Sunday, 3 November 2013

The Door to Hell

Otherwise known as the Door to Hell and the Derweze gas crater, the crater is found in Turkmenistan and is 60 metres wide and 20 metres deep. The hole was created when a Soviet drilling rig accidentally tapped into a massive underground natural gas cavern, causing the ground to collapse and the drilling rig to fall in.



To prevent poisonous fumes from escaping into the atmosphere, the Soviet geologists decided to set the pit on fire, hoping the fire would use up its fuel in a few days. But that was back in 1971,  some 42 years later it is still burning furiously. The pungent smell of burning sulfur pervades the area for some distance.



Anyone for Fracking?

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