Russian scientists examined craters on the Yamal and Gydan peninsulas and found that they were formed due to explosions of natural gas, which were preceded by the appearance of growing mounds. The research results are published in the journal Remote Sensing. The research was supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation (RSF).
Scientists have studied the craters formed by the explosion of gas accumulated underground. The first gas funnel was discovered in the summer of 2014 and aroused the interest of scientists, since the appearance of such funnels could pose a danger to the local population and communications. This phenomenon is new and still poorly studied. Scientists have compared the craters and evaluated the possibility of predicting explosions. To do this, they traced the process of formation of craters using photography from space.
“As a result of processing ultra-high resolution satellite images at different times, detailed digital elevation models of key areas were built before and after the craters appeared,” said Alexander Kizyakov, one of the authors of the study, senior researcher at the Faculty of Geography of Moscow State University.
Scientists have found that the appearance of craters was preceded by the formation of mounds with a height of two to five meters. They probably appear due to the accumulation of natural gas under the permafrost layer. With increasing gas pressure, an explosion occurs and a funnel is formed. It was assumed that the observation of such mounds will prevent future gas explosions. However, as this study has shown, the bumps can be quite low and can be difficult to spot. In the future, scientists hope to establish other signs of crater formation and learn how to identify potentially dangerous mounds.
“We plan to determine the natural environment in which the appearance of new funnels of gas emission is possible, to develop diagnostic signs of searching for mounds - the predecessors of the formation of funnels,” explained Alexander Kizyakov.
The last case of a gas crater was recorded on June 28, 2017 near the village of Seyakha on the Yamal Peninsula. The gas explosion, which was observed by local residents, formed a crater in the ground with a depth of nine-story building.
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Kola superdeep well
Not all holes in the earth's crust were formed for natural or unknown reasons. During 1970-1994, Russian geologists were digging the largest hole on Earth that could only be imagined in the name of science. As a result, the Kola superdeep well appeared, which eventually reached a depth of 12 kilometers.
On the way, scientists discovered a number of curious things. Digging a tunnel through a stone is like digging through history. Scientists have found the remains of life that existed on the surface two billion years ago. At an impressive depth of 6,700 meters, biologists have discovered tiny plankton fossils. While a wide variety of rock types were expected to be found on the way down, it is incredible how fragile organics have survived under enormous pressure for thousands of years.
Drilling through pristine rock proved to be difficult. The stone samples pulled out from the high pressure and temperature area were deformed after being exposed to the outside. Pressure and temperature also rose much higher than expected. By the time it reached 10,000 meters, the temperature had soared to 180 degrees Celsius.
Unfortunately, drilling stopped when it became impossible to combat the heat. The hole is still there, near the town of Zapolyarny, but it is covered with a metal cover.
And in 1994, the drilling of a German ultra-deep well, originally conceived as one of the most ambitious geophysical projects, was stopped. The goal of the project is to give scientists the opportunity to study effects such as the effects of pressure on rocks, the presence of anomalies in the earth's crust, the structure of the crust and how it was exposed to heat and pressure. The $ 350 million project left Windischenbach with a hole 9,100 meters deep and a temperature of 265 degrees Celsius.
Among the various scientific experiments, there was one unusual: the Dutch artist Lotte Geeven wanted to know what the planet sounds like. Although the scientists told her that the planet was silent, Geeven insisted on her own. She lowered the geophone into the hole to record ultrasonic waves beyond the auditory capacity of the human ear. After converting the data on the computer into frequencies that can be heard, Lotte heard the sounds of the Earth. It was like the sound of a thunderstorm in the distance, like a frightening heartbeat.