Where did the giant funnel on Yamal disappear

In the summer of 2014, a large funnel was discovered on the Yamal Peninsula, not far from the world's largest Bovanenkovo oil and gas condensate field. This event aroused great interest not only in the scientific world, but also among ordinary people.

Researchers headed for a mysterious failure in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area, and by the end of 2014, three expeditions organized by the Arctic Development Center had visited the natural phenomenon. The expedition, in addition to scientists, included climbers and rescuers. Scientists descended to the bottom of the funnel, took soil samples and measured air parameters. Thanks to the data obtained, it was possible to prove that the cause of this funnel was global warming.

It turned out that the formation of a funnel occurred in the fall of 2013. In the summer of 2012-2013, before a funnel appeared, the air temperature in Yamal exceeded the norm by 5 degrees. This is a significant deviation for the tundra, in which summer temperatures, as a rule, do not exceed + 5-10 degrees. Due to such an anomaly, permafrost thawed at a depth of 20 meters.

When the upper layers of the underground permafrost begin to thaw under the influence of high temperatures, the methane gas enclosed in them is released. It is found in permafrost soils in the form of relict gas hydrates. Methane begins to rise to the surface of the earth through pores and cracks in the earth's crust, but permafrost prevents it from going outside. Under pressure from compressed gas, the soil literally swells. A giant bubble or hill forms, which is clearly visible against the background of a flat tundra landscape.

The same thing happened at the site of the formation of the Yamal funnel, as evidenced by data obtained from satellite images.

In the photo: space images from the presentation of Marina Leibman

Well, then the thawed top layer does not stand up and breaks out under the onslaught of methane. An explosion occurs, which is indicated by parts of the soil scattered around the circumference of the funnel, as well as at some distance from it.

In the first year after the formation, the Yamal funnel was a crater with a depth of about 35 meters, and its diameter on the surface was 40 meters. About a third of the funnel in 2014 was already filled with water.

More than three years have passed since the formation of the funnel on the Yamal Peninsula. At the place of its formation, almost nothing reminds of a giant hole that made so much noise. It was filled with water and looks no different from the numerous tundra lakes on the Yamal Peninsula. The diameter of the new lake is about 80 meters.

But the story with unusual funnels does not end there. Since the formation of the first failure, several more similar natural objects have arisen in different parts of the tundra on the territory of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. In some cases, there are even eyewitnesses who claim that before the failure was formed, a flash was visible and smoke was observed. All of them are smaller in diameter than the first funnel, but have a similar cause of occurrence - global warming. And the tundra has already begun to respond to climatic changes taking place on our planet.