Welcome to the ''Gates of Hell''
In the hot, expansive Karakum desert in Turkmenistan, near the 350-person village of Darvaza, is a hole 230 feet wide that has been on fire for over 40 years.
Locals know the crater as “The Gates of Hell.” Its glow can be seen for miles around.
The Gates of Hell were created in 1971 when a Soviet drilling rig accidentally punched into a massive underground natural gas cavern, causing the ground to collapse and the entire drilling rig to fall in. Having punctured a pocket of gas, poisonous fumes began leaking at an alarming rate. To head off a potential environmental catastrophe, the Soviets set the hole alight. The crater hasn’t stopped burning since.
The Soviet drilling rig is believed to still be down there somewhere, on the other side of the “Gates of Hell.”
Link to article, video and more photos. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/news/entering-door-hell/
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Amazing, man made by a screw up...
Still pretty cool to look at
It sure is freefaller...
BTW, does you avatar name have anything to do with sky diving?
Yep used to do a fair amount of jumping before I messed up my knees about 20 yrs ago. Bit of an expensive hobby but my god it was fun.
My dad was a paratrooper in the national guard... I still have his wings! Miss him, so much!
Yep losing someone you love is difficult but we always have our memories
aren't they all?
Some sure are.
Fascinating - both the story and all the photos at the link. The bottom photo above reminded me that in 1972 I climbed over the fence at the crater of Muana Loa on the big island of Hawaii, and stood on the very edge of the crater looking down at the bottom which was cracked up with fire seen in the cracks, and there was the smell of sulphur. I realized later that I had taken my life in my hands because where I stood could have broken off at any time and fallen into the crater. This is a photo (from the internet) of looking down into that crater when it was active - it continues to erupt from time to time.
I have photos of my trip to Hawaii, but they're all colour slides, and I didn't bring them with me so they're in storage in Toronto.
I thought the story behind it and the photos were fantastic.
Dangerous thing to do Buzz, you right the crust could have caved in a anytime. That's why there is a fence...LOL..
Dear Brother, Friend and Treasured Writing Partner Kavika: Talk about a beachfront clam bake site without an ocean near.
Has Chef Broiling Sand Goldberg heard about this?
Leave it to Jay's to go all National Geographic on us.
Enoch, Grilling my weenie and toasting my buns.
There is only one reply to your comment niijii.
Love it!
E.
Think you might need to "explain" that last line brother Enoch
Cool seed, K!
Thanks Bob.
Have you heard about the coal seam fire in Centralia, Pennsylvania ? It's been burning since 1962. The town had to be abandoned.
Yes, I have heard and read about that fire Pat....Pretty amazing.
been there done that in the 70's
Some peeps refused to move
but it's 'almost' deserted now.....
Never heard of this, did some reading on this and found out this town was the inspiration for the movie Silent Hill.
Very cool or hot or really, really, dumb. Thanks for that tidbit Special K.
Cool, hot or dumb it sure as heck is different.
Golly!
In the realm of environmental disasters, this is one for the books-- leave it to the soviets to make a mess! That's pretty fascinating and pretty scary, too!
Thanks for the article! It's great!
I read another article that the Russians thought that the fire would burn out in a couple of days...LOL, seems to be a major miscalculation on their part.
Yeah. They have no clue what they have tapped into. And, I would imagine, that it can't be fixed... Look at all that wasted fuel, just being burnt up. You could probably heat all of Moscow with what is being wasted in just a few hours.
It has to be finite, doesn't it? It will burn out eventually. I say that knowing about the coal seam fire in Centralia, PA that's been burning for what? 50 years or so?
When you don't know for sure where it is, or where it goes, or how large it is, the last thing you do is light it...
It can go on for miles and miles and miles and miles. Go outside and pick just about any rock formation-- that formation goes beneath states, rivers, etc. Here is an example. The New Albany shale is at the surface in Louisville-- it may be called other names in other states, but it is the same formation:
I wonder how much gas is in the New Albany shale? If it's connected, the fire could go anywhere...
Two theories
The fire was started accidently due to faulty clay barriers at the land fill on May 26, 1962 or it was a deliberate and routine landfill fire, monitored by the Fire Dept on May 27, 1962
or
The Bast Colliery fire of 1932 which was never fully extinguished finally reached the landfill/pit area on May 26/27
which would make the fire either 56 or 86 years old
I read somewhere, sometime ago, that the fire can easily burn for 1000 years, in PA. Now that's some serious stuff...
that is Hell...eternal fire and damnation
Yep. It sure would be...
I believe that Bryensville was also abandoned by 1996
meaning that the fire has travelled at least 1.5 miles underground headed towards Ashland (which has seen a 60% drop in population over the last few decades).
Smoke rising from the hills is a routine sight there.....
What a mess!!!
Wasnt there somewhere in the U.S. that had or has an ongoing decades old underground tire fire?
It's in PA, Spike....A couple of comment above refer to it.
Ashland, ky?
Ashland KY has had a host of problems, with oil doing the dipsy dive, that Ashland Oil couldn't keep the town alive. Nice place, Ashland...
Ha!
There are 32 town named Ashland in the US.
interesting website
That IS interesting! It could be Ashland, KY, as it is near Pennsylvania...
Ashland PA is about three miles from Centralia PA (as the crow flies)
Real Estate has essentially become worthless as people "flee" the County.
The odor is always present and some days one has to wonder if it's foggy or smoky.
Centralia is vented in places to release the heat and smoke from underground, Byrneville was razed by the Feds,
but there are natural vents in the surrounding hills which emit smoke all of the time.
Ashville is a name that makes perfect sense... Thanks!
Now I've got a hankering for a hot sausage sandwich with peppers and onions
Cool photos, Kav
Now that sounds good, Trout....I'm on my way, should be there around 6pm...LOL
Plus there will be bluefin tuna there as well....Hmmmmm