Main Content

Sometimes described as resembling a stingray or a tadpole, the Batagaika Crater is a widening chasm in Siberia and the world’s largest permafrost crater.

Multiple satellites have recorded the crater’s growth, from declassified satellite imagery collected in the 1960s to current multispectral sensor images from Landsat and Europe’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite, to build a continuous view over the last 60 years.

Each exposed layer of the crater wall is like a snapshot in time, helping scientists understand the past climate. Layers of permafrost exposed at the bottom might be up to 650,000 years old. Scientists have also discovered mummified wildlife in the crater. In 2018, the remains of a 42,000-year-old foal of an extinct horse species were found.

Why this matters

As frozen permafrost soils thaw, they release carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide—greenhouse gases that fuel global warming.

Imagery

Every picture has a story to tell
Aug. 13, 1991, Landsat 5 (path/row 122/12) — Batagaika Crater, Russia
Aug. 13, 1991, Landsat 5 (path/row 122/12) — Batagaika Crater, Russia
Aug. 11, 2022, Landsat 8 (path/row 121/13) — Batagaika Crater, Russia
Aug. 11, 2022, Landsat 8 (path/row 121/13) — Batagaika Crater, Russia

Correlated

Additional story information
Downloads

Hogenboom, M., 2017, In Siberia there is a huge crater and it is getting bigger: BBC Earth, accessed August 25, 2021, at http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20170223-in-siberia-there-is-a-huge-crater-and-it-is-getting-bigger.

Hogenboom, M., and Taan, G., 2020, Siberia’s enormous hole in the ground is getting bigger: BBC Reel, accessed August 25, 2021, at https://www.bbc.co.uk/reel/playlist/ultimate-world?vpid=p08lmh55.

Lem, P., 2017, Batagaika Crater Expands: NASA Earth Observatory, accessed August 25, 2021, at https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/90104/batagaika-crater-expands.

MacDonald, F., 2018, There’s a ‘Doorway to The Underworld’ in Siberia So Big It's Uncovered Ancient Forests: Science Alert, accessed August 25, 2021, at https://www.sciencealert.com/siberian-doorway-to-the-underworld-so-huge-millennia-old-forests-and-carcasses-climate-change.

Shepelev, A.G., Kizyakov, A., Wetterich, S., Cherepanova, A., Fedorov, A., Syromyatnikov, I., and Savvinov, G., 2020, Sub-Surface Carbon Stocks in Northern Taiga Landscapes Exposed in the Batagay Megaslump, Yana Upland, Yakutia: Land, v. 9, no. 9, https://doi.org/10.3390/land9090305.

Stone, R., 2020, Siberia’s ‘gateway to the underworld’ grows as record heat wave thaws permafrost: Science, accessed August 25, 2021, at https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/siberia-s-gateway-underworld-grows-record-heat-wave-thaws-permafrost.

Turetsky, M.R., Abbott, B. W., Jones, M.C., Anthony, K.W., Olefeldt, D., Schuur, E.A.G., Koven, C., McGuire, A.D., Grosse, G., Kuhry, P., Hugelius, G., Lawrence, D.M., Gibson, C., and Sannel, A.B., 2019, Permafrost collapse is accelerating carbon release: Nature, v. 569, p. 32–34, https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-01313-4.

Vadakkedath, V., Zawadzki, J., and Przeździecki, K., 2020, Multisensory satellite observations of the expansion of the Batagaika crater and succession of vegetation in its interior from 1991 to 2018: Environmental Earth Sciences, v. 79, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-020-8895-7.

Other Stories

Related imagery and additional content