Giant Siberian craters have formed due to natural gas explosions linked to changing climate conditions. Researchers from the University of Oslo describe this phenomenon in a scientific article published on WorldArXiv, a preprint repository. The report outlines how permafrost regions in northern Russia are particularly susceptible to gas-related crater development as temperatures rise.
Back in 2014, a cluster of eight enormous craters, each about 50 meters deep, was identified within the periglacial zones of the Yamal and Gydan Peninsulas. These findings prompted the authors to connect crater formation with underlying landscape features that host natural gas reserves, suggesting a geologic and climatic synergy rather than a single triggering event.
According to the study, the permafrost soils on these peninsulas likely remained frozen for more than 40,000 years. Yet methane-rich marine sediments embedded in the region gradually froze and evolved into substantial natural gas stores. The warming of the surface caused by climate change accelerated the thawing of the subsurface layer, setting the stage for a sequence of collapses, methane release, and explosive venting.
Estimates cited in the preprint indicate that roughly 1,700 billion tons of greenhouse gases, including methane and carbon dioxide, are currently stored within Arctic permafrost. The researchers warn that eruptions releasing natural gas and methane could intensify climate feedbacks, adding to the warming trend and altering regional and global atmospheric chemistry.
Other scientists have proposed alternative hypotheses for crater formation, ranging from meteor impacts to gas-driven explosions. One scenario posits that craters develop where lakes containing substantial natural gas evaporate. When the lakebed freezes, pathways for gas escape become blocked, causing methane to accumulate and eventually explode. However, this model struggles to explain crater occurrences in parts of the peninsula that lack lake coverage, indicating that multiple mechanisms may be at play in different locales.
In the broader scientific discourse, additional observations are needed to disentangle the relative contributions of ground freezing, methane saturation, and surface warming. Ongoing monitoring, advanced modeling, and field measurements are expected to sharpen understanding of how permafrost dynamics respond to ongoing climate change and what this means for methane release and regional environmental change.
As a related note, earlier reports have highlighted dramatic atmospheric events and ground disturbances linked to rapidly thawing permafrost, underscoring the importance of continued study in Arctic regions. The emergence of more such craters in the future remains a topic of active investigation and public interest, given the potential implications for climate systems and regional safety considerations.