If you never considered sink holes might be caused by climate change , then take a look at Northern Russia
The discovery of an enormous chasm in a far northern region known to locals as “the end of the world” in July last year prompted speculation it had been caused by a meteorite or even aliens.
A YouTube video of the hole went viral and a group of scientists was dispatched to investigate.
“We have just learned that in Yakutia, new information has emerged about a giant crater 1km [0.6 miles] in diameter,” the deputy director of the Oil and Gas Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vasily Bogoyavlensky stated.
He said this brought to seven the number of reported pits.
“Footage allows us to identify minimum seven craters, but in fact there are plenty more,” he said.
All of the craters have been discovered in the remote, energy-rich Yamalo-Nenetsky region in north-western Siberia.
Scientists say that rather than aliens or meteorites, the holes are caused by the melting of underground ice in the permafrost, which has possibly been sped up by rising temperatures due to global warming.
“The phenomenon is similar to the eruption of a volcano,” said Bogoyavlensky.
As the ice melts, methane gas is released, which builds up pressure until an explosion takes place, leading to the formation of a crater.
The scientists are still trying to estimate what danger, if any, is posed by the holes. Methane is extremely flammable and at least one of the craters is situated near an exploited gas deposit.
An expedition is planned to the latest crater discovered to determine if it was formed in the same manner.
It may be hard to identify other craters which may have formed into lakes over time, said Bogoyavlensky.
“When they appear the craters are empty, and little by little they fill up with water. In the space of two or three years they become lakes and it is difficult to study them
This crater was discovered last year in the Yamal Peninsula, in Yamalo-Nenets....Autonomous Okrug, Russia.
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I believe sink holes is caused by climate change and drilling ... the drilling leave air pockets that has to be filled , like a cave in when mining coal .
ReplyDeleteGreat Post
Your PIC
Go to Wag
I agree with you....fracking causes sink holes because it shatters the shale crust of the earth and forces water down into hollows . When the water goes away all the broken shale caves in.
ReplyDeleteIn Northern Russia (Siberia) there is no mining near the holes. But the permafrost (frozen soil ) goes down hundreds of feet. Been like that since the ice age. So when it melts,( And it is melting at a frightening rate) all the methane gas trapped in the soil explodes out of the soil like a bomb and leaves a big crater. Also, as the ice melts there are natural cave-ins.
Honestly PIC, I think it is too late to fix much. We can't bring the permafrost back and we are too fracking stupid to stop the big oil companies from drilling.
I think I'll shoot myself so I don't have to watch the world go to hell.
I won't do it until after our chat Thursday