What Exactly Caused These Mysterious Craters in Siberia?

Amaze Lab

The mysterious holes began appearing about a decade ago and since then they have baffled scientists as to their cause. Now researchers from the UK and Spain believe they may know what’s going on.

Transcript

00:00this is a massive crater in the siberian permafrost in russia it's just one of several similar holes

00:10that mysteriously began appearing about a decade ago and since then they have baffled scientists

00:15as to their cause now researchers from the uk and spain believe they may now know what's going on

00:21these craters through ice and earth are quite large some measuring around 100 feet wide and

00:26over 160 feet deep around the holes rest debris that was seemingly ejected from them what's more

00:32experts say that when they opened up they released massive amounts of methane gas this all points to

00:37what they call a very niche geological process that starts with warm temperatures melting permafrost

00:42and causing the gas within to expand and much like a bike tire exploding after being overinflated

00:48once water from the surface trickles deeper and deeper into the earth due to climate change

00:52it reaches a salty layer called cryo peg which doesn't freeze due to its salinity which then

00:57mixes with that water and pumps it into the layer below that layer just so happens to be composed of

01:02crystallized hydrogen bonded water and methane which then ruptures and releases the gas forcing it

01:07upwards experts say this usually happens over thousands of years but global warming is speeding

01:13up the process causing it to occur in only decades

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