Mysterious new craters in Siberia baffle scientists


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.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.
-
Will the new grooming gangs inquiry achieve anything?
Today's Big Question Critics point to a previous inquiry's still-unfulfilled list of recommendations
-
Iran's allies in the Middle East and around the world
The Explainer Tehran will look to Middle East proxies and other authoritarian 'Crink' states for backing in its war with Israel
-
Crossword: June 17, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
-
Dehorning rhinos sharply cuts poaching, study finds
Speed Read The painless procedure may be an effective way to reduce the widespread poaching of rhinoceroses
-
Breakthrough gene-editing treatment saves baby
speed read KJ Muldoon was healed from a rare genetic condition
-
Sea lion proves animals can keep a beat
speed read A sea lion named Ronan beat a group of college students in a rhythmic dance-off, says new study
-
Humans heal much slower than other mammals
Speed Read Slower healing may have been an evolutionary trade-off when we shed fur for sweat glands
-
Novel 'bone collector' caterpillar wears its prey
Speed Read Hawaiian scientists discover a carnivorous caterpillar that decorates its shell with the body parts of dead insects
-
Scientists find hint of alien life on distant world
Speed Read NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has detected a possible signature of life on planet K2-18b
-
Katy Perry, Gayle King visit space on Bezos rocket
Speed Read Six well-known women went into lower orbit for 11 minutes
-
Scientists map miles of wiring in mouse brain
Speed Read Researchers have created the 'largest and most detailed wiring diagram of a mammalian brain to date,' said Nature