The Siberian crater saga is more widespread — and scarier — than anyone thought

[mahatmakanejeeves]

The Siberian crater saga is more widespread — and scarier — than anyone thought

Morning Mix
By Terrence McCoy February 26 at 5:58 AM
@terrence_mccoy



A member of an expedition group at the edge of a newly formed crater on the Yamal Peninsula in northern Siberia on Nov. 9, 2014. (Vladimir Pushkarev/Russian Centre of Arctic Exploration via Reuters)

In the middle of last summer came news of a bizarre occurrence no one could explain. Seemingly out of nowhere, a massive crater appeared in one of the planet’s most inhospitable lands. Early estimates said the crater, nestled in a land called “the ends of the Earth” where temperatures can sink far below zero, yawned nearly 100 feet in diameter.

The saga deepened. The Siberian crater wasn’t alone. There were two more, ratcheting up the tension in a drama that hit its climax as a probable explanation surfaced. Global warming had thawed the permafrost, which had caused methane trapped inside the icy ground to explode. “Gas pressure increased until it was high enough to push away the overlaying layers in a powerful injection, forming the crater,” one German scientist said at the time.

{Scientists may have cracked the giant Siberian crater mystery — and the news isn’t good}

Now, however, researchers fear there are more craters than anyone knew — and the repercussions could be huge. Russian scientists have now spotted a total of seven craters, five of which are in the Yamal Peninsula. Two of those holes have since turned into lakes. And one giant crater is rimmed by a ring of at least 20 mini-craters, the Siberian Times reported. Dozens more Siberian craters are likely still out there, said Moscow scientist Vasily Bogoyavlensky of the Oil and Gas Research Institute, calling for an “urgent” investigation.

He fears that if temperatures continue to rise — and they were five degrees higher than average in 2012 and 2013 — more craters will emerge in an area awash in gas fields vital to the national economy. “It is important not to scare people, but to understand that it is a very serious problem and we must research this,” he told the Siberian Times. “… We must research this phenomenon urgently, to prevent possible disasters.”

[GliderGuider]

1. If this unfolds as it might, the state of the Russian "gas economy" will be the least of our worries

[central scrutinizer]

2. Maybe somebody will try to light one of these farts

and win a Darwin award!

[Lochloosa]

4. Someone did...more than 40 years ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Door_to_Hell

[eggplant]

6. They should fill it with marshmallow and chocolate, and then pave over it with graham crackers.

Must be lunchtime here.

[bigbrother05]

3. Is anyone looking at Alaska and Canada? Could be much broader nt

[raven mad]

19. NOAA and our University of Alaska -

both have extensive research arms in the Arctic.

[Scruffy Rumbler]

5. Rather ironic.

Man builds gas fields and pumps out the petroleum and burns it which alters the climate which causes methane explosions which may destroy the gas fields.

[Warpy]

15. There is enough methane sequestered in the Siberian permafrost

to destroy us--and much of what else is living on the planet right now. Our replacements will have to be critters that live at higher temperatures and breathe methane.

It won't be the first time Mother Earth has erased the slate and started over. It most likely won't be the last.

[Scruffy Rumbler]

20. I'll be selfish and hope it doesn't happen in my life time.

It is numbing contemplating the ramifications of human actions to our planet. I do hope that working together, our brighter minds will find a way for us to alter what is happening. We created the mess together, I do hope we can solve the problem together!

[libodem]

7. Florida

Has a sinkhole problem too. Climate change at work in the heat and in the cold.

[KansDem]

9. Kansas has a sinkhole problem, as well...

It's called "Topeka."

[obxhead]

11. Florida has had that problem for decades

If not centuries.

Not to deny climate change is having an impact, but its not a new problem.

[libodem]

18. Must be the limestone

Didn't realize it was an ongoing phenomenon.

[Systematic Chaos]

8. Oh, yeah. We're just gonna research the BEJEEZUS out of this!

We'll show those damn craters! They ain't got nothin' on all our compasses and protractors and pocket protectors and shit!

[SunSeeker]

10. The melting of the permafrost is going to turn our planet into a soggy, iceless hellscape.

Some scientists contend the thawing of such terrain, rife with centuries of carbon, would release incredible amounts of methane gas and affect global temperatures. “Pound for pound, the comparative impact of (methane gas) on climate change is over 20 times greater than (carbon dioxide) over a 100-year period,” reported the Environmental Protection Agency.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/08/05/scientists-may-have-cracked-the-giant-siberian-crater-mystery-and-the-news-isnt-good/

[mountain grammy]

12. See, here's the thing about the "intelligent design" crazies..

what "intelligent being" would put humans at the top of the food chain?

Might as well enjoy the next hundred years. That should do it.

[Helen Borg]

13. I really hope reincarnation is not true!

I mean, I wanna get out of here, not come back after I die...

[PADemD]

14. More frightening pictures at this link

http://siberiantimes.com/science/casestudy/news/n0127-dozens-of-mysterious-new-craters-suspected-in-northern-russia/

[tomsaiditagain]

16. The human fingerprint

is found on most things destroyed in the world where the destructive human resides, period.

"Money is behind the crime most of the time."

[jwirr]

17. I wonder if they would tell us if there were any in Alaska and nothern Canada?

[Nihil]

21. Scary yet beautiful ...

I love the sheer sides of the craters (especially in some of the photos in the linked articles
from this thread) - as if you've taken a cookie cutter and gone "Plonk" into some pastry or
plasticine!

None of your petty impact crater inner slopes or widespread ejecta cones here - just one
brief "Doink" and it's done - with who knows how much methane added to the atmosphere ...

Nature is beautiful even (or especially?) when it is at its most frightening!