New expedition climbs into mysterious Siberian crater

Remember the Siberian crater that appeared over night this summer ?

Since Siberia has frozen over, it was now deemed safe enough to send an expedition down into it.

And they have released a series of stuning images from inside, which I thought might be of interest to the ATS readers.

The article says that the scientists are still wondering what precisely caused the eruption of material, and that there are multiple of these craters in the same area of Siberia. They also found a frozen lake at the bottom of it.

















Source: Spiegel.de ( German Language )

And as always, I searched if this was posted before, but could not find anything recent, so sorry if that's old news. German article is from today though.

EDIT: Found another goodie in form of a HD Video

Could these craters be part of a chain of bolides that perhaps included the fireball over the Russian city of (I forget its name)?(Kramatogorsk ?)whatever.....
Are the reputed space rocks we expect over the next century part of the same group?
Just sayin.....heh heh....

a reply to: stirling

Considering the first image in this thread, I have to say no. You can clearly see that material was thrown upwards out of the mound. Scientists are quite sure something was ejected from the crater, but they are uncertain what precisely it was.

What strikes me is wondering where all that earth went.

I mean, the volume that would have been where the void is now is much greater than the debris ring around the mouth of the hole.

And what's with the long, parallel grooves running the length from bottom to top?

Obviously something used to be there but is now not.





Also, the sides look wierd to me, like a 3d texture map projected on to a flat surface.

a reply to: H1ght3chHippie

All I have to say, or all i can manage to come up with is wow..... The size of this whole is simply breathtaking. My mind is warped just trying to imagine it.

Its interesting that the depth looks to be about 100 foot or thereabout.
Whatever did eject from the ground came from that deep, and the scientists say they dont know what it was?
Now that i find very interesting

Craters from meteoric strikes can be ringed thusly I thought....ejecta they call it?
Thought the moon pictures show that action ....maybe not?

a reply to: jadedANDcynical

This would indeed speak for trapped gas which was released. This would explain the discrepancy between crater volume and the apparently missing ejecta material.

Interesting, It does seem like something was once there, and then it started up its engines and headed home, realizing that this human race is a lost cause. LOL kidding. No but it very amazing, Im also puzzled by the scrape marks on the side of the crater, and what the heck was ejected. Hmmm

maybe those arent scrape marks but water that was once trickling down making the pond or lake, and now that it is frozen, is giving the appearance of being scrapes

My guess is methane gas pocket.

Pressure accumulated and or gas rose to a point where the soil above could not support the pressure and then violently ejected.

a reply to: H1ght3chHippie

Is there traces of rare materials such as iridium?

a reply to: H1ght3chHippie

Thanks for the update OP it seems like a decent level of fluid has frozen down there because when I look at the earlier video images that side hole was more visible seen here near 2:23 mark
the depth from the side hole to the fluid below seemed to be much deeper then the new frozen crater floor depth. It would of been interesting to see how far that side whole actually went into the EA*RTH surface. Again thanks for the update

a reply to: swanne

The article does not mention specific analysis results, but since the hole is definitely not an impact crater, why would they find Iridium in it ? I thought Iridium is a tell tale sign of a meteor impact.

a reply to: Ophiuchus 13

That's an interesting observation mate.

I assume that both, rain and rising ground water, would cause this effect ? I'm not a geologist though, so I'm speculating here.

originally posted by: H1ght3chHippie
a reply to: swanne
I thought Iridium is a tell tale sign of a meteor impact.

Indeed it is. I needed to rule out the possibility.

The shape of the crater did not by itself exclude the possibility that it was formed by meteoritic collision - which would have explained the sudden nature of its apparition.

Looking further and thinking more I have concluded that the debris apron is roughly the same volume as the area directly above where the hole's sides begin their verticle descent.

In other words, there was either a cylindrical object or a void of the same shape which then was violently expelled causing the debris to form a mound around the rim of the hole.

That debris would have been the equivalent of a cork in that event. I am wondering how a cylindrical void could have been caused by a gas pocket.

Dimensions would be great.

I see trace of water erosion on the rim of the crater. Yet the crater is supposedly only 6 months old... Which means the ground is VERY soft at this place.

originally posted by: H1ght3chHippie

I assume that both, rain and rising ground water, would cause this effect ? I'm not a geologist though, so I'm speculating here.

Logical speculation that 1 can agree with H1ght3chHippie If large amounts are associated with ground water rising, to 1 it would be an interesting site to explore when the water table fills as it may be interconnected with other fluid conduits below or near that hole on the side which may lead to further accesses that could either have evidence of frozen deposit methane or something else frozen related... It does get 1z mind thinking when processing the amount of dirt/debris around the ring and the amount of space left behind.

Oh its just Russia having a fart. LOL Judging by the video, the surrounding landscape looks like it has experienced these alot around there. And when you start looking at the foliage it kind of starts to draw a map, of where everything is moving. Im starting to lean more towards a gas that was ejected. Kind of like looking at some very thick fluid that has a bubble rise and pop, making a somewhat similar kind of crater in the surface of the fluid, only the fluid is the ground.

a reply to: Ophiuchus 13

According to the article, the Russian oil and gas company Gazprom has shown interest in the craters and the possible exploitation of natural gas resources, so I think the methane theory is my preferred one as of now. The fact that there seem to be multiple of these craters in the same region makes me wonder about the amount if methane / gas trapped in the tundra, just waiting to go poof.