Siberian holes - then there were two

Discussion in 'Earth Science' started by Arne Saknussemm, Jul 30, 2014.

  1. Arne Saknussemm trying to figure it all out Valued Senior Member

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    I am posting this link and my sparse commentary in General Science because there is no reason to think this topic is 'woo'. I certainly don't know what they are, and neither do any of you reading this.... or do you?

    Read more about the mysterious holes in Siberia here and here. The second link has maps - just scroll down.

    It may just turn out to be wascally wabbits! :shrug:

    P.S. I'm wrong. There are three craters now known:
     
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  3. joepistole Deacon Blues Valued Senior Member

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    I have not been able to get much information on these holes. But they look like sinkholes to me.
     
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  5. Arne Saknussemm trying to figure it all out Valued Senior Member

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    Surely, the Russian geologists have considered that, and seem to have rejected the possibility. The articles say that the holes look neither man-made nor natural:
     
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  7. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    Agreed. I suspect it will turn out to be a combination of melting permafrost and methane release due to the warm year they had in Siberia.
     
  8. Bells Staff Member

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  9. Kittamaru Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Adieu, Sciforums. Valued Senior Member

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    That... is actually pretty terrifying... especially since all it would take is one spark and ba-boom...
     
  10. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    It is a borehole.


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    Made by using this method......


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    Or this.....

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  11. Bells Staff Member

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    It's 50 to 80m across. That would be some bore...
     
  12. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    How big do you think this one is?

    To me is is at least 10 ft. across. They make larger ones.

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  13. zgmc Registered Senior Member

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    Three holes that need to be filled in Siberia hey.

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  14. youreyes amorphous ocean Valued Senior Member

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    is just natural gas in the region full of Resources.
     
  15. Arne Saknussemm trying to figure it all out Valued Senior Member

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    Yes, this article mentions the methane outbursts.

    I don't see how they can be bore holes though. That is way too pat of an explanation. There seems to be no evidence of tracks or industrial presence at an earlier time. Surely the investigators would have looked for tracks and such clues, yet no mention is made of finding any.

    And wouldn't the Russians have records of where boreholes were drilled, and why they were at any particular place? If it were as simple a matter as forgotten bore holes I doubt it would have come to the attention of the international press.
     
  16. Trippy ALEA IACTA EST Staff Member

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    Moderator note:
    I've moved this thread to Earth Science, it seems more appropriate.
     
  17. brucep Valued Senior Member

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    You would hope this would stick a fire cracker up the world leadership ass. Leading to call an immediate world conference to figure out what needs to be done to save all the animal life from total extinction. That's if the human race had a clue. I'm sitting here watching the video of John Boner sticking his head up his ass when I realize he's the perfect example of a self serving intellectually dishonest human. Exposed but typical in my opinion.
     
  18. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    Well, that's easy - nothing. No volcanic eruptions, no meteor impact, no climate catastrophe, ever, has driven all animal life to total extinction. So to avoid that we can just sit on our asses. We won't have as big an effect as the K-T event, or as big an effect as the larger ice ages.

    A better question is - what's more cost-effective? Spending the effort now to reduce the future effects of climate change, or waiting until we see those effects and dealing with them then? (Personally I think the first is a better idea.)
     
  19. scheherazade Northern Horse Whisperer Valued Senior Member

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    I am going with the following until a better explanation comes along.

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    A pingo often forms when a mass of ice embedded in the earth starts to get pushed towards the surface by rising ground water. Generally, this rising water level is in-turn caused by warming temperatures, especially in the Arctic where permafrost in the ground is beginning to melt. Once the ice mass reaches the surface, it can violently rupture from the Earth, creating a ring of disturbed soil that resembles a crater. When the mass finally melts, all that remains is a damp and very deep hole.

    This theory was all but confirmed by experts this week after investigating the hole for themselves. Andrey Plekhanov, Senior Researcher at the State Scientific Centre of Arctic Research, was quick to point out that the past two summers were unusually hot for Yamal, leading to increased permafrost melt.

    "There is ice inside the crater which gradually thaws under the sun." he told the Times on Thursday. "Also there is melted water flowing down from its sides, you can see water traces on the pictures. The crater is filled with ice by about eighty per cent."

    The investigation also found a flowing lake of ice-water at the bottom of the hole, which is estimated to be up to 230 feet deep (70m.).

    "For now we can say for sure that under the influence of internal processes there was an ejection in the permafrost," Plekhanov added. "I want to stress that it was not an explosion, but an ejection, so there was no heat released as it happened."

    The chance that the hole had been caused by a sub-surface explosion had been a big concern for experts who knew the hole to be close to natural gas lines, but the Emergency Ministry is confident it would have been notified had gas workers been alert to an explosion only 18 miles away.

    The investigators theorize that this unusually large phenomenon may be similar to what formed the Yamal lakes.

    "Such kind of processes were taking place about 8,000 years ago. Perhaps they are repeating nowadays. If this theory is confirmed, we can say that we have witnessed a unique natural process that formed the unusual landscape of Yamal peninsula," they said.

    http://www.natureworldnews.com/arti...ant-hole-became-lot-less-mysterious-video.htm
     
  20. brucep Valued Senior Member

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    Clearly you're sitting on your ass. Not knowing what your talking about is always easy.
     
  21. Arne Saknussemm trying to figure it all out Valued Senior Member

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    Yours seems a likely explanation, Zade. However, in all of that vast Siberia, why just three holes? It can't be that that one region was the only to have an unusually warm summer. It's likely the unusual weather would have been more widespread.

    You could be onto the solution, but I suspect we haven't come to the end of this yet.

    And why call it 'permafrost' if it can melt? We ought to get our money back on that one

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    Last edited: Aug 3, 2014
  22. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    Of course I sit on my ass; we all do. That's what your ass is for.
    Again, there has never been any climactic disaster that has driven "all animal life to total extinction." No one on either side of the debate is claiming that is a potential outcome. You may have been watching too many science fiction movies.
     
  23. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    The big crater near Bovanenkovo gas field (link 2) seems old. It looks like it has water erosion.
     

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