A Russian team of researchers has released a report on the first-ever drone search inside one of several huge craters found in the ground ice in Siberia. The article issued in February carries the results of a survey of the inside of the 17th crater, that was discovered last July. The first giant cavity was confirmed in 2014 in Arctic Siberia, that includes the Yamal Peninsula. The discovery has raised concerns over the possible impact on nearby facilities, such as pipelines. Images taken by the aerial drone helped the researchers get a more accurate idea of the interior of the crater. The report says the hole had an average outer diameter of about 25 meters, a depth of about 30 meters, and large void spaces at the bottom that spread out horizontally. The scientists think the craters may have been created by the blowouts of gas trapped under the permafrost. Team leader Vasily Bogoyavlensky of the Oil and Gas Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences told NHK that warming in the Arctic is causing permafrost to melt and weaken. He said he wants to find the mechanism of how the craters were formed. |