Russian “Gateway to Hell” is growing. Is there anything to be afraid of?
The Batagaika crater in Siberia, sometimes called the “gateway to hell”, is growing larger than expected. Reason? Climate change – say scientists.
One kilometer long and about 90 meters deep – this is the Batagaika crater in Yakutia, Siberia. It was created when melting permafrost in the Siberian tundra began to release previously frozen methane into the atmosphere. The deforestation process is also important, as it not only takes away valuable shade, but also weakens the ground by disappearing root systems. For this reason, the earth began to collapse here, creating the so-called thermal karst.
The crater has almost reached the bottom
New research has shown that the rate of release of methane and other carbon gases as the crater deepens has plateaued from 4,000 to 5,000 tons per year. These results were published in the journal Geomorphology. The lead author of the study, glaciologist Alexander Kizyakov, and his team discovered that the crater almost reached the bedrock. This means that the remaining melting permafrost, generating further collapse, has almost completely melted. However, this does not rule out further expansion along the edge and up the slope.
Importantly, other scientists also indicate that methane leakage from the crater affects changing the surrounding ecosystem. This includes, among other things, river habitats, which translates even into… observing sediments from a landslide on the Yana, the main river in the area.
