The president of & nbsp; Turkmenistan & nbsp; Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov & nbsp; ordered to find a way to eliminate the Darvaza gas crater, which has been burning in the Karakum desert for more than 50 years. & nbsp; Officially, it bears the beautiful name “ Shining Karakum. It is unofficially called the Gates of Hell. & Nbsp;
Where does it come from?
In 1971, geologists discovered and began to develop a natural gas field near the settlement of Darvaza in the Turkmen SSR. During the excavation, they came across a cavity – an underground cavity filled with gas. Soon an accident happened: the earth's surface collapsed, the drilling rig & nbsp; along with the equipment fell to the bottom of this cavity and got covered in dirt. Fortunately, there were no casualties.
It was impossible to recover the equipment, and in addition, the scientists were faced with a more urgent task – gas was escaping from the resulting blackout, which already posed a danger to local residents. It was decided to set it on fire & ndash; geologists expected the gas in the cavity and other associated cavities to extinguish within days, and the fire to go out on its own. But they were wrong: for more than half a century, the flame in this funnel 70 meters wide and & nbsp; 20 meters deep burns continuously, day and night.
The authorities of & nbsp; Turkmenistan have previously attempted to extinguish the crater & nbsp; Darvaz (aka & nbsp; Shining of the Karakum, aka “ Gates of Hell & # 39; & # 39;), but to no avail. Then it was decided to make it a local attraction in order to attract tourists, especially foreigners. In November 2013, one of them, the Canadian traveler and explorer George Coronis , even went down to the bottom of the crater to take soil samples for analysis. They have found bacteria that can live at high temperatures that are not found anywhere else on the Earth's surface.
Nonetheless, environmentalists have continued to talk about the crater's negative impact. Darvaza & nbsp; on the environment and the health of the local population. Having heeded their arguments, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov at a government meeting held on January 7 ordered to “ find a solution to put out the fire. '' In addition to environmental damage, he drew attention to the economic component. “We are wasting precious natural resources for which we could profit from, and this would improve the well-being of our people,” Berdymukhamedov said.
“Gates to Hell”. Mysterious gas crater in Turkmenistan
In 1971, Soviet geologists discovered an accumulation of underground gas near the village of Darvaza in Turkmenistan. As a result of the excavation and drilling of an exploration well, geologists came across an underground (empty) cavity, due to which the earth collapsed and a large gas filled hole formed. © flickr.com/Tormod Sandtorv
The drilling rig with all equipment and transport fell into the resulting hole, no one 39; was injured in this incident. © www.globallookpress.com
To prevent gases harmful to humans and livestock from escaping, they decided to set it on fire. Geologists assumed the fire would go out in a few days, but they were wrong. Since 1971, natural gas escaping from the crater has been burning continuously day and night. © flickr.com/NMK Photography
The crater has a diameter of about 60 meters and a depth of about 20 meters. © www.globallookpress.com
Nothing trapped in the crater can come out. Every living being is doomed. Once in the Hereafter through these “gates” no one can come out. © flickr.com/Stefan Krasowski
The gas comes out of the ground and splits into hundreds of lighted torches of varying sizes. In some torches, the tongues of flame reach 10 to 15 meters in height. © flickr.com/Tormod Sandtorv
The village of Darvaza was demolished in 2004. In 2010 Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov visited Darvaza and said the crater should be filled or other measures should be taken to limit its impact on gas production at other fields in the area. © www.globallookpress.com
In November 2013, famous traveler and explorer George Coronis from Canada descended to the bottom of the crater to conduct research and collect samples . © flickr.com/gafa kassim
He managed to find bacteria that live at the bottom of the crater at high temperature. These bacteria are not found anywhere on the surface of the earth and feel good in a small ecosystem deep in a hot crater. © flickr.com/Stefan Krasowski
Not far from the burning crater there are two other similar sinkholes of similar origin. These craters do not burn, the gas pressure is much lower here. At the bottom of one of the craters there is bubbling liquid mud of light gray color, at the bottom of the other there is liquid of turquoise tint. © www.globallookpress.com
Gates of Hell. Mysterious gas crater in Turkmenistan
In 1971, Soviet geologists discovered an accumulation of underground gas near the village of Darvaza in Turkmenistan. As a result of the excavation and drilling of an exploration well, geologists came across an underground (empty) cavity, due to which the earth collapsed and a large gas filled hole formed. © flickr.com/Tormod Sandtorv
The drilling rig with all the equipment and transport fell into the resulting hole, no one was injured in this incident. © www.globallookpress.com
To prevent gases harmful to humans and livestock from escaping, they decided to set it on fire. Geologists assumed the fire would go out in a few days, but they were wrong. Since 1971, natural gas escaping from the crater has been burning continuously day and night. © flickr.com/NMK Photography
The crater has a diameter of around 60 meters and a depth of around 20 meters. © www.globallookpress.com
Nothing trapped in the crater can come out. Every living being is doomed. Once in the Hereafter through these “gates” no one can come out. © flickr.com/Stefan Krasowski
The gas comes out of the ground and splits into hundreds of lighted torches of different sizes. In some torches, the tongues of flame reach 10 to 15 meters in height. © flickr.com/Tormod Sandtorv
Darvaza village was demolished in 2004. In 2010 Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov visited Darvaza and said the crater should be filled or other measures should be taken to limit its impact on gas production in other fields in the region. © www.globallookpress.com
In November 2013, famous traveler and explorer George Coronis from Canada descended to the bottom of the crater to conduct research and collect samples. © flickr.com/gafa kassim
He managed to find bacteria that live at the bottom of the crater at high temperatures. These bacteria are not found anywhere on the surface of the earth and feel good in a small ecosystem deep in a hot crater. © flickr.com/Stefan Krasowski
Not far from the burning crater there are two other similar sinkholes of similar origin. These craters do not burn, the gas pressure is much lower here. At the bottom of one of the craters there is bubbling liquid mud of light gray color, at the bottom of the other there is liquid of turquoise tint. © www.globallookpress.com
Now to the Deputy Prime Minister & nbsp; Shakhym Abdrakhmanov overseeing the country's fuel and energy complex, will have to find specialists (most likely, foreigners) who represent how it is possible to “ shut down '' forever the Gates of Hell, and ready to take it. Meanwhile, experts doubt that this is possible in principle. Russian geologist Alexander Soliony believes that only a directed explosion can stop combustion in a giant crater, which will lead to the collapse of this object, but such work is expensive and not ; will not prevent further leakage of natural gas from the bowels of the earth.
If the funnel is “ clogged '', for example, by filling it with concrete (there is also such an idea), the gas will run out. will accumulate inside and in any case will find a way out of the ground. Only this can happen as a result of an explosion, and it is impossible to predict where it will happen. This is warned by another Russian scientist, doctor of geological and mineralogical sciences Vladimir Polevanov.
