The Karakum Desert and the Derveze area are very rich in natural gas.
Geologists from Soviet started to examine the area in the 1970s. During their work they accidently drilled a hole in a cave full of natural gas.
A big hole with a diameter of 70 meters appeared when the ground under the rig collapsed.
Nobody died in the accident. To avoid poisoned spill they decided to burn the gas.
In a barren landscape it’s a truly surreal sight.
When the geologists decided to burn all the gas their hope was that everything would go away in a couple of days. But 40 years later it’s still there…
The local people call it “The Door to Hell”.
The Canadian adventurer George Kourounis was the first man to walk on the floor of the cave. He collected samples from the earth and hopefully it can learn us something about surviving in difficult circumstances and how life works on the same conditions in other places of the universe.
Photo: Stefan Krasowski / Wikipedia
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