After the video of a giant funnel appeared on the Internet on July 10, the government of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug will send scientists there to conduct a study, the regional governor's press service said.
The authors of the video introduced themselves as oil workers flying around the oil fields by helicopter. The crater shown in the image, according to them, is located 30 kilometers from the Bovanenkovo field. The funnel diameter is over 100 meters. "The size of the funnel is huge, you can go down into it on several Mi-8s and not be afraid of touching something," they said.
On July 16, a group of scientists will go there: a representative of the Earth Cryosphere Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, two members of the Center for Arctic Studies and a specialist from the Ministry of Emergencies. If a funnel is found, the members of the expedition will take samples of soil, water, air there and carry out other necessary research. While experts exclude the meteorite origin of the funnel and are inclined to believe that this is a common natural phenomenon.
The news about a huge pit, meanwhile, caused a great resonance on social networks: people began to discuss the reasons for the appearance of an extraordinary abyss. Some believe that such a trail could have been left by a falling meteorite or a powerful explosion of natural gas in the depths.
“All the gas was pumped out and the earth collapsed. I wonder if such a funnel can form near Surgut? "," It looks like an artificial funnel "," No, these are antipodes from the inner side of the Earth "," Such jokes are fond of permafrost when it moves to warmer regions. Ice needles can sink hundreds of meters into the ground,”readers comment on the news in the media.
Refuting the options with antipodes and green men, the famous Tyumen scientist and ufologist Pavel Sitnikov believes that there is nothing paranormal in the "hole":
“If there is anything unusual in this funnel, then it should be discussed last, after talking with real experts in the field of geology,” he notes.
Anna Kurchatova, Candidate of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Director of the Subarctic Research and Training Range, shared her opinion on the suspicious phenomenon:
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“Yes, I heard about it and I think that the reason lies in the accumulation of gases in the upper permafrost roof: they burst out to the surface due to the relative rise in ground temperature. Of course, this is dangerous, because if such a funnel bursts near the pipeline, there will be consequences. As for the explosions in the studied areas, there, in fact, gas traps have already been opened within the well-drilled areas, and there can be absolutely no explosion,”the expert explained.
In her opinion, the funnel is an unusual phenomenon, and judging by its scale, the accumulation of gases was significant, but if we take the correlation with other natural events, in recent years, due to the increase in the temperature of frozen rocks in the region, the activity of landslide processes has increased. Anna Kurchatova believes that such an intensification of processes in Yamal is due to internal reasons in the thickness, as well as the climate.
Also, geologist Ivan Nesterov reflected on the reasons for the appearance of a huge hole in the ground in one of his interviews:
“If the hole is several tens of meters in diameter, it is most likely left by a meteorite. On top of us every day, let something fall. Craters with a diameter of more than a kilometer remain from meteorites."
In his opinion, there are many holes in Yamal, but their origin, as a rule, is of a different nature.
“The southern part of Yamal is a sector for dropping missile stages, there are several hundred of these debris. When a rocket stage falls into space from a height of several kilometers, it can make a deep hole. Moreover, it has a high temperature, and on Yamal - permafrost. They also found such holes near Tyumen,”he said.