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That's a crater in the middle of Derweze, which is a village in Turkmenistan. And it's on fire. It's been on fire for 40 years.
Here is the Wikipedia page; there's not a ton of information, but I guess enough to give context. In 1971, this crater formed while some people were drilling, and they realized that methane was emanating from it. Geologists decided that burning the gas would be less dangerous than letting it permeate the atmosphere, and figured that it would burn out in a matter of hours. It's still burning.
Isn't that nuts? The crater (which is 230 feet across, by the way,
I immediately put the town's name into Metafilter, because this is exactly the sort of thing that would be posted in there. And, you know what, not really. Why don't more people talk about this thing?
Check out some more pictures on Flickr.
That reminds me of the coal mine fire in Centralia, Pennsylvania. The mine fire has been burning since the 60s. Eventually everyone had to leave, because it was just too dangerous to live there with all the toxins from the burning coal. I'd never heard of this Door to Hell, how...awesome.
ReplyDeleteI've heard about the one in Centralia, and I believe there are some here in ND too. We have scoria around, which makes it plausible, but we've never really produced much but lignite.
ReplyDeleteWhatever you do, don't say the b-word. Saying something is boring is just tempting fate to make it less boring.
Why hasn't anyone shed any light on any of these? This is the first time I'm hearing about these fires. This is outrageous, there isn't anyway to put them out? I wonder how hot it is there right now? If there ever is an ice age, that is where I am going to...
ReplyDeleteWhy would you put it out?
ReplyDeleteThey lit it (the hole here) on fire because uncontrolled concentrated methane emissions are bad; it's explosive in vapor and can asphyxiate people (if, eg, they fell in or thought climbing in was a good idea).
As for coal seam fires, they're hard to put out, though solutions are being worked on, and it's been done before.
it is kind of like the plastic island/soup that is in the pacific ocean, no one WANTS to talk about it, the whole ignorance is bliss thingy.
ReplyDeleteHm, I don't necessarily agree... I mean, I do see what you're saying and agree to a point, re: a certain audience wanting to just turn the other way. But the audience that would be (and apparently is) interested in this kind of thing - your Mental Flosses, Metafilters, NPRs, and (I guess) Tumblrs of the world - definitely do. I just thought it was nuts that I had never heard of this before on any of those platforms. Bonkers.
ReplyDeleteIve been there. It's awesome and I can really recommend it. :)
ReplyDeleteThat little dot is not an SUV :\
ReplyDeleteI have been there. Wonderful
ReplyDelete