European scientists have recently demonstrated that Batagay Crater, a natural structure referred to by the Siberians in Russia as the “Gateway to the Underworld”, also serves as a portal that allows them to “travel back in time.”
According to Live Science, a new study led by paleobiologist Thomas Opel from the Alfred Wegener Institute (Germany) shows that the massive Batagay Crater can be used to reconstruct Earth’s ancient climate.
This is because Batagay Crater contains permafrost that dates back up to 650,000 years, making it the oldest in Siberia and the second oldest in the world, surpassed only by an area in Yukon, Canada.
Batagay Crater – Photo: MOSCOW STATE UNIVERSITY (LOMONOSOV UNIVERSITY).
Batagay Crater is a massive collapsed hillside in the Yana Highlands, located in the northern Yakutia region of Russia, part of the vast frozen lands of Siberia, and has long been referred to by locals as the “Gateway to the Underworld.”
It stands out as a barren area amidst the deciduous larch and birch forests, where deforestation over the years, combined with rising temperatures, has led to increasing amounts of permafrost collapse, resulting in a sinkhole that spans up to 0.8 km2 and is the largest ice sinkhole on Earth, with walls reaching up to 55 meters high.
According to a publication in Quaternary Research, researchers employed three methods to date the ice layers, including the classic method through radioactive carbon isotopes.
As a safe reservoir for ice layers over 650,000 years, Batagay Crater is a colossal sedimentary sinkhole that can reveal what has happened to the environment and climate in the region through the analysis of the chemical composition of the sediment layers.
Typically, scientists use deep drilling techniques to extract a long ice core, which contains many layers of ice that have accumulated sediment over the years. However, the most crucial aspect is knowing where to drill – something that this new study has accomplished.
Additionally, preliminary analyses have revealed two “gaps” in the sediment, where almost no ice accumulation occurred, approximately 130,000 and 200,000 years ago. The first corresponds to a known warm period, while the second remains unknown.
Studying the detailed changes before and after these two periods could help us understand more about modern climate change.
