Jun/25

Batagaika – the Largest Permafrost Crater in the World

No comments · Posted by Sergei Rzhevsky in Nature, Regions, Travel

In Yakutia there is a giant thermokarst depression in the Verkhoyansk ulus (district), 10 km southeast of the village of Batagai and about 660 km north-northeast of Yakutsk. The crater is named after the nearby Batagai River.

Batagaika is about 2 km long, 1 km wide, and about 100 meters deep. Inside, remains of ancient plants, bones and tusks of mammoths, frozen bison and horses are found. This layer of ice is twice as old as the ice of Antarctica. The Batagaika Crater on Google Maps. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

The crater most probably appeared in the 1960s. In 1969, a team of geologists discovered soil erosion in the area. The underground ice began to melt. According to one version, there was taiga on the site of the crater. Then the forest was cut down. Without trees, the earth began to subside. The exact reason, however, is not known.

As of June 2024, the crater is growing by about 1 million cubic meters per year (70% – due to melting ice). The reason for its growth is the melting of permafrost, which is intensified due to global warming. Melting releases 4-5 thousand tons of organic carbon. However, it has almost reached the base of the crater, and it will grow along the edges and up the slope.

Similar craters are found in Canada and Greenland, but the Siberian crater is 2-3 times deeper than them – and therefore especially attractive to permafrost scientists and paleontologists.

Geological layers of different eras are easily visible in the slopes of the depression. Their composition and structure can tell a lot about the past of our planet, its climatic periods and inhabitants.