Near the small town of Darvaza, northwest-central Turkmenistan, there is a "mysterious crypt" where fires burn day and night and engulf the night sky, contrasting with the surrounding desert landscape. It is the legendary "Gate of Hell", the Darwaza Gas Crater, and the most striking attraction in Turkmenistan.
In early January, Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov announced that he would extinguish a fire that had burned for decades in the Darwaza gas pit, AFP reported. This was done out of concern for the safety of nearby residents on the one hand, and a re-planning of the economic value of natural gas pits on the other.
Although no specific method of extinguishing has yet been announced, the legends of the Darwaza gas crater have once again attracted global attention.
The legendary "Gate of Hell", the Darwaza Gas Crater, is also a famous attraction in Turkmenistan. Wikipedia Figures
How did the mysterious fire pit form?
The Darwaza gas crater looks like a huge crater from the air, 70 meters long, 60 meters wide and about 20 meters deep, and the boiling mud and bright orange flames rise from the abyss, as if the demon Satan will jump out of it at any time, so the locals named it "Gates of Hell", when in fact it is a natural gas field that collapsed into a cave.
The Darwaza gas pit was first discovered in 1971. It is said that the former Soviet geologists at that time investigated the Dalwaza area of Turkmenistan and found that there was a large amount of underground natural gas in the area, but in the process of exploitation, due to accidental drilling ring collapse, it fell into the gap under the Karakum Desert, thus forming a very large crater. As a result, the Darwaza gas pit is often considered the consequence of an accident in a gas drilling operation.
In order to prevent toxic gases from being released from the caves into nearby towns, Soviet scientists at the time thought that the best way to do this was to burn the gases out. So the government of Turkmenistan allowed the gas in the pothole to be ignited, and estimated that it would burn out in a few weeks, but fifty years later, the pothole was on fire from day to night.
There are large amounts of underground natural gas in the area.
Become a popular tourist attraction
This is not the first time Turkmenistan President Berdymukhamedov has ordered the fires to be extinguished. As early as 2010, he also announced a fire extinguishing plan without giving any clear reasons. But the fiery "Hellscape" attracts more and more tourists every year, making this flame pit more and more popular.
Three years later, the government of Turkmenistan announced the establishment of a nature reserve around the "Gates of Hell" to turn it into a tourist attraction. Since then, thousands of tourists have visited it every year.
The spread of social media has also played a considerable role. In 2019, rumors of Berdymukhamedov's death spread on the Internet, and in order to prove that he was still alive, he posted a video of himself making doughnuts in front of a flame pit on state television.
The Darwaza gas crater has also attracted the interest of many adventurers. On July 16, 2014, in the National Geographic Channel's series The Death Attempt, professional explorer George Kourounis became the first person to enter the crater of flames, where he also collected samples of microbes at the bottom of the pit.
George Kurunis said in an interview: "If you've never seen this place before and been asked to draw a hole in the ground that leads to the gates of hell, then this is what it looks like. ”
Professional explorer George Kurunis became the first to enter the crater of flames. Video screenshots
Kurunis also said local geographers told themselves that the gas craters had actually formed in the 1960s but had not been ignited until the 1980s. He and his team tried to find relevant records, but due to their age, neither explanation of the source of the gas craters is supported by exact written evidence.
However, this TV appearance brought flame pits more international attention, and a live photo was edited to become a promotional photo for the upcoming 2014 Godzilla movie.
In 2018, in the Amur-Hazar Car Rally, the flame pit was also used as an overnight stop.
George Kurunis enters the fire pit. Video screenshots
"Hell's Gates" pollute the environment?
Four-fifths of Turkmenistan's territory is desert, and although it is not easy to reclaim and use, the oil and gas resources buried under the desert are abundant and are one of the main sources of income for this landlocked Central Asian country.
On January 8 this year, President Berdymukhamedov said on Turkmenistan state television that the fires at The Gates of Hell had had a negative impact on the local environment and the health of the population, and had lost valuable natural gas resources, so it must be extinguished as soon as possible.
In addition, in the past few years, reducing the carbon footprint has gradually become a hot climate topic around the world. As one of the top three countries in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, Turkmenistan also made relevant emission reduction commitments at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference.
But some scientists argue that extinguishing the "Gates of Hell" has done little to alleviate Turkmenistan's greenhouse gas emissions.
"The president is right to say it's very bad for the environment. But it's better to burn than to release methane uncontrolled. Methane is a terrible greenhouse gas, worse than carbon dioxide. Instead of letting it enter the atmosphere in the form of methane, burn it off. Stefan Green, director of the core laboratory of genomics and microbiome at Rush University in Chicago, said in an interview with AFP. In 2013, he accompanied Kurunis to collect microbial samples in the crater.
Natural gas is one of Turkmenistan's important export products. Visual China figure
How to extinguish the raging fire has become a problem
As Berdymukhamedov said, "The Gates of Hell" also has potential economic value. If Turkmenistan can drill under the crater, they can extract methane gas and sell it as natural gas. Judging from the fact that the gas pit has been burning for decades, it does contain a lot of resources.
However, will the plan to close the Gates of Hell succeed? This is doubtful.
"When I collect soil samples, the fire will come out of the hole I just dug, so even if you put out the fire and cover it up, the gases still have the potential to reach the surface and it only takes a spark to ignite it again." Kurunis said in an interview.
Giuseppe Etiope, a geologist at Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, also thinks putting out the pit is not an easy task. "It's not just shallower cavitations, there may be sequences of connected cavitations below."
Ettiope argues that closing the "Gates of Hell" requires not only a meticulous investigation of the gas craters themselves, but also a comprehensive geological and geophysical study of the entire region. "You can easily extinguish the fire, but it can also pose a risk of explosion. Fire extinguishing plans need to be well designed, but the right solution is not cheap, and I don't think they (the government of Turkmenistan) think it's worth paying. ”
Beginning in November 2020, the government of Turkmenistan announced that it would prohibit citizens from visiting the "Gates of Hell" without special permission. Although the ban does not apply to foreign tourists, fewer than 10,000 foreign tourists visit Turkmenistan every year. So from the perspective of domestic tourism, closing the "gates of hell" is undoubtedly bad news.