Aliens and the meteorite have nothing to do with it. Where did the hole in Yamal come from? Dozens of new holes discovered in Yamal

The night before, scientists returned from the Yamal Peninsula, who, on behalf of the Head of the region, were sent to the site of formation of the Yamal “black hole” - a mysterious phenomenon near the Bovanenkovskoye field - to conduct initial scientific research and collect data for the purpose of subsequent detailed study of the unusual phenomenon.

Let us remind you that a mysterious huge funnel in the tundra attracted public attention late last week when a video of a flight over it appeared on the Internet. For several days, scientists from all over the country voiced their versions of the origin of the Yamal “black hole” (the formation of a karst sinkhole, the fall of a meteorite, the formation of a heaving mound, the explosion of “underground champagne”, the release of shale gas, etc.), but all of them were based only on the visual conclusion made after watching the video.

But perhaps soon we will be able to get reasoned answers to the questions: what led to the formation of the sinkhole and what is the likelihood of similar failures appearing in the future? Primary data has already appeared at the disposal of scientists. They were collected by Marina Leibman, Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, chief researcher at the Institute of the Earth's Cryosphere of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Andrei Plekhanov, senior researcher at the State Institution Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug "Scientific Center for Arctic Studies".

Arriving at the site of the failure, the first thing scientists did was measure the level of radiation and negative substances. The instruments did not show any dangerous deviations from the norm near the funnel. The researchers then measured the approximate diameter of the hole. According to Andrei Plekhanov, the diameter of the crater along the inner edge is approximately 40 meters, along the outer edge - 60, fragments of the ejection are scattered over a distance of up to 120 meters. Plekhanov notes that it was not possible to measure the depth of the crater; this requires specialists with serious climbing equipment, since the edges of the embankment are constantly collapsing.

At the moment, scientists who have visited the funnel are inclined to believe that the failure is the result of some natural phenomenon, the nature of which has yet to be clarified. The fact that this is not the result of a meteorite fall is indicated by the absence of traces of charring; there were also no traces of the presence of humans or equipment, so there is no talk of a man-made impact.

“This is a purely mechanical release, which most likely occurred due to an increase in pressure during freezing and a change in the volume of a certain cavity in which there were reserves of swamp gas. Apparently there was water all around, there are traces of streams,” The press service of the Governor of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug reports the words of Marina Leibman.

Scientists also measured the depth of the permafrost layer in the vicinity of the eruption. This information will help to more or less accurately determine the date when the sinkhole began to form. The maximum thawing depth was 73 centimeters. Significant deformation of the funnel walls is not expected in the near future.

The data collected during the initial expedition will be carefully studied.

"Many Quaternary geology scientists would like to study the vertical wall of the crater. I note that in the scientific literature there is a theory that in Yamal round lakes are formed due to the release of swamp gas, but deep lakes may simply be a consequence of the thermokarst process. Observing what is happening today, I see that the theory may well have a deep meaning,”

A crater with a diameter of 60 (and according to other sources - up to 80) meters was discovered last week - it was accidentally noticed from a helicopter. All sorts of versions of its origin have already appeared on the Internet. Scientists have to find out whether it is the result of a man-made impact or the fall of a cosmic body.

Some media even suggested that the crater appeared as a result of alien intervention. But to accurately determine the cause of its appearance, you need to take soil samples. According to "", this is not yet possible, since the edges of the funnel are constantly crumbling, and it is dangerous to approach it. The first expedition has already visited the site, and Marina Leibman, chief researcher at the Earth Cryosphere Institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, spoke about what the scientists saw there.

“There are simply no traces of a person with any kind of equipment here,” she said. “We can assume something fantastic: a hot meteorite fell and everything melted here. But when a meteorite falls, there are traces of charring, that is, high temperature. And There are no signs of being affected by high temperatures. There are traces of water flows, there is some accumulation of water."

One of the Internet users who left a comment on the video suggested that the funnel indicates the existence of aliens. One commentator wrote: "It's the Russians testing new weapons of mass destruction."

A giant sinkhole has been discovered in Yamal. Helicopter pilots serving oil and gas fields in Yamal, who photographed the crater from the air, report that its size is so large that you can safely descend inside in several Mi-8 helicopters.

A giant crater in Yamal may be the trace of an unknown meteorite

The failure is located several tens of kilometers from the Bovanenskoye field, which is the largest gas reserve in Yamal. According to Chelyabinsk Vestnik, a powerful underground flow is noisy at the bottom.

The author of the video with a helicopter flying over the crater, user Bulka, points out that the greenery around is a forest. He also points out that the soil around the crater was thrown out, and its dark color “indicates the effects of temperature.” Stormnews clarifies that the forest around is dwarf, but the size is nevertheless impressive.

The Tyumen-Kosmopoisk group emphasizes that the crater cannot be called an ordinary karst sinkhole: “Perhaps at first there was an explosion (artificial? meteorite?), then the soil under the crater fell into a fairly wide underground river.”

Chelyabinsk Vestnik, citing the pilots, reports that no survey work related to the detonation of powerful charges was carried out in these places. “The size of the crater (it can be indirectly assessed by looking at the greenery around the hole - these are trees, albeit dwarf ones, arctic) suggests that the power of the explosion was comparable to the power of a small atomic bomb,” the publication points out.

The governor's press service told Interfax that the expedition of scientists is scheduled for Wednesday (07/16/14). The funnel will be studied on site by one representative of the Earth Cryosphere Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and two employees of the Center for Arctic Studies. They will collect preliminary information - in particular, they will take tests of water, soil and air.

It is possible that the resulting hole is a common natural phenomenon, a karst failure. “Such phenomena in Yamal are not new, it happened last year and the year before last. The land is sinking, the land is recovering, frozen soils behave unpredictably. The underwater river washed out the soil, it thawed, it fell. It got colder, everything froze, it recovered. That is, no There is no “guard” here,” noted a representative of the press service of the head of the region.

At the same time, the agency’s interlocutor noted that “some experts are inclined to think about some kind of meteorite phenomenon.” “In any case, you need to look on the spot to see if there are any fragments, fusions, and so on,” he explained.

Scientists will continue to study the unusual basin in Yamal

In Salekhard, participants in the first study of a deep basin on the Yamal Peninsula gave a press conference. They believe that the basin can turn into a lake. In their opinion, the unusual natural phenomenon should be studied further.

Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, chief researcher at the Institute of the Earth's Cryosphere of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences Marina Leibman, senior researcher at the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug Scientific Center for Arctic Studies Andrei Plekhanov, who went to the site of the crater formation, spoke in detail about what they saw, as well as about the work done.

Marina Leibman put forward an assumption about what could happen to the funnel in the future. “Now its walls are constantly thawing. The water accumulates, and I assume that it freezes below. If this flow of water increases, for example, there will be a very hot continuation of July, then it will not have time to freeze, and a lake will begin to form,” she said.

According to the director of the Russian Center for Arctic Development (Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug) Vladimir Pushkarev, research into the identified natural phenomenon is planned to continue. “The phenomenon is interesting in itself. Discussions are ongoing to further explore the site. In fact, continuing scientific work makes sense,” he concluded.

Scientists study the Yamal "black hole"

In Yamal, scientists are exploring a mysterious crater. A giant crater with a diameter of 60 meters was discovered from a helicopter. Many versions immediately appeared on the Internet - where is it from? Did a meteorite fall or did aliens intervene? And here, finally, is the first scientific version.

For tens of kilometers around there is not a soul. A scientific expedition flies to the site of a giant crater found in the permafrost of Yamal. It is visible from the helicopter window, but it is dangerous to sit next to it - it is unknown what is there below.

This crater was first discovered by workers at one of the local gas fields. They also filmed it from a helicopter, and this video on the Internet gained millions of views in a matter of days. The pit was nicknamed the Yamal “black hole” on the Internet. There were all kinds of versions - from a meteorite fall to a terrible monster. The current scientific expedition should dispel - or confirm - one of them.

First of all, set up a tent. No one yet knows how long the study of the funnel will last. The scientists are clearly nervous. They go to the funnel itself carefully: under your feet, in the dense bush, there may be other smaller holes. Scientists admit that this is the first time in their lives that they have encountered such a phenomenon.

“It’s the first time that the hole has no drainage. The water is noisy. Don’t doubt it, it flows quickly along the walls. Because the sun is falling,” explains Marina Oskarovna Leibman, chief researcher at the Institute of the Earth’s Cryosphere of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

“In those places in Yamal where I have been, I have not seen such things. And I have not heard such things from my colleagues,” says Andrei Plekhanov, senior researcher at the State Institution Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug “Scientific Center for Arctic Studies.”

Up close you can see that the walls of the funnel are constantly collapsing. They are washed away by the melt waters of the permafrost, so every day the radius of this giant hole is slowly increasing. You can hear thousands of streams roaring down to the bottom.

First - measurements for harmful effects: gases and radiation. “I’m trying to identify flammable gases with a gas analyzer. But so far I can’t find anything. In terms of radiation, everything is also normal, better than in the city,” says Andrei Plekhanov.

Then - exploration of scraps of earth. Scientists measure that some lumps of clay scattered tens of meters.

The farthest fragments are about 120 meters from the crater.

The first assumption is the release of subsoil. Due to temperature changes and the melting of underground glaciers, a gas ball could form in the ground, which eventually burst.

“Obviously, this is some kind of ejection from the bowels of the earth. I don’t think it was accompanied by an explosion - there is no fire or charring. Purely mechanical emission. One can assume something fantastic - some kind of meteorite fell here. When a meteorite falls, there is charring. This is not the case here,” says Marina Oskarovna Leibman.

This study is just the first. Soil samples and other measurements will now be studied in the laboratory. And geologists are looking to see if there are any other giant craters nearby. Or this will remain a unique pit in Yamal.

A second mysterious sinkhole was discovered in Yamal

In the Tazovsky district of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, local residents found a hollow similar to the one that was discovered on July 10 near the village of Bovanenkovo, Interfax reports.

The sinkhole became known from local reindeer herders. According to them, on September 27, 2013, a celestial body fell in this area (90 kilometers from the village of Antipayuta) and an outbreak occurred. Another reindeer herder only said that he saw smoke, a veil, and then a flash.

A video showing a crater near the village of Bovanenkovo ​​appeared on the Internet on July 10. The recording immediately attracted the attention of the public (2 million people viewed it on YouTube). The resonance in the media forced the administration of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug to urgently send a scientific expedition to the crater with the participation of employees of the Yamalo-Nenets Scientific Center for Arctic Studies and the Institute of the Earth's Cryosphere of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Scientists measured the size of the crater and established the natural nature of this object. So far, the working hypothesis is that the crater was formed by the release of natural gas.

The capabilities of the Internet can hardly be overestimated. The video of a huge hole in the Yamal land interested and even alarmed the population of the district. Our neighbors in the Greater Urals did not remain indifferent either.

For several days after the footage of the hole in the ground appeared, people were desperately wondering: what is it? Various versions have been put forward: from science fiction to everyday life. The district authorities also became interested in the origin of the giant hole.

A minute-long video shot on a mobile phone by reindeer herders reached Lyudmila Lipatova last fall. The nomads claimed that the hole appeared exactly then - it was not there yet in the spring. The approximate location of the facility is 30 kilometers from the Bovanenkovskoye field. Lyudmila Fedorovna showed that video recording to many, but it did not arouse much interest. This Yamal phenomenon attracted everyone’s attention only after it appeared on the Internet. On various resources, videos with a huge hole in the tundra are breaking viewing records. The response from the virtual community was immediate. The comments are full of guesses of all kinds. Some people think it's just a prank. Someone suspects aliens. There are also “down-to-earth” versions. Looking at the Yamal crater, many draw parallels with last year’s Chelyabinsk meteorite.

An asteroid with a diameter of about 17 meters and a mass of 10 thousand tons entered the Earth's atmosphere at a speed of approximately 18 kilometers per second. At an altitude of 15-26 km from the surface of the earth in the vicinity of Chelyabinsk, the superbolite exploded. Of all the celestial bodies that have fallen on our planet in recent centuries, the Chelyabinsk meteorite was one of the most outstanding. In size it would be second only to the mysterious Tunguska meteorite.

Ivan Nestorov, professor at the Tyumen University of Oil and Gas, has extensive experience in geology. Looking at an amateur video of the Yamal tundra, it suggests that such a crater could have been left by a so-called “silent” meteorite.

Another failure of the earth’s surface occurred in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. In April last year, a local hunter contacted the administration of the village of Nosok, who discovered the crater and took several photographs against its background. Local scientists, gas workers and geologists urgently gathered for an emergency meeting, thinking and wondering where the hole in Noska came from? Various hypotheses have been put forward.

The Yamal failure was no less intriguing. Employees of the Siberian Institute of the Cryosphere went in search of answers. A mini-expedition to the Yamal Peninsula was organized on the initiative of the District Governor. The group is led by Marina Leibman, an experienced permafrost specialist. This is not her first time on Yamal soil. There is no hurry to draw conclusions before departure. “When we look, we process what we have collected, then we will somehow comment,” said Marina Leibman, Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, chief researcher at the Institute of the Earth’s Cryosphere of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The first versions of what happened were voiced by employees of the Siberian Institute of the Earth's Cryosphere immediately after the landing. Instruments showed: there are no flammable gases here, the radiation level is normal. According to preliminary data, there was no explosion here. The same as a meteorite. The sinkhole was formed by a mechanical release of swamp gas. It accumulates in the permafrost, shallow from the surface, in so-called non-freezing lenses.

This is the first time that permafrost scientists have encountered this phenomenon. But so far they have the only version with methane emissions. No traces of human or equipment presence were found near the object. The diameter of the funnel along the inner edge is about 40 meters, along the outer edge - 60. It is not possible to determine the exact depth - this requires special climbing equipment. While they are interested in fragments of the ejection, they can tell what strength it was.

Samples of soil, air and water taken for research will help to understand in detail the nature of the phenomenon. Chemists, biologists and scientists involved in Quaternary geology will work with them. The data obtained will explain a lot. But now we can say with high probability: human activity has nothing to do with it. Similar funnels are found all over the world. Very picturesque and original decorations of the earth's surface in the form of sinkholes, lakes and depressions have long become a place of pilgrimage for tourists and a calling card of the places where they are located. It is possible that the Yamal pit will in the future become a picturesque tundra lake.

Scientists for the first time descended to the bottom of a giant “black hole” in Yamal November 15th, 2014

Remember how you and I found out about what appeared. So, the researchers finally got to her.

Researchers have completed an expedition to a huge crater that was discovered in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Scientists have compared it to the Bermuda Triangle. Russian scientists have explored the bottom of a giant sinkhole in Yamal for the first time. They confirmed the preliminary version that the crater is of natural origin, TASS reports citing the press service of the district government.

Here are the details...

On November 10, scientists set out on a third expedition to the crater; they managed to take samples of soil and ice. It is located 4 km from the gas pipeline and at a considerable distance from gas fields. According to scientists, human activity could not have influenced the formation of the sinkhole.

In the summer, scientists were unable to explore its bottom due to the constant collapse of the soil. To carry out scientific work, the participants of the last expedition descended to a depth of 200 meters in strong winds, gusts of which reached 20 m/s. Now specialists will have to study the chemical composition of the samples taken.

According to the chairman of the presidium of the Tyumen scientific community of the SB RAS, academician Vladimir Melnikov, sinkholes in Yamal formed in 2012 and 2013 as a result of climate warming. In Yamal, frozen rocks have begun to thaw. In some places they became less dense, and through them shale gas found its way out, which is found throughout the Subarctic shelf. Presumably, this was the reason for the formation of the crater.

The next expedition to the craters is planned for April 2015. This time, for a safe descent, the expedition was accompanied by a rescuer and a climber. The first researcher went down with a georadar and illuminated the bottom of the funnel. After which, a group of researchers carried out ice sampling. As Komsomolskaya Pravda writes, this will help determine the gas composition and understand the source of the water at the bottom of the hole.

According to scientists, the shape of the funnel is a mushroom, the total depth is 35 meters, 10 of which are water, the width of the vertical channel (trunk) is 18 meters, and on the surface it expands to 40. Over time, a lake is formed in this place, of which there are already many in Yamal, but, according to researchers, there will be no fish there, since the reservoir is too small for this.

Anton Sinitsky also said that there is a connecting link between the Yamal funnel and the Bermuda Triangle - these are gas hydrates, which are methane atoms in a stable state in a water molecule. Outwardly it looks like a piece of ice. At the bottom of the world's oceans, such gas hydrates occur in the form of layers and flakes. But no one knows how to get them. One of the working versions of the Bermuda Triangle is that these gas hydrates lie at the bottom in its area. Something happens and their peace is disturbed. As a result, methane begins to be actively released, the water begins to boil, and its density decreases. Accordingly, the ship simply cannot stay afloat any longer. So the common link between the Yamal funnel and the triangle is gas hydrates, which are in a frozen state here.

The natural sinkhole, which was discovered in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, will be filled with water by the fall of 2015 and will become a lake. Correspondent reported this on Tuesday. TASS was reported by the director of the Russian Center for Arctic Development, Vladimir Pushkarev, who explored the object as part of a scientific expedition.

“For the first time we went down to the bottom of the crater. The feeling cannot be expressed in words. Once again I was struck by its shape, which resembles a cone. The walls of the crater consist mainly of ice with small particles of rock. It can be seen that in summer water flows down the walls of the funnel. Its bottom has already turned into a small lake, which is frozen. We calmly walked on the ice and took soil samples for research,” said Pushkarev.

According to him, scientists will have to conduct a series of laboratory studies to understand what kind of gas is in the soil of the crater. “We also have to examine the ice for its chemical composition. We have already taken measurements of the accumulation of harmful gases at the bottom of the funnel. We didn't find them. The funnel contains air without harmful impurities and dangerous gases that can adversely affect the condition of living organisms. All this suggests that bacteria are formed in the lake formed at the bottom of the funnel, and new life can subsequently arise here,” Pushkarev noted.

Meanwhile, a second crater was found in Yamal:

The new crater is located on another peninsula - Gydansky, not far from the coast of Tazovskaya Bay. The diameter of the crater is significantly smaller than that of the first one - approximately 15 meters. The other day, the deputy director of the state farm, Mikhail Lapsui, became convinced of its existence.

However, there is no need to talk about a discovery as such. According to the nomads, the crater appeared at the end of September last year. They just didn't make this fact widely public. And when they heard about a similar phenomenon on the neighboring peninsula, they told the local authorities about it.