The area around Darvaza is underlain by cavernous limestone, and there are many collapse features within a few miles of the gas crater. The author believes they are cover collapse sinkholes. They appear to have formed from the same geological process. The mud crater sometimes has a small number of gas-fed flames.Īll three of the Darvaza craters have vertical walls near the top and talus slopes at the bottom. The water crater normally has water in the bottom, and the mud crater normally has a pool of viscous mud that is stirred by a steady bubbling of natural gas (see accompanying photo). One is known as the "Water Crater" and the other is known as the "Mud Crater" (see accompanying photos). In addition to the Darvaza Gas Crater, there are two similar sinkholes nearby. Mud Pot: A mud pot on the bottom of the Davaza Mud Crater being churned by escaping bubbles of natural gas. Geologists use the name "crater" for depressions produced by volcanic eruptions or asteroid impacts. Geologists use the name "sinkhole" for this type of feature - formed when the ground surface sinks or collapses into a cavern. This produced the current shape of the crater: vertical walls beneath the rim, and piles of talus around the circumference of the crater that slope toward the crater's center. (Remains of what is thought to be the drilling rig are present on one side of the crater.) Talus from the walls and rim of the crater began falling into the crater. The crew managed to escape, but their equipment was lost in the collapse. Then the ground beneath their equipment began to subside. They began drilling and quickly realized that they had penetrated an underground cavern. The Darvaza Gas Crater is reported to have formed in about 1971 while Soviet geologists were exploring for oil and natural gas. They also do not provide a statement from a person who witnessed the crater's formation. While these reports are in general agreement, they do not reference any government, historical, or research documents. The origin of the crater is reported as a natural gas drilling accident on and many other websites. The rest goes to other countries around the Caspian Sea or in central Asia. EIA reports that 70% of Turkmenistan's natural gas exports go to China, Russia, and Iran. The country's production is low compared to its resources because there is little domestic demand, and the country lacks the infrastructure needed for vigorous exports. The United States Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that Turkmenistan had the world's sixth-largest natural gas resource in 2016 and was one of the world's top 15 natural gas producers in 2015. It has an area that would nearly cover ¾ of an American football field - including the end zones. The crater is about 226 feet (69 meters) across and about 98 feet (30 meters) deep. The crater is located near the village of Darvaza, also known as Derweze, in north-central Turkmenistan - about 160 miles (260 kilometers) north of the Turkmen capital of Ashgabat. The heat and an odor of combustion can be sensed for some distance downwind. People approaching the crater hear the sound of the flames and feel heat that is too intense to stand at some points along the crater's edge. When the natural gas emerges, oxygen in the atmosphere causes it to burst into flames.
The flaming crater's sights and sounds are frightening enough that local people call it the "Door to Hell" or the "Gates of Hell".Įach dancing flame marks the spot where natural gas (methane) emerges from the walls, from the floor, or from the talus piles within the crater. The Darvaza Gas Crater is a large crater in the Karakum Desert of north-central Turkmenistan where thousands of flames fueled by seeping natural gas have been burning for decades.
The Associated Press reported that Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedo, President of Turkmenistan, ordered the "Gates of Hell" fire extinguished because it causes ecological damage and affects the health of people living nearby. Turkmen President Orders the "Gates of Hell" Fire Extinguished
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