Gas Emission Craters and Mound-Predecessors in the North of West Siberia, Similarities and Differences

Abstract

<jats:p>Detailed analysis of five gas emission craters (GEC) found in the north of West Siberia is presented. Remote sensing data used in the study is verified by field surveys. Previous studies show that all of the GECs were preceded by mounds 2 to 6 m high and 20 to 55 m in diameter. GECs initially were 20–25 m in diameter, which increased in the first years of their existence. GECs are found in various environmental (shrublands or moss-grass tundra) and geomorphic (river valley, terrace, slopes) conditions. The objective of the paper is to identify common and differing geomorphologic and environmental characteristics of all the five GEC, and their mound-predecessors. The study is based on a compilation of DSMs before and after the GEC formation using very high-resolution satellite imagery stereo pairs compared to ArcticDEM project data. Diversity of terrain and environmental settings along with rather a narrow range of GEC and mound-predecessor morphometric parameters allows concluding that the mechanism of GEC formation is most likely similar for all the GEC and is controlled rather by internal geologic and cryolithologic structure than by any surface properties.</jats:p>

Mapping potential signs of gas emissions in ice of Lake Neyto, Yamal, Russia, using synthetic aperture radar and multispectral remote sensing data

“…They showed Sentinel-1 scenes acquired in different years, compared them visually to optical Sentinel-2 scenes, and suggested that backscatter anomalies are related to zones of very thin or no ice which resulted from gas bubble inclusions within the ice. Pointner et al (2019) also suggested that the regions of low backscatter may be a result of up-welling gas released through the sediments, which might lead to local thinning of the ice or that eddies might cause a local thinning of the ice layer, which is similar to the cause of ice rings on lakes Baikal, Hövsgöl and Teletskoye reported by Kouraev et al (2019Kouraev et al ( , 2016.…”

New Catastrophic Gas Blowout and Giant Crater on the Yamal Peninsula in 2020: Results of the Expedition and Data Processing

“…In the course of studies based on the interpretation of RS data, it was proven that before the blowouts and explosions of gas at the sites of the craters, there were positive relief forms that looked very similar to the perennial heave mounds (PHMs) widely known in various regions of the Arctic [6,8,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38]40,42,43,[47][48][49][50][51][52]57,58,60,63,68]. In total, according to RS data, 7185 PHMs were found on Yamal alone [8,31,34].…”

“…This required research into possible models of the PHMs' formation, as well as their destruction during the explosion. Various models have been proposed and substantiated in the papers of the OGRI RAS authors [6,8,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38]68] and other scientists [40,42,43,47,[49][50][51][52]57,58,76].…”

“…The model is confirmed by the specific features of the craters C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C10, C11, C12, etc., as well as by the discovered overhanging remnants of the roof vaults of the PHMs and grottoes inside the craters C1, C3, C5, C11 and C12, which can form and will only survive in the presence of underground cavities before the explosion [8,29,33,36]. Several years later, this model began to be recognized by some other scientists working on this topic [52,64].…”

Digital technologies for remote detection and monitoring of the development of heaving mounds and craters of catastrophic gas blowouts in the Arctic

“…По состо-Таблица 1. Краткие характеристики ЦМР ArcticDEM по стрипам в районе объекта С1 [18]: по данным ЦМР они больше в плане на 35,4-37,8%, а по высоте -на 1,7-22%. За счет понижения рельефа местности в южном направлении кажущаяся высота бугра с южной стороны достигает 8 м. В 2014 г. здесь даже остаточная часть бугра с бруствером была около 5 м -в три раза выше роста человека, что хорошо видно на рис.…”