London: A puzzling giant crater has been recently discovered in the remote area of North Siberia.
According to the Siberian Times, the hole is about 80m wide at the edges, but continues down into an underground chamber of unknown depth and the sides of the crater were said to be fresh earth, which experts revealed indicated that it was created in the last few years, Sky News reported.
It was found by engineers on the Russia`s Yamal peninsula who were flying past in a helicopter and posted the footage on YouTube. Yamal means "end of the world" in the local language.
Experts said that the most likely explanation behind its creation was an explosion of gas that had built up in a naturally occurring chamber under the surface and the ring of fresh earth surrounding the hole gave the impression of a mass of material that has burst out from below.
A source has also confirmed that it was not a meteorite, however, no other details were yet known.
The authorities are keen to work out what caused the hole as the area was used to extract natural gas and there are worries that changes in the landscape could make drilling more dangerous.
