The ‘Gates of Hell’ may finally be closed, Turkmenistan president announces
The leader of Turkmenistan would like to finally close the “Gates of Hell” that have burned continuously in the nation’s Karakum desert for five decades, according to recent televised remarks.
In a Jan. 8 appearance on Turkmenistan’s state TV channel, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov urged officials to “find a solution to extinguish the fire,” citing concerns for the health of people living near the flaming crater, as well as lost business opportunities, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
“We are losing valuable natural resources for which we could get significant profits and use them for improving the well-being of our people,” Berdymukhamedov said, according to AFP.
What exactly are the Gates of Hell? Also known by the far-less-apocalyptic name of the Darvaza gas crater, the gates are a large hole in the desert measuring roughly 230 feet (70 meters) wide and at least 65 feet (20 meters) deep.
Excavation of the hole began in 1971 during a Soviet drilling operation to extract gas, according to AFP. (Turkmenistan is an ex-Soviet nation.) Disaster struck when the ground beneath the drill rig collapsed, and the rig plunged into a natural gas cavern. As noxious methane gas leaked into the air, geologists decided to set the crater on fire, estimating that the gas within would only burn for a few weeks.
Fifty years later, the Gates of Hell still blaze — and have even become one of Turkmenistan’s top tourist destinations, according to AFP. The burning crater gained a boost in internet fame in 2019, when President Berdymukhamedov released a video of himself driving through the desert near the hole in a rally car, performing doughnuts.
Why Berdymukhamedov has soured on this flaming photo-op in the desert is unclear, though his economic concerns may be a clue. According to Vice.com, Turkmenistan sits atop the fourth-largest known reserve of natural gas in the world, and the country’s economy is largely dependent on gas exports.
President Berdymukhamedov previously ordered experts to quell the Gates of Hell in 2010, though those efforts were unsuccessful. Better luck this time.
See more here: livescience.com
Header image: Getty Images
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Herb Rose
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Why would they want to close the gates to hell now when so many politicians and government officials will be using them soon?
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Anapat
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Excellent !
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richard
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shame all that heat can’t be utilized in some way.
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Moffin
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Red Adair passed away in 2004
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Jerry Krause
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Hi PSI Readers,
Study the featured IMAGE!!! Answer this question: Is this LEAK of methane a BIG LEAK or a SMALL LEAK???
Have a good day, Jerry
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JaKo
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DNQ:
R; wrong! The heat is being well utilized — contributing to CAGW!!
M; irrelevant, even alive, RA would be useless at 107 years of age
The Finalists:
#2 JK; well perceived “medium-small leak” point
#1 HR; hands down winner — congratulation Herb!
Apparently, the Gazprom will build high capacity/high speed escalator next to the extinguished crater and a sign above the entrance will read:
“Welcome to The Hell! AKA the source of Süd Stream 1”
Cheers, JaKo
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Fredda
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Good
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Fredda
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dnomsed
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Fauci and collaborators would be well at home going through those gates. Enjoy the journey.
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itsme
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there’s another ‘GATES of hell’ i wouldn’t mind closing…
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Robert Beatty
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Does this continuing flow of gas indicate a continuous supply? There are records of oil wells in this region coming to life again after being pumped dry. Maybe not just oil released from fossil sand beds, but part of a recycling system which includes CO2 being absorbed into the ocean and then undergoing chemical transformations and transportation below the Mohorovich Discontinuity layer before emerging back at the surface as a RECYCLED ENERGY SOURCE.
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Geraint Hughes
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It not even need be a recycling system from the ocean of absorbed gases, but those gases coming from below. Abiotic oil and gas is a theory which has a lot of strength and proof behind it. This theory has not gained any traction worldwide, because it turns fossil fuel theory upside down and the CO2 barons can not have that.
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Robert Beatty
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Well said Geraint,
The Russian have been finding oil below granite batholiths for years.
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Jerry Krause
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Hi Geraint, Robert and PSI Readers,
I need to remind you all that in SCIENCE there can only be PROOF that some SCIENTIFIC IDEA is WRONG. Otherwise any “PROOF'” is merely SUPPORT for a SCIENTIFIC IDEA. Correct use of WORDS is critically important. As Lewis Elzevir wrote: “intuitive knowledge keeps pace with accurate definition.”
Have a good day, Jerry
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Si
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Bitcoin fixes this.
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