Darvaza

Darvaza

The Darvaza gas crater, otherwise known as the Gates of Hell or the Door of Hell, or known officially as the Shining of Karakum, is a field of burning natural gas that collapsed into a cavern close to Darvaza. The crater floor and especially its rim are lit by hundreds of natural gas fires. It has been burning for an unknown period of time, as the crater's formation and ignition process are unknown. The crater is 60-70 meters in diameter and about 30 meters deep. There is another nearby gas crater, which is enclosed because it smells of natural gas. The Darvaza crater's early history is uncertain, as the relevant records are either missing from the archives, classified or inaccessible. According to some local geologists, the crater collapsed in the 1960s and was only set alight in the 1980s to prevent the release of toxic gases. Others claim that the site was drilled as an oil field by Soviet engineers in 1971, but within days it collapsed and the crater formed, and the engineers chose to set the crater on fire to prevent the release of poisonous gases, but underestimated the amount of gas. The crater has become a minor tourist attraction in post-Soviet Turkmenistan, perhaps helped by the fact that the area was declared a nature reserve in 2013. In the same year, George Kourounis became the first person to go to the bottom of the crater and collect soil samples for the Extreme Microbiome Project. The descent was supported by National Geographic and featured in an episode of the National Geographic Channel's Die Trying series.