+Rias Gregory To clear this out. They were drilling for gas and since they couldn't handle it anymore. Stupid as they are, they set it afire. As long as there is gas it will burn, more then 40 years it is now burning, imagine the quantity of gas they have wasted by doing this! So gate to hell etc, is just bullshit! They should call it another stupidity of the human race, maybe this is a reason why at once we have more earthquakes. Do u think the gas and oil underneath our feet is there for fun? Here is some explanation: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Door_to_Hell
@Ohoh opium They couldn't control it because their entire oil rig blew up creating this crater. They had two options afterwords, leave it alone and let it release methane which is 20 stronger than carbon dioxide as a green house gas, or light it on fire to convert it into carbon dioxide. If they left it alone, it would be far more destructive to our atmosphere vs burning it.
The guide's voice adds to the authenticity of this video and I like it. The Darvaza Well is the result of a Soviet mining experiment. When the geologists discovered it was leaking gas they decided to set fire to it - believing it would only burn for a few weeks. That was in 1971. It's been burning for nearly 40 years now.
It seems odd to me that if it's so difficult to put the fire out, wouldn't it at least be practical to simply build some sort of permanent structure over it with some boilers exposed to the heat of the crater, attached to some turbines? All that energy going to waste.
Im just saying if they put the fire out toxic methane 20 times more potent than carbin dioxide ,relative to the green house gas effect, would uncontrollably be released into the atmosphere. So, we are all better off keeping it burn.
Also the ground around the fire pit is unstable, which contributed to the original drilling rig collapsing into it. Building something big enough to cover it is probably impractical.
@rareram I'm gonna bullshit this, but what if they used a light covering and framework to start off, and then worked their way from there? Maybe work on it section by section with modular pieces, or coat the thing with some sort spray concrete, if something like that exists, until they have a reasonable structure to trap or even use the gas?
Salacious Candyman That is very true, but you don't have to drill to the core to acquire a usable amount of heat. Drilling to the core would be impossible anyways, it's like planning to land on the sun barefooted.
I would poor a foundation, build a large strong dome, and smother the flames with it. Pump CO2 into it to speed up the process. Then once smothered, capture the gasses being released and use as fuel. But that's just me I spose
smart ideas but not too smart to take place in reality coz all of what u just said WOULD work if the Source u have is with a constant amount of Energy which in this case is faaar from constant , again because they dont exactly know how much energy this "door too hell" might produce in a sec after starting there work on it . Meaning if that hole gave an a over amount of power (Uncontrollabel) to a foundation that is working on it , a Disaster will happen "BILLIONS of dollars.. Gone with the wind (or the flame)" :D
@Geraldwjefferson Pray tell what material would we use? Assuming a 2 dimensional dome surface it would be 5654.70 square meters of material. Do you have any idea how much that is? Thats a little over 3 and a half square miles!! The sheer cost of such a project is insane. It would have to be extremely heat resistant during the construction. Unless you have a way to lower a 3.5 square mile dome onto this? not by crane I can tell ya that! 702,535 tons and thats assuming 1 inch thick aluminum!
@mimeywimey from another video.. While drilling in 1971 geologists accidentally found an underground cavern filled with natural gas. The ground beneath the drilling rig collapsed, leaving a large hole with a diameter of about 50-100 meters. To avoid poisonous gas discharge, it was decided to burn the gas. Geologists had hoped the fire would go out in a few days but it has been burning ever since.
So yeah, wow. No one ever told me about this ever. I came to this video from another RUclips video of a top 10 scariest places on Earth video. I'm a bit hot under the collar when I found out, according to that video, that scientists lit it on fire in 1971 and it is still on fire today. Any other confirmation anyone out there cares to share? So many more questions. Wow.
Ali Raza Exactly what I researched and found out too. Another reason I cringe when people choose science as their religion. Experimentation doesn't mean advanced intelligence. I would deem this Trial by Fire. ;) I'm also anti religion by the way. A business disguised as divine enlightenment is just deceptive. Hey, notice how NOBODY except me has tied this to global warming?? I mean have you ever heard anyone cite this incredible anomaly when speaking of global warming? Nope. It is ridiculous the rhetoric people use. Have you found most people are simply parrots? They just repeat whatever they hear. Anyway, this is an incredible thing. Which shows me once again how the NEWS is fixating on the current events. Because if you keep shuffling in the new there is no time or need to think about the past - unless it is to do with the military of course. IN that case they pay the utmost respect. Just don't watch those broadcasts globally, they seem to lose their shine when you do.
Dean Fang most of the news is shite and misleading any way. I saw on cnn a headline saying " (some rocket) travels 18 times faster than speed of light"
Dean Fang and of course this has a great tie to Carbon emission but no one gives a shit towards this side or for the matter that they should have find an alternative to biofuel. The so called clean energy has also countless harmful aspects which the companies and people backing them always forget
@rareram Diameter is 250ft which makes it 76.2 m. You are right about the dome, i was thinking in just the base of it which is smaller in surface. Also, 116 is the volume in m^3 of aluminum needed, not any surface area.
@DarkCell22 The Gates of Hell was a soviet drilling rig accident in 1971. They punched into a natural gas cavern and caused the ground to collapse. Natural gases were escaping fast so they set the hole on fire to prevent a disaster.
I love the story behind how this place came to be, people tried to mine for gas there, the platform collapsed and left a big hole with loads of sulfur gas pouring out, they decided that the best way to get rid of that gas would be to burn it, thinking it would take a few days and would be all fine that was in 1971 It's STILL burning right now :)
@DanoninoBG I'm sorry... the diameter is 70m, so the area of a 70m circle is 3848.451m² and I used dome calculations for a 75 meter dome that was 15.23m in height resulting in a surface area of ~5654m² your close to the "floor area" of the dome which is approximately 4417m². Now to calculate the aluminum. 1 inch thick by 1 meter by 1 meter weighs "151.9 lb". We need about 5654 pieces like that. so... about 429 tons. (I must have had a digit wrong) also 116m²x1inch = 9.1 Tons. Check math?
The deposit this gas is coming from, was considered depleted before they lit the hole on fire, to prevent potentially toxic gas to leak into the atmosphere. They expected it to burn for a few weeks... that was 40 years ago.
Nope, the problem is, it's methane coming out of this hole and methane is a much stronger greenhouse gas than CO2 is. So just leave it burning and let it be a famous tourist attraction.
***** Simply burning something doesn't magically make it vanish from existence. It merely changes form. Many of the bi-products of burning this crap aren't particularly great.
It used to be the site of an old soviet drilling rig. They were drilling for natural gas when they hit a cavern resulting in the crater. It was set alight shortly after the discovery as a safety measure. Its been burning eversince the fifties.
In the early 70s near the village of Darvaza in Turkmenistan, Soviet geologists discovered a cluster of underground gas. As a result of excavation and drilling, geologists stumbled on an underground cavity (void), because of what the earth has failed, and formed a big hole filled with gas. Drilling rig with all the equipment and transport fell in the resulting hole, the people in this incident were not injured. To harmful to humans and livestock gases do not go out, they decided to burn. Geologists have suggested that the fire will go out after a few days, but we were wrong. Since natural gas discharged from the crater is continuously illuminated during the day and night.
Power is divided between enthalpy (dynamically usable energy) and entropy (disorder energy that can no longer be used). So we can say that energy is "wasted" as it passes from enthalpic to entropic. Exists, but is no longer useful.
@PSOperro It was set on fire to prevent all of that methane from going into the atmosphere. This flaring is a relatively environmentally friendaly process.
In 1971, geologists discovered a massive underground deposit of natural gas on this site. Whilst excavating the hole to tap the gas, the drilling rig collapsed leaving a massive hole. To prevent poisonous gasses from escaping, the hole was allowed to burn. It continues to burn to this day and has done so without ceasing and yes its a massive pollutant.
I don't think that 2:20 are wasted: they make you understand in which environment the crater is placed (camels, desert, russian truck, dog, driver...). Enjoy!
@rareram Actually, before saying that you should probably check your numbers. It is a 2-dimensional surface, BUT it is a circle, which makes the surface 4560m^2. That is a little under 0.18 miles^2 (your miles apparently are only 1m wide) 1 inch thick aluminum would make a volume of aprox. 116m^3 That, my friend, is 313 Tons of aluminum, which a couple of big cranes could lift no problem. It is doable, but stupid to do.
@serantolemumaga mmmm bueno que siii no necesariamente pero no costaria imaginarlo tendria que estar hay para poder comtemplar la hermosura de tremendo paisaje.
@C12claws Open Flame Natural Gas burns at 900°-1200°C (1652°-2192°F)... now thats one plume with losses. Now imagine a crater with the entire inside filled with plumes. And all the losses going straight up towards where you want to build a dome. Do you know of the centralia, PA coal mine fire? Basically the mine has been on fire for years and years, it totally uninhabitable now. As far as I know it is still burning, what material would withstand the heat output? It sounds like capping a volcano.
So this hole has some sort of gas underneath and the soil in the area collapsed. Then someone decided to burn that hole to prevent the hole of gas underneath from leaking. (according to the article I read it says so) Can someone be kind to explain to me what's the reason it keeps burning like that and never stops? Thanks heaps.
in 1971 communist russia was looking for oil, but they never knew that this region is also rich in natural gas such as methane as well. So they dug this specific region and they did not know that there was a giant hole in this specific location as well. So it collapsed, thankfully no one died and they decided to burn the gas off because its dangerous to the people and to the environment. They though it will take few weeks and 43 years later it is still burning. This suggests that this specific region is full of natural gas. That region also smells like hydrogen sulfied (H2F) as well.
only one kind of gas could fit the very description of the flame that boils in the rim of that crater. Methane. Tons and tons of Methane below the surface of that crater thats been keeping the burning glow inside it for several years.
complimenti per il video! deve essere stato un bel viaggio.. purtroppo le mie finanze non lo permettono ma sarebbe stupendo andare fin la.. da dove siete partiti?
No the Soviets attempted to drill for the gas here which resulted in a collapse of the caverns below, creating the hole. The Soviets decided it was best to burn off all the gas in the hole, estimated to take a few weeks at the most but it's still burning to this day.
It could, and they were trying that from the sound of it. but the cavern was unstable and near the surface, so when it caved in, they lost the drill hole, the only way to harvest this gas would be a large balloon over the whole site… erected with either flames in the whole, or gas that would smother the workers… it’s a shame to loose it, but it would take more power to get the gas than it would make
Mentre stavano trivellando nel 1971, i geologi trovarono una caverna riempita di gas naturale. Il terreno sotto la piattaforma di perforazione crollò, lasciando un buco di grandi dimensioni con un diametro di circa 70 metri. Per evitare la diffusione di gas velenoso, si decise di bruciarlo. I geologi speravano che il fuoco consumasse tutto il gas combustibile nel giro di qualche giorno, ma il cratere continua a bruciare ancora dopo 40 anni.
@reduvio: How would you want to collect that gas? You would have to erect some huge dome above the crater or something... Definitely an engineering challenge...
@Geraldwjefferson It's safer to burn it than to let it escape. It's also safer for the environment, as Methane does not produce any side effect gasses when you burn it. Just some escaping methane.
@MrTDaddy1977 We know all the elements, anything denser than what's on the periodic table has a half life of milliseconds. What's happening is the gas is leaking through the rocks and when it burns it creates low pressure continuously pulling more gas from the rocks.
Если в том месте так много газа, то почему бы не закрыть этот кратер, чтобы газ потух и не выходил наружу, и не организовать поставку этого газа людям ? Я думаю, что не так и сложно изготовить огромную крышку, чтобы перекрыть кратер диаметром 60 метров, предварительно закрепив в ней трубу с вентилем, и загерметизировать по краям.
Yes. it was a cave filled with gas. When they tried to tap into this the part collapsed and they sat the gas on fire since that whould be eviromental friendlier then letting it get into the atmosphere. How ever they hoped it whould burn out in a matter of days. Yet it still burns
@ItsAlberOliva Covering it up with sand to extinguish would not solve the problem. The methane gas would continue to ooze out of the fissures through the sand. The problem with methane is that methane displaces oxygen in the breathable air. If the wind blows the methane towards the nearby town, it is quite possible that all the people could die in their sleep from lack of oxygen if the concentration of methane is high enough. It's better to let the methane burn in the crater.
Like "Geothermal" power. It used heat from underground lava/magma, sometimes steam ,etc. This fire is caused by natural gas. The same stuff you probably burn in your furnace (unless you use heating oil or electric heat, or even wood or anthracite coal) They were exploring for gas in 71, the ground collapsed. They lit the gas because it is many time less harmful to the atmosphere when burned. Natural gas is a green house gas. They thought the fire would burn out in a few days. 39yrs later....
Even if the fire were extinguished and the crater filled the natural gas would still escape through pores and fissures. It would still be a dangerous pollutant and a potent greenhouse gas. It would be a hazard due to the risk of uncontrolled ignition and explosion. It would be a very short time before somebody ignited it either deliberately or on purpose. Best left in an inaccessible crater floor burning I think. Seems like a waste?
Me either, but Carbon is not the issue, that's just the name the governments put on their fancy taxes. Bear in mind, you contain a lot of Carbon. Carbon Dioxide, is a gas which traps heat. However, Methane gas in the air can be disastrous depending on how much. Methane also traps heat and as we know is highly flammable in the presence of Oxygen. Burning is possibly the "least bad" thing they could have done. Except for tapping it or building a plant on top of it, so that it wasn't wasted.
@rareram What I meant was when they first found the gas they decided to burn it instead trying to seal and harvest it. Obviously doing such a thing after it's burning is near impossible, at least with current technology. Then again, I don't know what capabilities they had back then, so maybe they really didn't have much choice.
Who knows? they got no mining detector as precise as today, or they would probably harvest the gas. And you gotta consider about the "cap" cost, transportation/gas pipe cost and the population consomation. I am sure this isn't profitable for industries or they would already build a freaking giant reactor on it.
Imagine if people saw this 2,000 years ago. It would probably be in the bible.
***** lol
***** you are in 2015 means that ur stupid as fuck.
+Rias Gregory To clear this out. They were drilling for gas and since they couldn't handle it anymore. Stupid as they are, they set it afire. As long as there is gas it will burn, more then 40 years it is now burning, imagine the quantity of gas they have wasted by doing this! So gate to hell etc, is just bullshit! They should call it another stupidity of the human race, maybe this is a reason why at once we have more earthquakes. Do u think the gas and oil underneath our feet is there for fun? Here is some explanation: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Door_to_Hell
+Rias Gremory
I was thinking the same thing
@Ohoh opium They couldn't control it because their entire oil rig blew up creating this crater. They had two options afterwords, leave it alone and let it release methane which is 20 stronger than carbon dioxide as a green house gas, or light it on fire to convert it into carbon dioxide. If they left it alone, it would be far more destructive to our atmosphere vs burning it.
The guide's voice adds to the authenticity of this video and I like it. The Darvaza Well is the result of a Soviet mining experiment. When the geologists discovered it was leaking gas they decided to set fire to it - believing it would only burn for a few weeks. That was in 1971. It's been burning for nearly 40 years now.
It seems odd to me that if it's so difficult to put the fire out, wouldn't it at least be practical to simply build some sort of permanent structure over it with some boilers exposed to the heat of the crater, attached to some turbines? All that energy going to waste.
Im just saying if they put the fire out toxic methane 20 times more potent than carbin dioxide ,relative to the green house gas effect, would uncontrollably be released into the atmosphere. So, we are all better off keeping it burn.
Also the ground around the fire pit is unstable, which contributed to the original drilling rig collapsing into it. Building something big enough to cover it is probably impractical.
0:18 So THATS what a camaro is.
Who fed Jarvan?
Have my thumbs up, sir.
you win the internet X'D
Beautiful video. Thank you for sharing how this actually looks and sounds with us.
It's funny how there are no barriers around it.
There is a desert for hundreds kilometers around that, no necessary for any wall or fence.
@rareram I'm gonna bullshit this, but what if they used a light covering and framework to start off, and then worked their way from there? Maybe work on it section by section with modular pieces, or coat the thing with some sort spray concrete, if something like that exists, until they have a reasonable structure to trap or even use the gas?
Why not harness the heat generated from the fire and turn it into electricity?
That's exactly what I was thinking!
its more convenient to dig down to the core where it's hotter and more constant
Digging to the core of our planet could never be called convenient
Salacious Candyman That is very true, but you don't have to drill to the core to acquire a usable amount of heat. Drilling to the core would be impossible anyways, it's like planning to land on the sun barefooted.
I think they should put the fire out with tons of water or foam and harness the gas from the seeping gas. It seems pretty straight forward.
gracias por este documento que me acerca a un lugar que tal vez jamas conocere en persona..muy buen video y comentarios.
I would poor a foundation, build a large strong dome, and smother the flames with it. Pump CO2 into it to speed up the process. Then once smothered, capture the gasses being released and use as fuel. But that's just me I spose
Might work, but then again someone may have already thought of that
i had the same thought while i was taking a shit yesterday.
Probably would cost more to build all the infrastructure than the well would pay out in 50 years..so no.
smart ideas but not too smart to take place in reality coz all of what u just said WOULD work if the Source u have is with a constant amount of Energy which in this case is faaar from constant , again because they dont exactly know how much energy this "door too hell" might produce in a sec after starting there work on it . Meaning if that hole gave an a over amount of power (Uncontrollabel) to a foundation that is working on it , a Disaster will happen "BILLIONS of dollars.. Gone with the wind (or the flame)" :D
@Vladimir0538 hm, in one case it's methan, in the other CO2, so in the end you take the less effective greenhouse-gas?
They should run water pipes and make steam to make some electricity.
@Geraldwjefferson Pray tell what material would we use? Assuming a 2 dimensional dome surface it would be 5654.70 square meters of material. Do you have any idea how much that is? Thats a little over 3 and a half square miles!! The sheer cost of such a project is insane. It would have to be extremely heat resistant during the construction. Unless you have a way to lower a 3.5 square mile dome onto this? not by crane I can tell ya that! 702,535 tons and thats assuming 1 inch thick aluminum!
I believe this is where the next stunt for jackass will be.
I also think this is where it'll end lol
@mimeywimey from another video..
While drilling in 1971 geologists accidentally found an underground cavern filled with natural gas. The ground beneath the drilling rig collapsed, leaving a large hole with a diameter of about 50-100 meters. To avoid poisonous gas discharge, it was decided to burn the gas. Geologists had hoped the fire would go out in a few days but it has been burning ever since.
So yeah, wow. No one ever told me about this ever. I came to this video from another RUclips video of a top 10 scariest places on Earth video. I'm a bit hot under the collar when I found out, according to that video, that scientists lit it on fire in 1971 and it is still on fire today. Any other confirmation anyone out there cares to share? So many more questions. Wow.
they set it on fire thinking it will not burn after a couple of months but here it still burning in 2014
Ali Raza
Exactly what I researched and found out too. Another reason I cringe when people choose science as their religion. Experimentation doesn't mean advanced intelligence. I would deem this Trial by Fire. ;) I'm also anti religion by the way. A business disguised as divine enlightenment is just deceptive.
Hey, notice how NOBODY except me has tied this to global warming?? I mean have you ever heard anyone cite this incredible anomaly when speaking of global warming? Nope. It is ridiculous the rhetoric people use. Have you found most people are simply parrots? They just repeat whatever they hear. Anyway, this is an incredible thing. Which shows me once again how the NEWS is fixating on the current events. Because if you keep shuffling in the new there is no time or need to think about the past - unless it is to do with the military of course. IN that case they pay the utmost respect. Just don't watch those broadcasts globally, they seem to lose their shine when you do.
Dean Fang most of the news is shite and misleading any way. I saw on cnn a headline saying " (some rocket) travels 18 times faster than speed of light"
Dean Fang and of course this has a great tie to Carbon emission but no one gives a shit towards this side or for the matter that they should have find an alternative to biofuel. The so called clean energy has also countless harmful aspects which the companies and people backing them always forget
Ali Raza
Well said! Couldn't agree more
@rareram Diameter is 250ft which makes it 76.2 m. You are right about the dome, i was thinking in just the base of it which is smaller in surface. Also, 116 is the volume in m^3 of aluminum needed, not any surface area.
Yet nobody can see it because of Turkmenistans impossible to get visa. Almost as bad as Angola
all countries that end with ~stan are bad countries
@DarkCell22 The Gates of Hell was a soviet drilling rig accident in 1971. They punched into a natural gas cavern and caused the ground to collapse. Natural gases were escaping fast so they set the hole on fire to prevent a disaster.
Its the RING OF FIRE!!! You must swim through Sharkbait whohaha
I love the story behind how this place came to be, people tried to mine for gas there, the platform collapsed and left a big hole with loads of sulfur gas pouring out, they decided that the best way to get rid of that gas would be to burn it, thinking it would take a few days and would be all fine
that was in 1971
It's STILL burning right now :)
Get yer marshmallows out!!
@DanoninoBG I'm sorry... the diameter is 70m, so the area of a 70m circle is 3848.451m² and I used dome calculations for a 75 meter dome that was 15.23m in height resulting in a surface area of ~5654m² your close to the "floor area" of the dome which is approximately 4417m². Now to calculate the aluminum. 1 inch thick by 1 meter by 1 meter weighs "151.9 lb". We need about 5654 pieces like that. so... about 429 tons. (I must have had a digit wrong) also 116m²x1inch = 9.1 Tons. Check math?
cover it with firefighting foam, then when the fire is out dump it full of sand. This is a waste..
Daniel Z Yup. It's a waste.
The deposit this gas is coming from, was considered depleted before they lit the hole on fire, to prevent potentially toxic gas to leak into the atmosphere. They expected it to burn for a few weeks... that was 40 years ago.
Nope, the problem is, it's methane coming out of this hole and methane is a much stronger greenhouse gas than CO2 is. So just leave it burning and let it be a famous tourist attraction.
*****
Simply burning something doesn't magically make it vanish from existence. It merely changes form. Many of the bi-products of burning this crap aren't particularly great.
@TheArkTheArkTheArk
But why would you put it out? it looks awsome :D
it is a total wastage of natural gasses.....
Yep, and paid idiots will always justify this....
Superb video, dramatic natural phenomenon.
It used to be the site of an old soviet drilling rig. They were drilling for natural gas when they hit a cavern resulting in the crater. It was set alight shortly after the discovery as a safety measure. Its been burning eversince the fifties.
In the early 70s near the village of Darvaza in Turkmenistan, Soviet geologists discovered a cluster of underground gas. As a result of excavation and drilling, geologists stumbled on an underground cavity (void), because of what the earth has failed, and formed a big hole filled with gas. Drilling rig with all the equipment and transport fell in the resulting hole, the people in this incident were not injured. To harmful to humans and livestock gases do not go out, they decided to burn. Geologists have suggested that the fire will go out after a few days, but we were wrong. Since natural gas discharged from the crater is continuously illuminated during the day and night.
How much longer do they expect it to burn? Could the heat be used to generate electricity?
Power is divided between enthalpy (dynamically usable energy) and entropy (disorder energy that can no longer be used). So we can say that energy is "wasted" as it passes from enthalpic to entropic. Exists, but is no longer useful.
Is there a reason that they could not drill nearby and extract the gas reserves?
this is one of the coolest things i have ever seen. I so wanna see this
@PSOperro It was set on fire to prevent all of that methane from going into the atmosphere. This flaring is a relatively environmentally friendaly process.
In 1971, geologists discovered a massive underground deposit of natural gas on this site. Whilst excavating the hole to tap the gas, the drilling rig collapsed leaving a massive hole. To prevent poisonous gasses from escaping, the hole was allowed to burn. It continues to burn to this day and has done so without ceasing and yes its a massive pollutant.
spettacolare....beati voi...
I don't think that 2:20 are wasted: they make you understand in which environment the crater is placed (camels, desert, russian truck, dog, driver...).
Enjoy!
@rareram Actually, before saying that you should probably check your numbers.
It is a 2-dimensional surface, BUT it is a circle, which makes the surface 4560m^2.
That is a little under 0.18 miles^2 (your miles apparently are only 1m wide)
1 inch thick aluminum would make a volume of aprox. 116m^3
That, my friend, is 313 Tons of aluminum, which a couple of big cranes could lift no problem.
It is doable, but stupid to do.
@serantolemumaga mmmm bueno que siii no necesariamente pero no costaria imaginarlo tendria que estar hay para poder comtemplar la hermosura de tremendo paisaje.
@brax0789 The gas would still escape. Or it would build up and then cause problems elsewhere. They set it on fire cause it was leaking poisonous gas.
Very good video!
@C12claws Open Flame Natural Gas burns at 900°-1200°C (1652°-2192°F)... now thats one plume with losses. Now imagine a crater with the entire inside filled with plumes. And all the losses going straight up towards where you want to build a dome. Do you know of the centralia, PA coal mine fire? Basically the mine has been on fire for years and years, it totally uninhabitable now. As far as I know it is still burning, what material would withstand the heat output? It sounds like capping a volcano.
So this hole has some sort of gas underneath and the soil in the area collapsed. Then someone decided to burn that hole to prevent the hole of gas underneath from leaking. (according to the article I read it says so)
Can someone be kind to explain to me what's the reason it keeps burning like that and never stops? Thanks heaps.
The natural gas reserve below it hasn't emptied out yet. The gas leaks either way - the burnt products are safer than the pure gas.
in 1971 communist russia was looking for oil, but they never knew that this region is also rich in natural gas such as methane as well. So they dug this specific region and they did not know that there was a giant hole in this specific location as well. So it collapsed, thankfully no one died and they decided to burn the gas off because its dangerous to the people and to the environment. They though it will take few weeks and 43 years later it is still burning. This suggests that this specific region is full of natural gas. That region also smells like hydrogen sulfied (H2F) as well.
Gosh I wish I knew Turk... Such an explosive language. beautiful really.
But WOW! Is that sight Overwhelming! Truly Amazing.
pressure would build and probably tear the tarp, the oxygen rushing to the fire through the tear would probably cause and explosion.
what kind of fire hose would you use?
maybe just take yourself there with a couple cases of beer....
visto che sei italiano parlo in italiano.. che figata sto posto! =)
@reduvio well it was either burning it or poisoning the entire atmosphere with greenhouse gases.
Ciao Fedele, puoi spiegarmi meglio di che cosa si tratta? da cosa è stato creato il cratere?? grazie
quanto è costato un viaggio in questo posto?
is there no rain in Turkmenistan?
Hi here is producer of Taiwan Quiz TVshow. Can I use this clip in our TVshow to prove there is really the miracle?
@gexsjack
the soviet 6 wheel truck was an afghan war surplus, so I think YES
only one kind of gas could fit the very description of the flame that boils in the rim of that crater.
Methane. Tons and tons of Methane below the surface of that crater thats been keeping the burning glow inside it for several years.
complimenti per il video! deve essere stato un bel viaggio.. purtroppo le mie finanze non lo permettono ma sarebbe stupendo andare fin la.. da dove siete partiti?
Надо же люди мечтают туда стездтть
No the Soviets attempted to drill for the gas here which resulted in a collapse of the caverns below, creating the hole. The Soviets decided it was best to burn off all the gas in the hole, estimated to take a few weeks at the most but it's still burning to this day.
does it rains there?
2:07 is that a bullet hole in the truck window?
This is so amazing, This pit is burning since 1971, It is releasing too much methane that it kept this burring for such a long time
@Geraldwjefferson possibly safety issues erecting such a big structure on such dodgy looking land, but thats just a guess. good idea though
There a video of them lighting this sucker up, or did they not film it?
It could, and they were trying that from the sound of it. but the cavern was unstable and near the surface, so when it caved in, they lost the drill hole, the only way to harvest this gas would be a large balloon over the whole site… erected with either flames in the whole, or gas that would smother the workers… it’s a shame to loose it, but it would take more power to get the gas than it would make
Mentre stavano trivellando nel 1971, i geologi trovarono una caverna riempita di gas naturale. Il terreno sotto la piattaforma di perforazione crollò, lasciando un buco di grandi dimensioni con un diametro di circa 70 metri. Per evitare la diffusione di gas velenoso, si decise di bruciarlo. I geologi speravano che il fuoco consumasse tutto il gas combustibile nel giro di qualche giorno, ma il cratere continua a bruciare ancora dopo 40 anni.
@reduvio: How would you want to collect that gas? You would have to erect some huge dome above the crater or something... Definitely an engineering challenge...
@JeagerGray its not that hard to use both, its just a little bit of thinking yon your part
@Geraldwjefferson It's safer to burn it than to let it escape. It's also safer for the environment, as Methane does not produce any side effect gasses when you burn it. Just some escaping methane.
@camaro25 its been burning since the 70s... Do you really think somebody relights it again and again? :) hehe
@DancingSpiderman Brilliant!
@MrTDaddy1977
We know all the elements, anything denser than what's on the periodic table has a half life of milliseconds. What's happening is the gas is leaking through the rocks and when it burns it creates low pressure continuously pulling more gas from the rocks.
Если в том месте так много газа, то почему бы не закрыть этот кратер, чтобы газ потух и не выходил наружу, и не организовать поставку этого газа людям ? Я думаю, что не так и сложно изготовить огромную крышку, чтобы перекрыть кратер диаметром 60 метров, предварительно закрепив в ней трубу с вентилем, и загерметизировать по краям.
смешно
I thought you would fall in when you got close and also your breathing sounded heavy why?
if trow a granade into it will it explode b4 it reach the ground ? ( coz of the heat )
Yes, building a 230 foot dome is as easy as baking a cake especially with the fire keeping you nice and toasty in that desert :)
Yes. it was a cave filled with gas.
When they tried to tap into this the part collapsed and they sat the gas on fire since that whould be eviromental friendlier then letting it get into the atmosphere.
How ever they hoped it whould burn out in a matter of days.
Yet it still burns
@ItsAlberOliva Covering it up with sand to extinguish would not solve the problem. The methane gas would continue to ooze out of the fissures through the sand. The problem with methane is that methane displaces oxygen in the breathable air. If the wind blows the methane towards the nearby town, it is quite possible that all the people could die in their sleep from lack of oxygen if the concentration of methane is high enough. It's better to let the methane burn in the crater.
How about O3 around the area ?
Still good or bad
they tried extracting the gas, before setting it on fire. the ground collapsed leaving the crater you see when they were drilling.
Like "Geothermal" power. It used heat from underground lava/magma, sometimes steam ,etc.
This fire is caused by natural gas. The same stuff you probably burn in your furnace (unless you use heating oil or electric heat, or even wood or anthracite coal) They were exploring for gas in 71, the ground collapsed. They lit the gas because it is many time less harmful to the atmosphere when burned. Natural gas is a green house gas. They thought the fire would burn out in a few days. 39yrs later....
Even if the fire were extinguished and the crater filled the natural gas would still escape through pores and fissures. It would still be a dangerous pollutant and a potent greenhouse gas. It would be a hazard due to the risk of uncontrolled ignition and explosion. It would be a very short time before somebody ignited it either deliberately or on purpose. Best left in an inaccessible crater floor burning I think. Seems like a waste?
I wonder what happens when it rains. Does someone go down there and relight it?
I meant why dont they seal the hole so the fire goes out and collect the gas?
f'g amazing ! why dont they harness it for fuel ?
@KaKaGaNu Its a desert dude, you think it will rain?
Me either, but Carbon is not the issue, that's just the name the governments put on their fancy taxes. Bear in mind, you contain a lot of Carbon. Carbon Dioxide, is a gas which traps heat.
However, Methane gas in the air can be disastrous depending on how much. Methane also traps heat and as we know is highly flammable in the presence of Oxygen. Burning is possibly the "least bad" thing they could have done. Except for tapping it or building a plant on top of it, so that it wasn't wasted.
@MrShanoz Because there is obviously still harmful gas down there, and quite a bit of it if it's been burning for as long as it has been.
To prevent poisonous gasses from escaping, the hole was allowed to burn. It continues to burn to this day and has done so without ceasing.
I wonder if chuck in a couple of grenades down there for 12 straight hours.
@rareram What I meant was when they first found the gas they decided to burn it instead trying to seal and harvest it. Obviously doing such a thing after it's burning is near impossible, at least with current technology. Then again, I don't know what capabilities they had back then, so maybe they really didn't have much choice.
what if they put out the fire? would that be possible?
@e152617 What is 9gag?
Who knows?
they got no mining detector as precise as today, or they would probably harvest the gas.
And you gotta consider about the "cap" cost, transportation/gas pipe cost and the population consomation.
I am sure this isn't profitable for industries or they would already build a freaking giant reactor on it.
Indeed it isint although the glowing fires and heat in the crater itself almost make it look that way.
So this fire has been burning for about 12 years?
@mihuadrian LOL 9gag didn't brought me here, but is good to know the passed by!! :)
So its on fire all the time? Even when t rains?
@reduvio
ya... but it looks AWSOME
@trifloow i think it will be difficult because the oxygen will still slip into tiny spaces.
hve they ever tried to put out the fire and use the resources??
What if you add alot of water??