Satellite imagery has revealed as many as 20 new craters surrounding one of three large craters that were discovered in Siberia last year. Scientists now know of seven craters in the Arctic, though they only have the exact locations of four of them.
"I would compare this with mushrooms: When you find one mushroom, be sure there are few more around," Vasily Bogoyavlensky, deputy director of the Moscow-based Oil and Gas Research Institute, told The Siberian Times. "I suppose there could be 20 to 30 craters more."
About 20 smaller craters surround one of the previously-known large craters, B2, on the Yamal peninsula. Scientists now believe there may be holes surrounding the other large craters, too.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The smaller craters are filled with water, and scientists are now researching what, exactly, caused them to form. Bogoyavlensky told the Times that the investigation into the craters is "urgent," due to safety concerns. The scientists don't know when new gas emissions could occur.
The holes may be linked to climate change, and scientists believe the craters were likely caused by a gas explosion. Warm temperatures could have led to the explosion, and B2 is near one of the biggest gas fields in Russia.
-
Rabbits with 'horns' sighted across Coloradospeed read These creatures are infected with the 'mostly harmless' Shope papilloma virus
-
Lithium shows promise in Alzheimer's studySpeed Read Potential new treatments could use small amounts of the common metal
-
Scientists discover cause of massive sea star die-offSpeed Read A bacteria related to cholera has been found responsible for the deaths of more than 5 billion sea stars
-
'Thriving' ecosystem found 30,000 feet underseaSpeed Read Researchers discovered communities of creatures living in frigid, pitch-black waters under high pressure
-
New York plans first nuclear plant in 36 yearsSpeed Read The plant, to be constructed somewhere in upstate New York, will produce enough energy to power a million homes
-
Dehorning rhinos sharply cuts poaching, study findsSpeed Read The painless procedure may be an effective way to reduce the widespread poaching of rhinoceroses
-
Breakthrough gene-editing treatment saves babyspeed read KJ Muldoon was healed from a rare genetic condition
-
Sea lion proves animals can keep a beatspeed read A sea lion named Ronan beat a group of college students in a rhythmic dance-off, says new study
