Mysterious Siberian Crater Found at "End of the World" May Portend Methane Climate Catastrophe

[FourScore]

Wed Jul 16, 2014 at 08:07 PM PDT
Mysterious Siberian Crater Found at "End of the World" May Portend Methane Climate Catastrophe
by FishOutofWater


Oblique view of crater shows an elevated rim but around a deep hole. This morphology is indicative of a methane explosion, not a meteorite impact or surface collapse into a sink hole. attribution: Konstantin Nikolaev

A mysterious crater almost the size of a football field discovered in a remote part of Siberia's Yamal peninsula known as the end of the world may have profound implications about the stability of Arctic methane and catastrophic climate change.

The striking puncture in the earth is believed to be up to 80 metres wide but its depth is not estimated yet. A scientific team has been sent to investigate the hole and is due to arrive at the scene on Wednesday.

The cause of its sudden appearance in Yamal - its name means the 'end of the world' in the far north of Siberia - is not yet known, though one scientific claim is that global warming may be to blame.

Russian experts have ruled out speculation that meteorite impact might have caused the crater. The crater was certainly not caused by a meteorite because it has no central crater but instead has a deep hole. Meteorite impacts have far too much energy to leave an open hole. (Note: I studied meteoritics for my first year of graduate school.) Likewise any other extraterrestrial source would have far too much energy to leave an open hole. The impact site would be filled with ejecta.

It doesn't appear to be a sink hole because the hole is surrounded by a rim of ejected material. Genarally, sink holes don't have elevated rims because they are produced by collapse of surface material into a preexisting covered hole. The ejecta appears to have been produced by an explosion. This crater formed in one of Siberia's largest natural gas producing regions. Permafrost in this area is melting in response to the rapid warming of the Arctic. The most likely cause of this crater is a methane explosion.


Strait down view of mysterious Siberian Crater likely caused by a massive methane explosion. attribution: Picture: Konstantin Nikolaev via Siberian Times

Anna Kurchatova from Sub-Arctic Scientific Research Centre thinks the crater was formed by a water, salt and gas mixture igniting an underground explosion, the result of global warming. She postulates that gas accumulated in ice mixed with sand beneath the surface, and that this was mixed with salt - some 10,000 years ago this area was a sea.

If Dr Kurchatova's explanation is correct, the consequences are profound. It means that There are vertical structures where salt accumulated as methane ices formed in permafrost. Layers of permafrost may have salty vertical zones of weakness in them that will allow sudden release of methane trapped below the permafrost layer as the climate warms. Vast quantities of methane trapped in river deltas in the Arctic ocean on the Siberian shelf may be unstable. This crater appears to be evidence that the methane is not protected by a very slowly melting solid layer of permafrost. Methane bubbles recently observed in the Laptev Sea, reported on by the National Science Foundation, could be the beginning of the release of an enormous amount of subsea methane.
Schematic diagram by National Science Foundation of methane release from shallow Siberian subsea sediments.


Methane is escaping from shallow subsea sediments on the Siberian platform. This National Science Foundation diagram shows Siberian platform methane bubbles rising to the surface and entering the atmosphere. attribution: NSF

The concerns of a methane catastrophe expressed by scientists who have discovered large amounts methane escaping from the Laptev Sea may reinforced by this land based observation of methane instability in Siberian sediments of marine origin.


Extraordinarily high methane levels were observed over the Laptev sea in fall 2013.
attribution: Harold Hansel

Harold Hansel who generated this graphic of methane levels over the Laptev sea expressed alarm:

"I am fighting for the lives of my children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren who's lifespan will extend 30 to 40 years from now. I am also fighting for all children of the world, animals, whales, dolphins, flowers and all living things. They are all in peril and we are the ones that may have a chance of doing something about it now. The threat of what is coming must sink in."

I have been waiting for independent evidence of methane instability in Siberian sediments to validate the concerns that the Siberian platform could produce a rapid release of methane, a far more potent greenhouse gas than CO2, that could destabilize the climate. I am afraid that it has just been found.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/07/16/1314501/-Mysterious-Siberian-Crater-Found-at-End-of-the-World-May-Portend-Methane-Climate-Catastrophe

[MineralMan]

1. It's almost certainly a collapsed pingo.

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

Do a google image search on Pingo to see other examples from permafrost areas around the northern hemisphere.

[Rex]

4. For those that want to see images.

https://www.google.com/search?q=collapsed+pingo&client=firefox-a&hs=soT&rls=org.mozilla:en-US&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=N97HU8uHAuaO8gGT4ICgAQ&ved=0CDEQsAQ&biw=1600&bih=789

Interesting.

[MineralMan]

5. It is interesting. Apparently, pingos are not at

all uncommon in arctic tundra areas. This one is remarkable because it's so fresh and clearly newly formed.

Since few people really travel through tundra areas, they're not commonly seen, but your Google search turns up a number of photos that clarify this. I did that search the other day after reading another thread on this one.

[Rex]

7. They seem pretty common, I hope this is one and not a sign of catastrophic climate change.

Should be interesting to see what the scientific team has to say once they examine the area.

[MineralMan]

11. Yes. I'm sure it will be closely examined by geologists.

New examples are always the most interesting, because they are fresh and can provide information not available from weathered old examples.

I find this fascinating, since geology is one of my major interests.

[Rex]

14. Kinda like astronomers getting to see/study a nova event, instead of studying

the effects from long past novas. I agree, a fresh site will have all kinds of answers and maybe some new questions. This is the part of science I love best.

[MineralMan]

17. Exactly. I'm sure a number of geologists are planning to visit this site.

Probably, many have already been there. Sadly, though, reports on their findings won't make the news by the time they're written. I'm going to try to remember to search for information later. I'll set an event in my calendar to do a search a few months from now.

[FourScore]

6. Pingos are similar, but not exactly.

Usually they are filled with water, and never create a deep dark pit like this. I also read someplace that the soil displacement is different with this new crater. It will be interesting to see what the experts find.

Here's a picture of a pingo for comparison:

[MineralMan]

9. Most of those photos are of older, weathered collapsed pingos.

This one is clearly of recent origin. But, the characteristics of a collapsed pingo are still all present, and it represents the most logical explanation of this geological feature.

Occam's Razor and all that. But, I'm not saying that methane didn't have anything to do with it. In fact, methane accumulations are offered as part of the process on several reliable web pages.

There's always a tendency to look for weird reasons for things that are uncommon. In this case, there is a logical explanation that is supported by evidence.

[FourScore]

12. All of the pingos I've ever seen are filled with glacial water.

Find an image of a pingo that is a deep empty crater like this. I have been unable to. Also, the soil displacement is quite different. I don't portend to be an expert, but I see stark visual differences.

[Rex]

10. Beautiful planet.

Simply amazing land masses...the Earth is amazing.

[FourScore]

15. Compare Rex's picture of a pingo to this photo of the crater:

Although the photo Rex posted of a pinko shows one that is not collapsed, we can still see the soil differences. They are quite stark.

And yes, Rex, Earth is beautiful..

[Rex]

16. I don't speculate that it is a pingo either.

For the reasons some have already stated - they are not deep holes and are filled with water, but give this one a few million years of erosion and it might look just like one.

It will be interesting to see what the scientific team has to say.

[PowerToThePeople]

13. photos I saw of pingos

do not look like this.

I will wait a week and see what the scientists have to say about it.

Certainly do not want to try to discredit any theory before the facts are known.

[heaven05]

22. ok

so the presumed catastrophe this hole(collapse/explosion) portends may not be so dire. Correct?

[MineralMan]

23. What presumed catastrophe?

Pingos are not uncommon in arctic tundra areas. If that's what this is, then I'm not sure there is any catastrophe involved, just a natural phenomenon, based on their occurrence at many times in history.

I'm just applying Occam's Razor to this, and looking at examples of other similar geological features. I'm not assigning any "catastrophe" to it at all. I leave that kind of speculation to others.

[heaven05]

24. I read somewhere

and it stuck in my mind and no I don't have a link that global warming/climate change would with the melting ice, release huge amounts of methane into our atmosphere that will kill us. That's all.

[MineralMan]

25. That theory is certainly being put forward.

It is, however, a theory that has not yet been demonstrated to be accurate. Nor have pingos been connected to that theory in any reliable way. In fact, I'm not sure anyone has ever observed a pingo created and collapsed in real time. They tend to occur in uninhabited areas.

Finding a very recent one, though, would lead to fertile ground for investigation. I'm sure that will take place at this site in Siberia. The results of that investigation will be very interesting, indeed, and may offer some insight into any role methane may have played.

[Eleanors38]

27. If a methane "explosion" occurred the ejecta field seems small

I assume this was a non-combustible explosion. Perhaps a melting ice layer allows the pressure below to seep off gradually, even contributing to the melt, before a final low-order "burp." I am struck by the well-honed cavity network inside. Is it still releasing gas? How much, and over what time span? All questions to be answered.

We called those things on my butt boils, not pingos.

[MineralMan]

28. Yes. Pingos involve the expansion of freezing water.

Most do not have a cavity like this, but are raised places, surrounded by a low bordering ring. When one collapses, the ring remains, but it was pushed up not blown up, which is why it's all close and compact. Some pingos, though, collapse, creating an open crater. Over time, erosion and other forces tend to smooth out the contours, and the remaining hole fills with water.

This may well be the first time there has been an opportunity to closely examine a recently created and collapsed pingo. The photos of old, weathered pingos that are so numerous on Google may be what this one ends up looking like after a century or so. If it is a pingo, of course.

Right now, that appears to be the most likely reason that this feature appeared in Siberia. Once it has been thoroughly studied, we'll learn more. Geologists love stuff like this, and I'm sure a number of them are headed in that direction. The chance to examine something recent is very attractive.

[Uncle Joe]

37. Even if that is a pingo, it would seem this could acclerate the release of methane. n/t

[MineralMan]

38. I have no data on methane at that

location. I haven't seen any data about that, so I'm not addressing that at all.

[Uncle Joe]

39. I'm just using logic, a dark hole would absorb more heat and give access to methane

trapped underground.

[MineralMan]

40. If you say so. I'm no expert on

Arctic methane deposits, so I'll defer to you on that.

[Uncle Joe]

43. I'm not an expert either but it does seem logical to me.

Methane is frozen in the permafrost and/or trapped under ground.

Dark colors absorb heat and an open cavity would surely release any close, trapped gases underneath that permafrost location.

One pingo may not make too much difference but a bunch of them would be worrisome.

[derby378]

2. Meanwhile, on THE TODAY SHOW, Earth's just fine, thank you

We'll return to coverage of that shootout in California after catching up on the latest celebrity hashtags!

[GusBob]

3. Its The Thing from John Carpenter

[Buns_of_Fire]

8. The earth farts; you die. The ultimate SBD*.

* Silent But Deadly.

[littlemissmartypants]

18. ...

Meanwhile yesterday in Science...



http://www.democraticunderground.com/122830865

Love, Peace and Shelter.
littlemissmartypants

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

19. You're ALL wrong.

Obviously, it was a buried alien space ship that suddenly came to the surface before taking off. What- youse guys don't watch movies?

Duh...

[rickyhall]

20. Like the Shadow Ship that popped up on Mars

In Babylon 5 at the beginning of the Shadow War. But it could have been made by a giant Graboid, too.

[Rex]

29. Now that is a name I have not seen in a long time!

If anyone knows about alien space ships, it is Prisoner #6.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

30. I still hang around, and occasionally make the obvious connections...

It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it...

[Rex]

32. Have you escaped the island yet?

Funny story, I was prisoner # 3...finally made enough rope out of my nose hairs an escaped the island...only to be immediately picked up by a UFO. You know who I saw on the ship? This guy;


Turns out he was number # 2!

What are the odds!?

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

33. That is one obvious alien.

Every time I make it over the wall they eventually recapture me and build the wall higher. What's a spy to do?

[Rex]

34. Trust me you don't want to get out! It is all...ahem...probing by aliens 24/7!

They have a dam UFO that just sits over the island!

What the hell are they looking for, is what I want to know?!

Advanced civilization my ass!

[Hekate]

21. ai-yi-yi. Yes, fascinating. KnR

[MineralMan]

26. This just in: Siberian Mystery Hole Caused by Giant Radioactive Ants!

See "Them" for documentary evidence.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047573/

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

31. Better ants than uncles...

Okay, so it's been a long day. I promise to try harder in the future.

[Rex]

35. So THAT is what happened to my ant farm...that I accidentally dropped while touring

3 Mile Island! AND my friend said not to worry...just as he spilled Pepsi on the keyboard in the control room.

Ahhh...Pepsi, destroyer of worlds!

[Uncle Joe]

36. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, FourScore.

[Drew Richards]

41. FOOLS! They know nothing....SHI HALUD! Mua'dib is coming!

[Itchinjim]

42. Or it just may be a big hole in the ground.