Gas accumulated in ice could have mixed with sand beneath the surface,
and then mixed with salt.
Some 10,000 years ago this area was a sea.
Global warming may have caused an 'alarming' melt in the under-soil ice,
released gas and causing an effect like the popping of a Champagne
bottle cork, Ms Kurchatova suggests.
Yamal, a large peninsula jutting into Arctic waters, is Russia's main
production area for gas supplied to Europe.
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