A HUGE crater nicknamed the “Gate to Hell” that spews prehistoric gas is rapidly expanding by a million cubic meters each year.
A new study has revealed that the Batagai crater in Siberia is expanding at an alarmingly fast rate.
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Batagai was discovered in 1991 after satellite images revealed the tadpole-shaped megafall.
Residents of the remote Yakutia region consider the spectacular crater superstitious and call it the “gateway to the underworld.”
The enormous crater is a portal to a 200,000-year-old world that holds the remains of ancient mammoths, musk oxen and even a 40,000-year-old horse.
The three month old dark brown foal falling in love from the Paleolithic was found perfectly preserved within the Siberian cavity.
The 200-acre wide, 300-foot deep pit was formed after the collapse of a slope in the Yana Highlands of northern Yakutia, Russia.
The collapse exposed the slope to layers of 650,000-year-old permafrost, which release tons of methane as it melts.
The melting frozen The soil caused the gigantic crater to sink and expand by 35 million cubic meters, according to the researchers.
Glaciologist Alexander Kizyakov and his colleagues published their discovery this month in the journal Geomophology.
The study also found that the crater now emits between 4,000 and 5,000 tons of methane and other carbon gases per year.
According to Kizyakov, the findings “demonstrate how quickly permafrost degradation occurs.”
He added that the expansion of Batagai will continue until it reaches its topographic limit.
The declines will likely continue to advance until everything hits bottom.
Kizyakov said Dark Atlas: “Expansion along the banks and rise is expected.
“This lateral expansion is also limited by the proximity of the bedrock, the top of which apparently rises to the saddle between the nearest mountains, about 550 meters away. [1805 feet] up hill.”
He also warned that the Batagai could soon leak all its remaining gas.
Researchers already knew the crater was growing, but for the first time they were able to quantify the volume of melt flowing from the crater using satellite images, field measurements and data from laboratory tests on samples from Batagai.
The data helped scientists create a 3D model that predicts permafrost melt and helps them identify what will be released.
A previous study revealed that, along with the ominous release of greenhouse gases, the stratified layers on the sides of the crater are releasing a wealth of historical climate data.
Preserved among the melting permafrost are layers of pollen revealing that it was once covered by open tundra.
But there are also two prominent bands of tree stumps, showing that the land was covered in dense forest.
While offering a glimpse into the Siberian taiga’s past, scientists believe the data can paint the picture of future of the area.
Professor Julian Murton, a geologist at the University of Sussex, formerly explained told The Independent that Batagai “will provide insight into what has happened in the past and what is likely to happen in the future”.
He added: “We will have increasing thawing of permafrost and increasing development of these ‘thermokarst’ features. There will be more falls and more gullies, more erosion of the land surface.”
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
