New Giant Crater Opens Up in Russian Arctic

A new giant crater has opened up on the Yamal Peninsula in Russia’s Arctic, according to the Siberian Times. The crater has a depth of up to 50 meters.

Such craters appear because gas-saturated cavities are formed in the permafrost and eventually reach the surface, releasing the gas and leaving a massive crater in the ground.

Professor Vasily Bogoyavlensky, of the Russian Oil and Gas Research Institute in Moscow says this crater is quite unique. Bogoyavlensky has previously claimed that human activities, like drilling for gas from the vast Yamal reserves could be a factor in the eruptions.